{"id":32412,"date":"2021-09-24T07:43:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T02:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/music-festivals-are-ushering-in-an-era-of-environmentalism\/"},"modified":"2021-09-24T07:44:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T02:14:24","slug":"music-festivals-are-ushering-in-an-era-of-environmentalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/music-festivals-are-ushering-in-an-era-of-environmentalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Festivals Are Ushering in an Era of Environmentalism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When Guster took the stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater in July 2021, it was a triumphant return after months of lockdown amid a pandemic that forced live music into hiatus. As the opening bars of \u201cDo You Love Me\u201d rang out, fans started to sing along in a pure expression of joy, knowing that they were taking part in history.<\/p>\n

This Guster concert was the first to be held at the venue as a climate-positive event. This concert was a small step in the right direction towards addressing the rapidly heating planet. It also showed how music festivals can lead the way towards environmentalalism. As music festivals are slowly returning, there is an argument to be made that they shouldn\u2019t return in the form we once knew. Instead, live music\u2019s triumphant return should hinge on a more concerted (pun intended!) Music should be more eco-conscious.<\/p>\n

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For example, the Guster concert felt and looked like a regular concert. REVERB, a Guster member and Lauren Sullivan’s wife, was funded by $1 per ticket. In order to reduce the environmental impact of their concerts, the group partners with festivals and venues, as well musicians such as Pink, Billie Eilish and Dave Matthews Band.<\/p>\n

REVERB works to make concerts and tours climate positive by offsetting a show\u2019s entire carbon footprint (including fan, band, crew travel, accommodations, energy use at the venue, etc.). They support vetted projects that will reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases by significantly more than the concert produced, thus making it climate friendly. They also lead the effort to encourage venues to make small environmental changes, such as switching from plastic straws to paper and encouraging refillable water bottles. \u201cWe\u2019ve eliminated over four million single-use plastic water bottles just through that program,\u201d Gardner says. There are more festivals and venues joining the band as it focuses on environmental issues. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot more interest from venues and promoters than ever before,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just REVERB working towards a sustainable revolution in the music world, of course. Since 2002, Norway\u2019s \u00d8ya Festival has set out to be one of the world\u2019s greenest events. \u201cFor us, this means finding sustainable solutions for waste, food, transportation, energy, and the things we buy \u2013 from toilet paper to power grids,\u201d Claes Osen, the festival’s founder, said. \u201cWe want our festival to contribute to a sustainable future \u2013 and work towards a festival that is renewable, plant-based, and circular.\u201d Some of the steps include creating a carbon-free construction site, removing single-use plastics, encouraging people to walk, bike, or use public transport, mandating food packaging to be compostable, and hand-sorting all waste to ensure that there is as much recyclable material as possible. \u201cBy sorting as much as possible instead of throwing everything as waste, we have saved 14,000 kg CO2,\u201d Olsen says. \u201cThis corresponds to emissions from 11 cars for an entire year.\u201d<\/p>\n

What \u00d8ya does at a small scale (it\u2019s capped at 20,000 attendees), San Francisco\u2019s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival does with a capacity of 80,000. \u201cOur overall goal at Outside Lands is to be the industry leader in large-scale event sustainability,\u201d says Morgan Fitzgibbons, Director of Sustainability and Community Engagement of Outside Lands. It means working to reduce carbon emissions, eliminate single-use plastic and most importantly, inspiring fans to share the message about environmental responsibility. \u201cWe feel that maximizing our positive cultural impact is every bit as important as minimizing our waste during our event,\u201d says Fitzgibbons.<\/p>\n

Jan Portheine was one such fan who felt moved to encourage change. He came up with the idea for his company after seeing \u201ca graveyard of plastic tents\u201d left in the wake of a festival. \u201cThat\u2019s where he started thinking that a cardboard sleeping tent, which is fully recyclable, could solve the problem,\u201d Sofie Van Eeden is KarTent’s marketing manager. The company now crafts temporary cardboard shelters that serve as an easy and fully recyclable option for festival attendees who don\u2019t want to lug a tent from, say, Nevada to the Bonnaroo grounds. Instead, festival organizers can offer KarTent as an affordable, environmentally-friendly option made from 73% recycled cardboard that can be turned back into paper when the festival is over.<\/p>\n

FestivalChair is another company that has made innovative steps towards creating environmentally-friendly products. This versatile stool can support up to 440 pounds. It\u2019s stylish and made of FSC certified cardboard, much of which comes from recycled sources. While it\u2019s designed to be quickly folded up and reused, it is also completely recyclable, allowing for easy, sustainable seating options for temporary festivals that don\u2019t want to leave a permanent mark on the planet.<\/p>\n

These are just two examples that show how concert venues and festivals can switch to renewables in place of plastics. Artists and promoters looking for more ways to help improve sustainability efforts can team up with an organization like REVERB to help make touring and festivals more \u00a0mindful, while connecting with fans. \u201cThe fans are so crucial to pushing sustainability at events,\u201d says Outside Lands\u2019 Fitzgibbons. \u201cWe can create the best-laid plans, but unless fans bring a conscientious attitude, whether by bringing their own water bottle, or taking a moment at the waste bins to make sure they are sorting their trash properly, then it all kind of falls apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans are the secret to making these environmental pushes effective, and because they\u2019re already engaged on a certain level just by being at the festival, it\u2019s an excellent opportunity to push for real change. As Fitzgibbons says, \u201cWe really hope that the effort we put in at the event reverberates out and affects the choices fans make in their everyday lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn how you can be a force for nature at PaperForNature.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n