Page 30 - Adelante Magazine February 2025

®
Earth TALK
From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine

Music gear makers are increasingly incorporating sustain-
able woods and other green materials into their products
these days. Credit: Ian Mackenzie, FlickrCC.

Dear EarthTalk: Music gear production, from collecting materials, ronmentally harmful practice of purchasing an
WHAT ARE SOME WAYS MUSIC producing gear and packaging with excessive entirely new set of guitar strings when only one
GEAR MAKERS ARE GOING GREEN? plastic, has numerous negative environmental ef- needs a replacement.

fects. Collecting wood has led to overharvesting
Peter B., Groton, CT at an unsustainable rate, an increasingly urgent Together these changes have led to a plethora
issue for forests and woodlands. Plastic and of significant positive outcomes. Increased use
metal waste have risen, too. These issues have of alternative wood sources has caused a no-
led many music gear makers to implement sus- table decrease in pressure on certain wood
tainable changes. species commonly used for instruments like ma-
hogany, rosewood and spruce. Moreover,
The good news is that some instrument pro- changes made in packaging and material collec-
ducers have begun harvesting wood from dead tion have reduced the vast amounts of plastic
or dying trees to prevent the overharvesting of and metal waste from entering landfills or
rich woodlands, while others have shifted toward oceans. Exemplified by the color-coded guitar
less-used “alternative tonewoods” like basswood strings, unique innovations have also made an
and kaya. To decrease metal waste in sourcing impact, with the director of product management
for strings, makers are beginning to purchase at music instrument company D’Addario, Brian
strings in the form of rods. Vance, commenting that color-coding has elimi-
nated total packaging mass by 70 percent.
Small changes are also happening in the produc-
tion are. Manufacturers have replaced traditional More can still be done. Companies advocate for
materials with eco-friendly options when produc- government policies cementing environmentally
ing the picks, straps and other accessories. It is friendly decisions made by manufacturers, or
now commonplace to find bioplastic or even shell work toward simpler changes by implementing
for guitar picks and vegan leather for straps. more recycling programs for their customers. Ul-
String company Stringjoy now has a recycling timately, strategic efforts have significantly
program, encouraging players to mail back old boosted the sustainability of music gear produc-
strings to repurpose the material. tion, proving that these efforts must be continued
and expanded.
When packaging manufactured goods, music
gear makers have begun using paper tape, CONTACTS: The rise of sustainable guitars,
boxes and envelopes over the traditionally used frontiergroup.org/articles/the-rise-of-sustainable-
plastic. Unique innovations have also made guitars-how-an-industry-is-innovating-to-save-
EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for the 501(c)3 packaging greener, such as color-coding each our-forests.
nonprofit EarthTalk. See more at https://emagazine.com. To donate, guitar string and its packaging to avoid the envi-
visit https//earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org.
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