Whether you're using them to store digital photos, they came free with your Sunday paper or magazine subscription, or you're a music or movie buff, the humble CD or DVD seems to be everywhere these days. Despite the promises on Tomorrow's World that they would be indestructible, they clearly aren't. Add to that our throw away society, and the numbers of the little plastic discs going to landfill soon mount up (it's estimated 2500 tonnes of discs end up in landfill each year!).

There are things that we can do about it, as is usually the case, it just takes a little effort and consideration before throwing them into the bin.

1. Extend their life - this may sound obvious, but take care of your discs. Put them back in the case when not in use, don't leave them in direct sunlight
2. Use the right disc - if your storing photos, then use a DVD as it will store lots more images than a cd
3. Use rewritable discs - this way you can add more data over time, or completely overwrite them
4. Do you really need to buy a new cd or film? Consider buying second hand or a swapping website such as www.swapshop.co.uk
5. Give away your unwanted discs on Freecycle
6. They can be great for arts & crafts, children love them shining & they can be bent when warmed up - get creative!
7. Use them as bird scarers on your veg plot
8. Build a throne!
9. If nothing else, then make sure you collect them together and send them off for recycling. London Recycling, Keymood, Beacon Press, Polymer Reprocessors

Those are just some of our ideas, we're sure you can come up with more unusual and interesting ways to reuse or recycle your unwanted CDs & DVDs. Why not post a comment below.