More than two years ago the music industry began looking, in earnest, at the packaging of CDs and whether other, more environmentally friendly options were available. This initiative was motivated by record labels experimenting with recycled cardboard “Digipaks” and the problems they were creating for mass merchants like Wal-Mart.

A massive retail giant like Wal-Mart utilizes automated machinery to process the shipping of CDs to thousands of locations and the lighter cardboard packages were jamming up their in-the-passive-position-“Transformers”-looking mechanized systems.

Compact Discs weigh about four ounces and these recycled cardboard packages were so much lighter that the discs would not transport along the conveyor belts and fall down the rollered pathways that separate the shipments and which bring the whole LaBeouf-friendly-machines to a grinding halt.

Since there are no illegal immigrants sitting around monitoring these systems (they’re too busy cleaning the floors?) calls went out to the labels requesting they stop producing these green-friendly packages because retrofitting these automated systems would cost millions, jeopardizing the profits of not only America’s favorite retailer (who could that be?) but a couple others as well.

So a committee was formed by the National Association of Recording Merchants to investigate potential replacements for the polypropylene plastic “clam shell” that would still work with these behemoth auto sorters.

OK, I’m sure a few of you are thinking, “screw the CD jewel case. I don’t need those since I have an iPod,” but the thing is, discarded cell phones and MP3 players have much greater “end of life” issues than the jewel case so the digerati doesn’t hold the high ground here.

I thought the mass merchants were using this committee as a stall tactic to delay the expenditure on updating machinery, and they may have been initially, but as the committee explored the issue they began to unearth some surprising data.

Turns out the glues used to attach the plastic CD tray to the cardboard package are far worse to the environment than polypropylene plastic. And, the inks being used on the recycled papers can have more “end of life” issues than inks used on new paper inserts inside the jewel case.

The committee is now working with a highly respected “carbon consulting” firm and the leading academic from an Ivy league University who specializes in “green chemistry” to find the best solution for the industry and the environment.

Either way, it’s likely to cost money to make the change. Think the Waltons’ four positions on the richest 20 in the world list are in jeopardy?

One thing is certain: The CD is not going away any time in the foreseeable future, so identifying a better “green” package is the responsible thing to do.

Modern rock rocks: The latest Arbitron results indicate my radio show “Sunday Morning on the River” on KIWR 89.7 is No. 1 in its time slot, dominating the 18 to 49 age demo for the time period, 6-9 a.m. on Sundays. Just goes to show mixing cool new music that you won’t hear anywhere else with some familiar but tasteful hits and forgotten “deep” classics can indeed work and attract a large audience even at the ungodly-early time slot of Sunday morning. Take a break from the Sunday morning talking heads and tune in. It will get your day off to a much more enjoyable start.

Rock the Vote: Since public voting for the OEAs continues through late September get out and attend the Mid-American Music festival Sept. 3-7 at a dozen venues in downtown Benson and then get online at OEA-Awards.com and vote.