Tackling Landfill Waste: Music World Hosts String Exchange Events to Reduce Environmental Impact

Matt Gohlke, the general manager of Music World in Hazel Dell, has taken steps to reduce the environmental impact of disposing old instrument strings. He discovered that an estimated 1.5 million pounds of instrument string metal end up in landfills each year because they are not accepted through local recycling programs, as stated by TerraCycle, a recycling company. This prompted him to partner with TerraCycle and guitar string manufacturer D’Addario to organize string-exchange events at Music World.

For the past three years, Music World has hosted free string exchange events on Earth Day. During these events, D’Addario provides 40 sets of strings for participants to exchange their old ones. Music World staff replaces the strings and TerraCycle recycles the old ones. Gohlke emphasized that restringing an instrument usually costs $40 and that the event not only benefits the community but also raises awareness about recycling and reducing landfill waste.

While this year’s event has concluded, Music World continues to accept and recycle old music strings year-round. Loyal customer Derek Neiman usually restrings his instruments himself but decided to take advantage of the promotion and have his guitar restrung at Music World. Neiman praised the shop for always doing a great job. Photographer Taylor Balkom contributed to this story.