There are more than 1500 instruments around the world, but have you ever wondered where they go when they no longer work? Some of them end up repurposed (just like in this list), but many end up in landfills. The biggest problem lies with the short-term use of learning instruments and unrecycled accessories (strings, pegs, tailpieces, etc.)

Beginner violins, cellos, guitars—you name it—are not built to last, and they simply end up in our trash with low chances of being repaired. If they were better in quality, many manufacturers would lose a significant amount of profit. Additionally, vast quantities of non-renewable and toxic materials, like varnish, make recycling impossible.

Take guitars, for example. Around 2.6 million of them are produced annually in the US alone, making up a billion-dollar industry. Accessories attached to them, like strings, aren’t recyclable, thanks to their mixed-metal construction. D’Addario (a string-making company) estimates that up to 1.5 million pounds of them end up buried in a landfill every year.

To solve this, they have teamed up with TerraCycle, a company that deals with hard-to-recycle objects (e.g., coffee capsules, pens, plastic gloves). It’s now possible to salvage strings by mailing them to D’Addario. Afterward, you receive points that can be exchanged for new strings or other guitar accessories, like picks. There’s also an option to donate the reward points to the D’Addario Foundation, which supports music programs in deprived communities.

To reduce the environmental impact of instruments, it’s important to look after them so they last longer. Cleaning them, keeping them in their cases, and providing suitable storage conditions (temperature is important) are some great ways to get started. This also means that when beginners progress to a “proper” instrument, the old one can be passed on to a younger sibling or someone from school instead of tossed.

If you decide to part ways with your instrument, you can do so responsibly. Projects like “Play it Again” at Fingal County do their best to clean and mend instruments left in their recycling centers. They are later re-distributed to organizations for autism, addiction, and rehabilitation. You can also try selling the instrument if it is valuable enough and still in working condition. Many charity shops will gladly accept them in good shape as well, so it’s always worth checking out the alternatives before throwing something like that away.

In cases where the instrument is beyond repair, one option is to remove all the attachments, scrape or sand off the varnish, and recycle all parts separately. Donations to places like “It’s a String Thing” turn them into beautiful jewelry. Guitars, violins, cellos, and many others can be used as artsy wall decorations. Besides, more substantial ones can be turned into furniture. Just like this piano that has been transformed into a table or this drum that was given a second life as a lamp.

Minimizing waste in the music industry was taken to a whole new level by the youth in Paraguay. They created an orchestra of instruments made out of trash found in the biggest landfill in Asunción. That's where people make a living by sorting through garbage to find things worth reusing. The younger ones can’t afford any instruments due to these poor conditions. In fact, a violin is more expensive than a house in Asunción. So when the music program was founded in 2012, it was necessary to use items retrieved from the dumpster to make instruments.

The violins in the “Recycled Orchestra” are creatively made out of cans, wooden spoons, and bent forks. One of the ensemble’s members uses an oil drum for the cello's body. Tuning pegs (little knobs that help to tune a guitar) are created from waste like cooking utensils and even the heels of a shoe. Drum skin is made from an old X-ray film held in place with generous amounts of tape. One member plays a saxophone welded out of a drainpipe, coins, spoon handles, cans, and bottle caps.

The orchestra plays classical music, folk tunes, and even pieces by the Beatles. They have toured South America and Europe and participated in a few conferences on sustainability. Music and instruments have enriched these kids' lives in many ways, and all it took was some creativity and craftiness. With that in mind, it’s important to be mindful and explore sustainable and creative solutions for disposing of and reusing music devices, just like in some of these instances on the list!