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I was just viewing the '101 uses for old CDs' thread and read that you could use them in the veg garden to scare away birds. I did this last year myself however after seeing the CDs become clear after a few weeks it got me thinking - is this good for the garden or for the environment as a whole?

You see in order to become clear the surface of the CD must obviously be disintegrating and falling to the ground in minute particles, leaving the hard clear plastic behind. This means particles of aluminium and lacquer are mixing with the soil. I don't want to be a spoil-sport but surely this can't be very good?

Any thoughts?

You're probably right but I think you'd have to have a lot of them to actually be harmful

ok... well hang them up somewhere they can't damage anything... let them go clear and then move them back to the veg plot, lol... or do they need the reflective bit to scare the birds?

I don't know that anything leaks off of the CDs - is it not more a case of UV damage to the fine metal coating?

The coating does peel off, but I have one small question, where does aluminium etc come from initially? Isn't it mined out of the ground. So I guess, it's just being returned.

In large quantities, then, yes it probably isn't good for the environment, but I wouldn't have thought one or two would hurt.

Once they've shed their skins, you can jolly them up with glass paints, acrylic paints or nail varnish.

Cheers
Zoe

My neighbor has some CDs hanging in his garden and they look very pretty on summer nights when the garden lights reflect off them. My problem is I don't WANT to scare any birds away. We feed and water them in hopes of them coming into our garden.

Tried this a year or so back, then stood in the tunnel and watched a Thrush picking bugs off the cabbages, under the post where the CD hung.

oldfella wrote:Tried this a year or so back, then stood in the tunnel and watched a Thrush picking bugs off the cabbages, under the post where the CD hung.

Okay, well, that's good news then for me! I can have CDs AND birds!

I hung a cd in the veggie garden six months ago and it's totally ok, no change at all!

got 2 men made from cd hanging around me raspberies some have gone clear other are just the same
must be a quitly thing

They don't play very well after they've gone clear

Dr.Syn wrote:They don't play very well after they've gone clear

Sky wrote:I hung a cd in the veggie garden six months ago and it's totally ok, no change at all!

Have you tried playing it ?

I think it depends how wet they get. I've been using a CD as a coaster underneath the soap dispenser in my kitchen and it's gone clear. My worktop has suddenly developed a glittery surface, I'm sure it didn't have that before.

Zoe