Posted on Fri, Apr. 16, 2004
By Andrew LaMar
TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU WRITER
SACRAMENTO - They come with movie rentals, cereal boxes and the mail.
Unwanted compact discs are everywhere, and Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, says it's time for the companies that produce and mail them to pay for their return.
"It's a textbook example of conspicuous waste," Hancock said. "They end up in overflowing landfills when they could be converted into appliance shelves or car dashboards with less energy than it took to make them in the first place."
To illustrate the pervasiveness of the problem, two East Bay residents dumped their collection of 278,000 unsolicited America Online CDs onto the state Capitol steps Thursday as Hancock discussed her legislation.
Jim McKenna and John Lieberman, information technology workers from El Cerrito, have gathered the CDs for nearly three years and run the Web site NoMoreAOLCDs.com. The Web site displays pictures of dogs chewing on the discs, a car covered in them and an American flag made from CDs.
The two say they want to amass 1 million CDs and return them to AOL headquarters in Virginia. "Don't throw them away or get mad, send 'em to us and we'll all end this wasteful practice while sharing a laugh or two," the Web site declares.
Hancock said AOL's practice of trying to lure subscribers by mailing millions of CDs worldwide each year -- industry observers put the number at between 40 million and 300 million -- is the tip of the iceberg.
Disney is test marketing disposable DVDs that erase themselves after 48 hours and may soon take the place of movie rentals. The bill also applies to the so-called EZ-Ds.
"I think it has touched a nerve," said Hancock, who described herself as a recycling fanatic. At first, receiving the discs bugged Hancock because she didn't know what to do with them. "I would hang onto them because I thought maybe I'll use them, but then I'd throw them in the trash, because what else is there to do?"
The legislation, AB 2166, requires that disposable DVDs and every CD mailed unsolicited have a postage-paid return mailer. The measure's first hearing is scheduled Monday in the Assembly.
AOL could not be reached for comment for this story. In the past, company officials have encouraged people to mail their unwanted AOL CDs back to the company and have said AOL will take people off the company's mailing list at their request.