Many musicians, along with a myriad of celebrities, are becoming vocal about environmental issues. What few people realise is the amount of damage inflicted by music concerts and festivals.
Showtime energy consumption, coupled with food and drink stalls, logistics of getting numerous bands to the site as well as the amount of rubbish generated by festival-goers can have an enormous impact on the planet.
Lead singer of Radiohead, Thom Yorke, is one of the musicians that has voiced his concern about environmental damage at concerts. Yorke told UK’s Guardian newspaper he would “consider refusing to tour on environmental grounds, if nothing started happening to change the way the touring operates.” Yorke explained, “Some of our best ever shows have been in the US, but there’s 80,0000 people there and they’ve all been sitting in traffic jams for five or six hours with their engines running to get there, which is bollocks.”
South Africa is home to a number of music concerts and festivals that attract thousands, such as the Up The Creek concert near Swellendam, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Oppikoppi in the North West Province, Splasy Fen in Natal, Pink Loerie Mardi Gras in Knysna, Southern Cross Music Festiva in Mooi River, Woodstock in Hartbeespoort, Aardklop in Potchefstroom, RAMFEST and Rocking the Daisies, to name a few.
Internationally, there are a few organisations that help bands and rock concert organisers clean up (or “green up”) their tours and festivals. REVERB is a non-profit organisation that has worked with Dave Mathews Band, Sheryl Crow, Paramore as well as Jack Johnson to create greener concerts by helping concert-goers and organisers lower their carbon footprint. The organisation also held a Campus Conscious Tour in 2010, which was half rock tour, half environmental campaign, throughout America. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) also has a Music & Environment Initiative and a number of recording labels, musicians and festivals have joined in order to promote the reduction of GHG emissions at festivals and concerts.
“No budget” for green festivals
According to Oursouthwest.com, outdoor concerts and small festivals often take place on sites that have little or no facilities like parks of village greens and they are often organised by teams of volunteers on a small or no budget. “All these factors can seem to make a ‘greener’ and more sustainable event difficult to achieve,” says the organisation, which champions resilient sustainability in South West England.
“It’s worth remembering that the public’s expectation is that these types of events become greener, so not doing certain things (like recycling) can have a negative impact not only on the environment, but on the reputation of the event,” says Oursouthwest.com.
According to the organisation, there are three key factors that contribute to environmental damage at these events:
- CO2 emissions from power and transport: It’s difficult to cut down on transport because the event infrastructure (toilets etc) need to be brought to site and most guests travel by car to get to the festival.
- Waste and pollution from rubbish and noise: An astonishing amount of waste is produced by the public and traders at these festivals. Most events have recycling bins (many people will notice if you don’t provide these facilities). Providing napkins (instead of paper plates) and refilling cups can help reduce the amount of waste that is generated from food and drink.
- Sourcing food, drink and other products: Sourcing from local companies is a good way to reduce transport miles. Organisers should also try to source seasonal and organic products.
Local green initiatives
Locally, rock band The Parlotones held two “carbon free” concerts at Emperors Palace in January. The group is promoting the carbon-free initiative, a venture SABC3 launched in cooperation with CarbonWorx in August last year. RAMfest, which will be hosting three concerts in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in 2011 has also called on the public to help keep the event as environmentally friendly as possible. “Bring rubbish bags to keep your area clean. All rubbish bags will be collected by our cleaners and sorted into the relevant recycling bins,” reads a posting by RAMfest organisers on Hilltoplive.co.za.
Next time you are at one of the many popular music concerts, consider the amount of waste that gets generated from the entire crowd, bands and crews when throwing away your drink cups, cardboard carriers, bottles or pizza box. You can also voice your support for some of the bands that are walking the walk.
Some green bands:
- Green Day partnered with the Natural Resources Defence Council in the US on a Move America Beyond Oil campaign and they have made a number of YouTube videos voicing support for environmental protection.
- Pearl Jam donated $100,000 to nine organisations working on renewable energy, climate change and other green causes back in 2006.
- Moby limits his touring to cut down on his environmental impact. He is also a vegan and a big supporter of PETA and the Humane Society.
- Cloud Cult formed Earthology, the first non-profit record label in 1999.
The liveeco team
