I love my CDs. They sit on my shelf so that everyone knows how much I like legacy media, and then sometimes they get pulled down and slid into a disc tray so I can enjoy listening to something with moving parts.
But not everyone feels the same way. With the ever-growing user bases of the best music streaming services, there are evidently a bunch of people who no longer have the means to play their old CD collections.
But HOLD! Before you place those lovely discs into the trash, here are a couple of ways you can still use them — and allow me an appeal to your better judgment along the way.
Turn them into wall art
This might seem like sacrilege (there's part of me that agrees), but this is a fun way to use some of your favorite albums that you don't listen to anymore. There are a couple of different ways to do it, but I like this one, which puts the disc next to the CD cover art for a nice effect.
I've actually done this for a few friends with their favorite albums as great gifts for birthdays and the holidays that are a bit more interesting than gift cards and the like. For an even better look go and get it signed the next time you head to a gig — that's a way to really show off how much you like a band and their music.
Use them as coasters
This one hurts. Properly, properly hurts. But if you're not going to listen to them and they were already going in the trash, then there's no harm done, right?
Pop them on the table and rest your drinks on them. Fun, themed coasters that you don't need to go to the shop for. You'll want to find some way to fill the hole so that they can really fulfil their new role, mind you.
Side note: Taking this picture, no matter how old the CD is, physically caused me pain.
Use them to scare off birds in the garden
I'm told that birds don't like shiny things. I'm also told that gardeners trying to grow plants aren't the biggest fans of birds flying around and pecking at their crop. CDs have a shiny side — hang them around and scare off those pesky critters and their penchant for strawberries.
Look, I can't lie, this list is really starting to take it out of me, can't we just... oh, no two more entries to go...
Donate them
Finally, a non-destructive one. See, you might not want your CDs, but there are many of us that do. Don't just toss your discs into the trash and forget about them — take them to your nearest Goodwill or Goodwill-alike and get them donated. Then they'll go on a shelf, so that collectors like me can come and buy them and put them in our collections where they'll get listened to.
Listen to them!
Did you know that modern CD players aren't all that expensive, and they'll even connect with your Bluetooth headphones so that you can use them without plugging them into anything? I tried out the Fiio DM13 a few months ago, and found a CD player with thoroughly modern touches.
Why would you want to? Because CDs are cool. There's little more fun than clicking open a CD player lid or sliding a CD drawer and watching the disc disappear inside the player only for music to come out. They sound better than Spotify too, with much higher digital bit-rates than the green circle.
Do they take up space? Yes. But I think it's worth it.
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