Debating digital music and bittersweet sugar.

What are the environmental implications of the proliferation of iPods specifically and digital music in general?--Mike Romano, San Francisco, CA

The advent of digital music and other forms of entertainment downloaded over the Internet has staggering repercussions for not only the music industry and the consumer experience, but also for the environment. Analysts estimate that American consumers buy about one billion compact discs (CDs) every year, most of which eventually end up in landfills or incinerators. Since CDs are a mix of plastic and aluminum, they don't easily break down and are not easily recycled. And when incinerated they release toxic fumes.

In contrast, songs downloaded from the Internet consume only hard drive space. As of January, consumers have downloaded more than 850 million songs via Apple's iTunes service alone. All this music would have otherwise required 85 million CDs.

That's not the whole story, of course. Downloaded music has to be played, and a large amount of "e-waste" (electronic waste) is already clogging landfills. Consumer electronics contain high levels of nasty toxins such as lead, mercury and cadmium, so when computers, monitors and MP3 players end up in landfills, they can contaminate the surroundings.

iPod-maker Apple has come under fire from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a group advocating for a cleaner computer industry. The group charges that Apple's recy cling program, which accepted 1,500 tons of old equipment last year from consumers, is woefully inadequate, and that Apple has been lobbying against legislation that sets up such "take-back" programs. They also claim that iPod batteries wear out too soon and are not replaceable, prompting consumers to junk the gadgets prematurely. Apple disputes the charges, claiming it is environmentally responsible.

Digitally downloaded music seems to be the environmentally friendly choice, especially if consumers make efforts to recycle their e-waste. Apple, Dell, HP and IBM all offer low-cost recycling. Meanwhile, some groundbreaking new CDs, one made from corn and another partly from paper, are on the horizon. CONTACT: Apple Product Take-Back; www.apple.com/environment/recycling/Computer; Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, [phone], www.svtc.org.

What is the environmental impact of sugar, aside from its not-so-healthy aspects?--Mary Oakes, via e-mail

Sugar is ever-present in products we consume every day, yet e rarely give a second thought as to how and where it is produced and what toll it may take on the environment. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), roughly 145 million tons of sugars are produced in 121 countries each year, often in threatened tropical ecosystems. A 2004 report by WWF, entitled "Sugar and the Environment," shows that sugar may be responsible for more biodiversity loss than any other crop, due to its destruction of habitat to make way for plantations, its intensive use of water for irrigation, its heavy use of agricultural chemicals and the polluted wastewater that is routinely discharged during processing.

In Australia, the Great Barrier Reef suffers from large quantities of pesticides and sediment from sugar farms. Clearing of adjacent land has destroyed the wetlands that are an integral part of the reef's ecology. In Papua New Guinea, soil fertility has declined by about 40 percent over the last three decades in regions of heavy sugar cane cultivation. And some of the world's mightiest rivers--including the Niger and Zambezi in Africa and Indus and Mekong in Asia--have nearly dried up in part because of water-intensive sugar production.

WWF and other environmental groups are working on public education and legal campaigns to try to reform the international sugar trade. "The world has a growing appetite for sugar," says WWF's Elizabeth Guttenstein. "Industry, consumers and policy makers must work together to make sure that in the future sugar is produced in ways that least harm the environment."

In the U.S., the health of one of the country's most unique ecosystems, Florida's Everglades, is seriously compromised after decades of fertilizer run-off and damage from irrigation due to sugar cane farming (see "Bitter Sweets," Features, July/August 2003). A tenuous agreement between environmentalists and sugar producers has ceded some sugar cane land back to nature and reduced water usage and fertilizer run-off. Only time will tell if these and other restoration efforts will help bring back Florida's once teeming "river of grass." CONTACT: Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, www.evergladesplan.org; WWF, [phone], www. panda.org.

Selected articles from E Magazine's nationally syndicated column.

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