Disney Tries Recycling Disposable DVDs

Jan. 3O, 2004 -- In this week's Cybershake, we note how the Walt Disney Co. has taken slightly a greener turn when it comes to throwaway DVDs. Plus, we highlight a one-stop online shop for election information.

A New Leaf for Disney's Disposable DVDs

Last September, the Walt Disney Co. — parent company of ABCNEWS — began testing a new concept in home entertainment: the disposable DVD.

Called the EZ-D, it uses technology developed by New York-based Flexplay Technologies. Once an EZ-D movie is unsealed from its package, oxygen begins to discolor the dye within the disk. Within 48 hours, the disk becomes an unplayable hunk of non-biodegradable plastic.

"We believe consumers will enjoy the convenience of a rental alternative that requires no extra trips to return product and no late fees," Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista, said in a statement.

But environmentalists such as Emily Miggins says this is too much. "Cell phones are now becoming disposable, cameras," she says. "Do we need yet another disposable item?"

In Austin, Texas, one of the four test markets for the $7 disposable DVDs, environmentalists staged protests, urging Disney to mend its wasteful ways. And it seems Disney responded.

A postage-paid envelope is now included in the EZ-D packaging so expired disks can be sent off to GreenDisk, a Seattle-based company that recycles the plastic for use in cars parts and appliances.

Consumers can also go to FlexPlay's Web site (www.flexplay.com/recycle_programs.html) and print out postage-paid mailing labels to send back EZ-D disks that lack the mailer.

Both FlexPlay and Buena Vista have been mum about how many EZ-D disks have been sent in for recycling so far. Disney has also been quiet about whether the disposable DVD plan will expand beyond the 35 movie titles in the currently limited test markets.

— Larry Jacobs, ABCNEWS

Cyberspace's 2004 Election Central

Confused about the 2004 elections? Who wouldn't be with all the noise surrounding the candidates vying to become the next president of the United States?

But several nonprofit groups, including the League of Women Voters, have teamed up to offer ElectionGuide04.com, a Web site that serves up information on all national, state and even local campaigns.

"This is an unparalleled amount of straight-forward, unbiased non-partisan information for voters to use," says Nancy Tate of the League of Women Voters.

At the site, Net surfers can read up on the basic facts about presidential candidates, find news briefs of campaign results so far, or catch up on popular political "blogs" — "Web logs," or online journals. Visitors to the site can even enter their personal address and zip code to find information about local campaigns and issues.

"It's the first time when you are going to be able to go to all these sites and hundreds of thousands of other sites like it and find all the information you need about who is running for office," says Sean Murphy of Capitol Advantage, a group participating in the Web site.

— Cheri Preston, ABCNEWS

Cybershake is produced for ABCNEWS Radio by Andrea J. Smith.