GOOD QUESTION | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Consumers shouldn't toss old CDs or videos into the trash. They could contain chemicals and metals that don't belong in a landfill.

Check with a local library, school or community center to gauge whether they might have use for them. Beyond that, it's smart to ask a local sanitation department if it recycles such items.

The Environmental Protection Agency points consumers to various resources such as http://earth911.org, which lists services that handle the recycling of various materials. Earth 911 offers more than 2,900 locations that handle media such as CDs and DVDs. The plastic from CD containers, for example, can be used to make new containers or even create the casings that cover street lights, according to Trey Granger, spokesman for Earth 911.

He said consumers also can consider new uses for old media. Scratched CDs, for example, can become drink coasters or wind chimes.

"They're largely made of plastic, which is very recyclable and is important to do because they're made of oil," Granger said.

There are also companies such as GreenDisk that make a business of collecting what it calls "technotrash" from around the country. Mickey Friedman, chief operating officer at GreenDisk, said consumers are starting to ask more questions about what to do with the electronic detritus building up in basements, garages and attics.

Consumers and businesses can send old media to GreenDisk for processing. The company will handle up 20 pounds for about $7 and charges 30 cents a pound after that. Under another plan GreenDisk will send a "technotrash can" - a container that can be filled gradually with a range of electronic waste. Once it's full, customers send the container back for recycling. The company covers the cost of the return shipment.

"About 80 percent of what we collect is media and their cases," he said, referring to the plastic jewel boxes that house CDs and plastic cases for videos.

The company resells some of what it recycles in the form of new blank disks or new CD cases.

"The consumer can feel good about having recycled material and buying something they knew they had a part in creating," Mr. Friedman said.