For the second consecutive year, Guitar Center is partnering with D’Addario for a special event in celebration of Earth Day. During Earth Day weekend (Saturday, April 20, Sunday, April 21 and Monday, April 22) at Guitar Center locations nationwide, any musician bringing in a guitar for setup will receive complimentary D’Addario premium replacement strings — either NYXL or EXP Coated Acoustic strings — as part of the guitar tuneup, with the old strings being recycled.
This event is part of D’Addario’s Playback Recycling + Replacement Program, as well as Guitar Center’s year-round string recycling initiative, which has seen more than two tons of strings recycled since the program’s inception, approximately 3.37 million strings total.
These efforts are accomplished with the help of global recycling organization TerraCycle, which specializes in handling hard-to-recycle materials. As musical instrument strings are not recycled through municipal recycling programs, an estimated 1.5 million lbs. of instrument string metal is put into landfill each year, material that could be recycled thanks to specialized organizations like TerraCycle.
“Last year’s event was a resounding success, and we thank all who participated, as well as all those who have been turning to their local Guitar Center locations for recycling their used strings,” stated Stacey Spencer, Guitar Center director, repairs and rentals. “Recycling strings is the responsible choice, and we encourage all musicians to recycle whenever and wherever possible. We are looking forward to serving our customers with premium setup service and replacement strings throughout Earth Day weekend at our stores nationwide.”