Saving Strings: Music World Hosts String Exchange Events to Reduce Landfill Waste

Recently, Matt Gohlke, the co-owner and general manager of Music World in Hazel Dell, discovered the environmental impact of disposing old instrument strings. 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 revelation prompted Gohlke 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 been hosting free string exchange events, typically coinciding with Earth Day. During these events, Music World staff replaces the strings and TerraCycle recycles the old ones. D’Addario provides 40 sets of strings each year for the event. Gohlke emphasized that restringing an instrument usually costs $40 and that this 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. One loyal customer of over a decade, 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 by capturing images of the event.