David Harbaugh’s Fight To Save the Planet By Spinning Music into Music

With the popularity of MP3 and Internet downloads, some say that records and CDs are a thing of the past.  While there has been a resurgence in the popularity of LPs, a good deal of what’s manufactured goes to waste.  In 2009 alone, 2.9 million LPs were manufactured, while only 1.5 million were consumed.  Unfortunately, this statistic does not include the LPs that are bought, only to end up in the trash.  Discarded records can be an extraordinarily toxic type of plastic, so it’s sobering to know that a great many of them end up in landfills to be melted.  Fortunately, Green Guitar Picks was created to breathe new life into records–and into the environment as well.

Green Guitar Picks, the brainchild of David Harbaugh, is a company that spins records into picks.  Harbaugh, a longtime guitarist and entrepreneur, practically founded the company by accident.  One day, while in need of a pick, he decided to cut one from a scratched LP he had in his house.  As they say, the rest is history.  “How much I could do with this really hit me!” Harbaugh smiles.  “I kept refining picks, beveling edges, and experimenting with their thinness and thickness, as that affects the quality of sound.”  While Harbaugh notes that picks can be made out of anything from wood to credit cards, he believes that the real appeal of this project is the musical spin on it–pun intended.  “I love that we can re-generate something that had music on it, to now play music with it.”

While the musical aspect of Green Guitar Picks is crucial, it’s important to realize that first and foremost it’s a green company.  Harbaugh is aiming to work with as many organizations and materials as possible, including environmental nonprofits such as Heal the Bay.  Because of the current environmental crisis in the ocean, many of the world’s waters are filling up with plastics.  In addition to killing the flora and fauna of the ocean, these plastics end up in the human food chain.  Saving the earth is of utmost importance to Harbaugh.  “We’re not limited to records!” he exclaims, adding that one of the company’s goals is to create picks and other products from all types of wasteful plastics.

Harbaugh is also excited to delve into making limited edition picks and to get more and more artists in on this project.  The market for customized guitar picks with various artists on the picks has exploded.  Plus, those featured on Green Guitar Picks would not only get great exposure–they would be participating in a great cause.