Use for old CD's

They are polycarbonate, which can be recycled into more CDs/DVDs/CMUs and PDQs to boot.

Thanks for the PDQ feeback lynlynch. Why in the name of ******* do we not have recycle points for the things ? Not sure how it is in the USA, but in blighty they're not an item we can put in our recycle trash cans. It would be so easy for places such as HMV etc to have a recycle bin (maybe give some small credit back ?). The things are distributed with many weekend newspapers, and countless numbers are sent out as advertizing/promotion. Do they actually get recycled by Jo Public in the States ?

I'm still open for alternative uses, and info on where to get them melted back into the market.

You are a gem lynlynch - great info's. Come on people, there must be more. As lynlynch points out, the thing are ubiquitous, and possibly one of the easiest targets to stop from going to landfill. Your grandchildren will thank you - waste prevention is a moral obligation.

I agree totally. I have CD's from years ago when AOL first came to life. I'd certainly contribute to this cause. In fact, I may just embrace this as a little project in my town.

I work for a non-profit who could certainly help collect them. Just think of all the CDs lying about that have no utility today.

Yes, Kris, you have given me inspiration to take this on as a cause. My friend/counterpart works in the college town just west of my town and he will help with this, too, I'm sure.

I'm sending myself a note at work as soon as I log off here.

Cheers!

That is so cool !

I'm a bit busy over the x-mas period, but will try look into doing similar in my locality in the New Year. I get the vibe that there is a big potential for doing something here, whether it's organizing local collection/recycle systems or encouraging the 'big-boys' to play. Mucho thanks .

Brilliant double hit, Ky ! Firstly finding the best possible use for a satellite dish, and secondly for the effective use of old CD's. That is truly an artists mind at work ! Gorgeous pictures as well. Nice one

That really is wonderful all around---kookaburras and a work of art!

The entire process of encoding music onto a CD takes only about 5-10 seconds. A high-pressure stamper embeds the digital information into tiny indentations on a polycarbonate plastic blank, which is later coated with metal.

In 2000, more than 700 compact disc factories were operating worldwide.

When CDs were first introduced in the United States in 1983, 800,000 discs were sold. By 1990, this number had grown to close to 1 billion.

Between 1983 and 1996, the average price of a music CD in the U.S. fell by more than 40 percent.

The European market for music CDs is expanding rapidly, with almost 2.9 billion compact discs produced in Western Europe in 1998.

Each month, more than 45 tons of CDs become obsolete—outdated, useless, or unwanted.

Each year, more than 55 million boxes of software go to landfills and incinerators, and people throw away millions of music CDs.

From:

Good Stuff? - CDs and DVDs | Worldwatch Institute

A map of CD recycling centers in the US can be found here. The number of places that accept CDs, DVDs, and other types of e-waste is growing. Quick UK search finds

The Laundry CD Recycling
Lauren Dean
London Recycling
4d North Crescent
Cody Road
London
E16 4TG

Love the stats on #7, Sue, and yes, I'm a lazy *******. 10'll get you 20 that most Brit's chuck dead ones in the landfill bin. People get the odd one now and again that they don't want. Some might doner it to a charity shop if it has possible appeal, but (and I'm guessing) the vast majority end up in landfill. Without local collection points, people won't recycle.

I mentioned HMV as a retailer earlier. I'm not picking on them at all, it's just simply that they are high profile in the UK. They could give a discount if people trade in 'junk' CD's. I don't know the economics of recycling the things, but taking rubbish back to source is a growing ethos. Larger retailers could earn themselves good eco brownie points by taking an initiative here.

This seemingly minor topic has taken my interest, and I thank you for the input Sue. A few letters to shake some interest might produce results. It may take a while, but I'll post up any results I can get from haranguing various organizations/companies.

A suggestion for recycling CD's- package them up and send them to your favorite politician with a request for a suggestion as to how to properly dispose of these. A sufficient number of people sending a sufficient number of used CD's to their favorite politicians may get some attention- especially since most want to appear Green these days...

That's good, though I'm a bit iffy about the eco-cred of posting them. Maybe simply dumping them on the floor when buying a new disc (or whatever media) might get the stores attention. It could make for a great Ad campaign, "Have a dump at HMV". The ad could be run by either wealthy eco-campaigners, or even HMV themselves.

Hey guys, I'm not picking on you at HMV, it's simply that you're a known name in the music retail business. _{ps- if you read this and do it, I'd like commission} . Pitch in quick before Virgin, WH Smith or any of the other players get in on it.

That's way cool . Great project idea for science teachers. I'll probably find myself making one of those over the x-mas break !

You could cut them (carefully) into star shapes and sharpen the edges and points. They make nifty shurikens. Careful though, they can put someone's eye out.

Isn't that the point?

LOL . The Dark Lord does have a point - if you flex the thing, which way will the splinters fly ? It's rather like ther 'spaghetti problem'.

Toss them into asphalt and use them as a filler for the highway material.

Google search informs about 9th International Electronics Recycling Congress,

January 20 – 22, 2010, Salzburg, Austria, as seen in:

http://www.icm.ch/pdf/brochure_ierc10.pdf

It could be useful if CR4 friends participate and share outcome of this conference.

They make good rifle targets. Just nail them to a post, back off a couple hundred yards (meters for the metric folks) and bang away. They break nicely when hit.

I could make some terribly bad jokes on this (along the lines of 'what else is a MIL for?'), but you do have a good point, Guest. Any uses for old CD's are welcome. The more inspirational, the better, and that's a good one

my son uses them for his target practice with his bb gun.....takes about 10 good shots to actually break them into 2 pieces...on bb make a hole about 1/4" diameter, just connect the dots and cut them in half

Del the Cat might like this one, cause when my boy isnt shooting them with his bb gun i shoot them with my bow and arrow.....the main goal is to hit the hole in the middle, but if you dont it is pretty cool to see them shatter

I made a cardboard "model" of the bottom of the legs on my sons bunk bed (just 3"X3" wood): then used a hot air gun to bend four old CDs to fit; popped them on the bottom of the legs, so that now I can slide it (the bunk bed) about on the carpet more easily.

I was wondering if the things could be bent easy, but hadn't got around to trying. Cool idea with the bed. Years back, crisp packets were made out of something a bit more 'plasticky' than the foil type ones. A Gal I was seeing made great badges from them - pop 'em under the grill and, if you get the timing just right, you end up with the thing shrunk to not much bigger than a postage stamp. The "Walkers" logo would still be readable.

How bout some organic chemisty:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac8012434

This idea was first functionalized to detect pesticides in the home...

They get used for coffee cup coasters and low-tech scarecrows here.

Do they make good Frisbee-substitutes?

Do they make good Frisbee-substitutes?

Very, Very poor. They don't have any of the aerodynamics enhancing features of any frisbee (no dome, thus no dyhedral no lift; no rim, thus no means of generating lift due to spin; no stability resulting from either of the above). I've tried them. In fact, if you try using a "Disc Golf" disc (flatter than a frisbee, and usually of harder plastics, made for greater range, but inherently less stable in straight flight) you'll see the issues with a used CD as a frisbee, but with less pronounced results. Which makes the issues easier to see, also.

They do, however, fly really neatly from a three-person, oversized slingshot. They corkscrew through the air like some demented, out of control spaceship, al a a bad 1930's space aliens moving. Pretty cool in bright sunlight as they flash and careen.

Well, this is what it looks like flying past a tree in full sun light. They do shatter when they hit a wall. It looks fantastic but would take too long to get a perfect shot of. Have a good one, Ky.

That might be even more spectacular if it could be photographed through a photospectrometer. Harder to get, though, if catching THIS was hard.

Looks great, though, Ky. I like the shot.

Thanks

Thanks, it was more good luck than anything else. It would be interesting to throw a few in the pool and do under water shots of them floating and reflecting. I should give it a go and will publish them here. Next year would be a good time, Ky.

THIS was a cool set of links, Kris. Thanks. For this, you got a GA from me. I will use the hovercraft w/balloon power source with my younger Science students especially. Good stuff.

And, at last, a lamp that can satisfy my technogeek AND make my wife happy, since she likes the diffused glow thingy for mood lighting.

Good stuff. Thanks.

Glad you like . Science projects for kids are way cool ( I have a few good books on such), and anything that pleases the missus has infinite value (). Dunno about anyone else, but it's when you have to explain basics to learners that you can find gaps in your own knowledge. Articulating what you know intuitively (or whatever one might call it) helps to put thoughts in order. Too late in the year to wax philosophical - have a great 2010 micah, and everyone in our cozy community.