# Anything I can do with a lot of blank CD-Rs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432 "2013-05-26T23:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/1 "2013-05-26T23:41:41Z")
So I used to use CD-R(W)'s as backups, but then I found the joys of DVD-Rs, which can back up my entire hard drive at once, so I stopped. (Then the burning process stopped working, but that’s neither here nor there.) I still have a bunch of unused CD-R(W)'s. Anything I can do with them before I just chuck them all? No garden, so no reason to hang them up anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/2 "2013-05-27T03:14:16Z")
You could make them into some kind of art thing with them. Hang them up with some fishing on a wire hanger, a dash of paint perhaps as well. Sell your creations at a local hippy market or etsy or some such. On the opposite end, you could take them down to a shooting range and blast 'em with a shotgun. That could be fun too! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/3 "2013-05-27T04:42:34Z")
You could do what [this couple](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB3OJ9epr_0) did with their extra AOL discs. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/4 "2013-05-27T04:59:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You could do what [this couple](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB3OJ9epr_0) did with their extra AOL discs. Well at least AOL was aware of how everyone hated getting their discs! That was a pretty funny commercial. Could have been only 30 seconds though, drug on a bit too long. Still. CD-R’s are great. Don’t get rid of them! Send 'em to me if you don’t want them. 🙂 Hahaha! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/5 "2013-05-27T13:10:50Z")
They’re good for handing out files to friends. And for giving older people some music to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/6 "2013-05-27T15:40:49Z")
yeah if you can still burn them then use them. often i want to give files to friends and these are great for that. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/7 "2013-05-27T16:57:29Z")
Burn CDs to play in the car (provided you have a CD player) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Cornholio)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/8 "2013-05-28T11:49:23Z")
You can recycle them. A friend of mine who runs a music magazine gets HUNDREDS of promos through, and the vast majority of them end up in the bin. Because of the toxic chemicals in them, they are not good to be chucked into landfill. I believe a company actually picks them up FOC because he gets so many, so there must be an incentive for them there somewhere. Perhaps find someone else locally who has also stacks of discs and get rid of them responsibly together. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/9 "2013-05-28T11:55:36Z")
Record a song or a funny message and burn it to all of the CD-Rs. Then randomly leave them around town or the country. Create an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/10 "2013-05-28T12:17:10Z")
Use them for [artwork](http://www.google.ch/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=cd+dragon+sculpture&oq=CD+dragon&gs_l=hp.1.3.0l3j0i22i30.1267.4653.0.8174.9.8.0.1.1.0.687.1173.6j1j5-1.8.0...0.0...1c.1.14.psy-ab.abVMsCM7iTw&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47008514,d.ZWU&fp=811747b364f5f487&biw=1280&bih=936) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/11 "2013-05-28T12:22:45Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So I used to use CD-R(W)'s as backups, but then I found the joys of DVD-Rs, which can back up my entire hard drive at once, so I stopped. You must have a very small hard drive, less than 4.7GB. I don’t think they have made those for 15 years. Maybe it’s time to upgrade? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/12 "2013-05-28T21:33:18Z")
Its _contents_ are less than 4 GB. At least, the results of a Time Machine backup takes somewhat more than two, and I don’t know if it does any compressing. Either way, though, DVDs still have more space. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/13 "2013-05-28T22:17:11Z")
I use CDs for backing up projects that aren’t big enough to need DVDs or bigger backup hardware. A single CD holds an awful lot of text files, for example. A CD easily holds all of the photos I take in a month. Why use more expensive DVDs if 90% of the space is wasted? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-i-can-do-with-a-lot-of-blank-cd-rs/659432/14 "2013-05-29T15:46:17Z")
Unused CDRs are useful to some folks. Give them away or sell the spindle for like $2.