Saving the planet

Another Ukulele

Another Ukulele

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I live in California where we recycle EVERYTHING. Recently, there has been a Flame War on my neighborhood site regarding the environment, gasoline guzzling RV’s, red meat eaters, ‘plastic micro-beads’....

I just changed the 3 year-old nylon strings on my Kala Tenor to Worth Brown BT’s. (And consider the advice to change strings every 6 months or more frequent)
And while I wait for them to settle in, I ponder....

All the nylon, all the fluorocarbon waste we generate by indulging in our hobby/ lifestyle.

Perhaps I’m overthinking? I remember fishing with my father in the Delta and tossing the ‘rats nest’ of fishing line overboard, into the water....

And now four 24” inches of nylon strings that I removed will be in a landfill - forever.
Perhaps I’m overthinking?

I’m a pragmatic realist living in California!
 
The "Saving" part is saving the environment so humans can continue to live on earth. The earth doesn't care what we do, but polluting the environment is bad for people - and animals.

If there was more money in recycling, we would see more of it. I pay $5.00 to leave a bag of garbage at my "recycling center"/dump. I recycle as much as I can, which costs nothing.
 
Another Ukulele said:
I live in California where we recycle EVERYTHING. Recently, there has been a Flame War on my neighborhood site regarding the environment, gasoline guzzling RV’s, red meat eaters, ‘plastic micro-beads’....

I just changed the 3 year-old nylon strings on my Kala Tenor to Worth Brown BT’s. (And consider the advice to change strings every 6 months or more frequent)
And while I wait for them to settle in, I ponder....

All the nylon, all the fluorocarbon waste we generate by indulging in our hobby/ lifestyle.

Perhaps I’m overthinking? I remember fishing with my father in the Delta and tossing the ‘rats nest’ of fishing line overboard, into the water....

And now four 24” inches of nylon strings that I removed will be in a landfill - forever.
Perhaps I’m overthinking?

I’m a pragmatic realist living in California!
Click to expand...

Are you over thinking things? Well yes, I’d say so, but it’s easy to loose a sense of proportion. However, IMHO, your thinking is towards a direction that’s way better for the future of your Country and our World than our (collective) current course. I’m a firm believer in reduce (the resources that you use), reuse (don’t buy new if second hand will do and avoid single use items where possible) and recycle (avoid items being sent to land fill and allow an item’s materials to be reused).

I don’t think that any one individual can solve the environmental problems of the world but recognising that something is wrong and trying to do something for a better tomorrow makes sense to me. Historically we, in the Western World, have achieved massively positives things in the way that people live but along the way we have unknowingly created (and still do) lasting damage to our environment. It’s time for us to take the lead, modify what we do and put right the damage we have and are doing.
 
Last edited:
You could burn them, & pollute the air. ;)

I don't remember anyone replacing guitar strings when I was young, only when one broke.

Do we really need to change them often. I use fluorocarbon strings mainly on mine, but haven't changed them since I first installed them, a couple of years, at least.
 
I only like to change strings when they break. I think the string industry works very hard to tell us we should change them much more often than is really necessary. I prefer worn in strings to new ones anyway but when I do change them, my wife recycles them into jewellery.
 
There really is a climate crisis as well as other ecological problems. But in perspective, the total volume of ukulele strings that I will use in my life would be less than a cubic foot. So not making much difference in the scheme of things.

The environmental impact isn't so much the waste but the impact of producing the nylon and fluorocarbon used in the strings. Even so, the environmental impact of driving a car to ukulele club and lessons is probably greater.
 
Oldtoolie said:
But in perspective, the total volume of ukulele strings that I will use in my life would be less than a cubic foot. So not making much difference in the scheme of things.
Click to expand...

And this is exactly why we are all doomed because most of the world thinks like this :)
 
The sentiment is good. The overthink is there also if this is about ukulele strings disposal.

Who is sitting here consuming power on a phone, laptop, computer... reading this. Did you buy a cup of joe in a paper cup? Or an iced tea/coffee in a plastic cup? ... while snacking on chips in its own bag? How old is your car? Did you really need to replace the last one so soon? Now look at your weekly garbage... do you use the big or small garbage can? How full is the recycling bin?

The Bay Area is quite good on recycling and decreasing waste (do you pay for shopping bags or bring reusable ones?) But the steps are small ones and will require larger political decisions and willpower to begin to effect change for the better. Meanwhile, uke on to get your mind off of the bad stuff.
 
Jerryc41 said:
That's the problem right there.
Click to expand...

It is a problem that, without larger political decisions, we cannot make much of a dent in our environmental problems, but that is how large groups act. Thankfully, there are larger political decisions being made, such as California's recent ban on plastic straws which cause immense problems for sea life.
 
During my childhood, I remember that we had the same refrigerator and toaster the whole time (probably a few more things, too). These days, those things break down and have to be replaced with far greater frequency, and dead appliances occupy a far greater amount of space in landfills than a few uke strings do. I'm all for recycling, upcycling and buying used stuff when possible, but also wish they would build things to last once again. Planned obsolescence is a big pet peeve of mine! :mad:

bratsche
 
If you're seriously concerned about your ukulele string footprint, have you considered using gut strings?
 
Its a no win scenario.

Greta Thurnberg set off from the UK bound for the USA to address the UN on climate change.

This amazing young lady is travelling over the Atlantic in a yacht that is intended to be a zero carbon journey.

Our News here in the UK has been full of the event, but no mention has been made of the sheer volume of CO2 and other waste materials that has gone into producing this very high tech racing yacht.
 
bratsche said:
During my childhood, I remember that we had the same refrigerator and toaster the whole time (probably a few more things, too). These days, those things break down and have to be replaced with far greater frequency, and dead appliances occupy a far greater amount of space in landfills than a few uke strings do. I'm all for recycling, upcycling and buying used stuff when possible, but also wish they would build things to last once again. Planned obsolescence is a big pet peeve of mine! :mad:

bratsche
Click to expand...

Absolutely.
 
Counter said:
I only like to change strings when they break..
Click to expand...

Whew! That’s basically what I’ve done.
One tenor has 12 year old strings - changed due to breaks
My Banjolele has 10 year old never changed.
My 8 string is 6 years never changed
My Concert changed to Aquila to improve tone
My main Tenor was 4 years old and sounding good, but I changed to Worth Brown BT because I heard them and liked the Warmth.

So I’m neither cheap, nor frugal — merely ‘insightful ‘ ?
 
The problem is refrigerator manufacturing creates jobs (albeit currently in China until Chinese workers also want new refrigerators and become too expensive as a workforce and manufacturing moves to Ethiopia or wherever is the next supplier of dirt cheap labour), so until we all find a way of living happily as a low consumer society we are stuck in an ever decreasing circle.
 
Another Ukulele said:
Whew! That’s basically what I’ve done.
One tenor has 12 year old strings - changed due to breaks
My Banjolele has 10 year old never changed.
My 8 string is 6 years never changed
My Concert changed to Aquila to improve tone
My main Tenor was 4 years old and sounding good, but I changed to Worth Brown BT because I heard them and liked the Warmth.

So I’m neither cheap, nor frugal — merely ‘insightful ‘ ?
Click to expand...


I put my preferred set of strings on new purchases and then leave them to settle in over many years :D
 
AQUATOPAZ said:
It is a problem that, without larger political decisions, we cannot make much of a dent in our environmental problems, but that is how large groups act. Thankfully, there are larger political decisions being made, such as California's recent ban on plastic straws which cause immense problems for sea life.
Click to expand...

My county in NY does not let stores give bags with purchases. People bring their own bags, or they buy them from the store - paper, not plastic.
 
Everything we do has an impact on the environment, it is hard to figure out if we are doing the right things. How many of use sit in front of the computer screen surfing the web, that takes electricity. Play our ukes for friends around an air polluting camp fire. Use clip on tuners that requirement batteries which get tossed. But we can’t go through life sitting in the middle of a field doing nothing. All actions have consequences.

I like the idea of buying used ukuleles. Order a custom uke from luthiers that use reclaimed wood. Clean your strings more often to get longer life. Car pool to your uke jam. Play in the dark at home.......we’ll maybe not, wife will think I am weird....or is that weirder :p
 
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