The Sustainability Ruse

Guitar players are no strangers to the word “sustainability.” Large and small brands market to us, making claims of greater levels of responsible manufacturing and calling on our virtues to get buy-in for their eco-conscious materials and methods.

Many of these “sustainable” materials aren’t made from wood at all. They’re carbon-fiber composites, resin drenched paper byproducts, epoxy-laminated bodies, polymer blends, and other synthetic creations. Companies market them as green because they eliminate or reduce the pressure on wood demand. 

Here’s the rub, though: these synthetic ingredients are often petroleum-derived or energy-intensive to produce. They don’t biodegrade. They persist in landfills for centuries, leach microplastics, and can’t be easily recycled. Even so-called “eco-resins” in some composites still rely on harsh chemistry that doesn’t return cleanly to the earth.

Contrast that with real, sustainably sourced wood from well-managed forests which are genuinely renewable. Trees grow back if we let them. When the guitar finally wears out decades or centuries later, it returns to the soil instead of a plastic graveyard. Sure, not all of even a truly sustainably sourced guitar is perfectly good for our environment- finishes, synthetic nuts and saddles, and electronics all contribute to landfills and contamination. It’s a heck of a lot better than plastic and epoxy guitar bodies though.

So, what’s the reality? Manufacturers create cheaper materials to make it less expensive for them to produce guitars. Sometimes, it’s to get the price down far enough for the consumer that we’ll buy more of them. The sustainability claim of many synthetic materials is really just a convenient corporate back pat to justify the use of cheaper materials. Does it contribute to the micro- the sustainability of wood use? Sure. Is it truly sustainability in the macro- waste, contamination, and recyclability? No.

To be clear, I get it. Guitars are expensive. Great, high quality guitars are really expensive. Guitars are somewhat fragile and prone to issues brought on by temperature and humidity. Cheaper materials allow more people to access guitars. Some materials, which aren’t always cheaper, like carbon fiber, allow for the creation of durable instruments without the same fragility concerns. Also, I’m not judging, protesting, or, quite honestly, caring if you buy a synthetic guitar. If that’s what fits your needs and budget, go for it. I’m just calling out the fallacy being presented to us as consumers in the name of greener practices.

Most materials being claimed as more eco-friendly alternatives to real, responsibly sourced wood are in fact worse for the environment, and us, in the long run. If sustainability doesn’t enter into your purchasing equation, then none of this matters. If it does, then I encourage you to do a simple sniff check. Are you really buying something that is what it claims to be? If not, then are you even getting the quality you think you are- just because of the name on the headstock?