It's great to see artists and labels finding ways to inject green thinking into their work.

Last fall, Houston-based Compadre Records announced a slew of eco-conscious changes to its standard business practices. For example, beginning with the release of Trent Willmon's Broken In next month, all CDs will come in biodegradable packaging instead of plastic jewel cases. The label — now part of Music World Entertainment — also plans to make liner notes and credits available via download rather than the printed inserts we're accustomed to today.

Austin musician Billy Harvey is driving nearly 8,000 miles in a 1981 Mercedes that runs on waste vegetable oil. He's touring in support of a new 2-disc release, Grow Garden Grow, which features 28 songs created in the word-of-the-day songwriting game he plays with Bob Schneider, among others:

We all agree on a single title and then we each separately write a song using that title. After years of playing the game I decided to compile some of my favorite songs/recordings so that other people could participate in the result of this work. The green theme was to enforce the organic nature of this body of work, and the creative process in general which happens all around us and in spite of us.

Dan Dyer is going green for his third album, a self-titled release from Fat Caddy Records that "features a hand-made CD packaging produced from 100% recycled materials, using non-toxic and soy-based inks."