{"id":4637,"date":"2009-07-09T23:13:26","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T23:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=4637"},"modified":"2009-07-09T23:13:26","modified_gmt":"2009-07-09T23:13:26","slug":"music-festivals-gone-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/music-festivals-gone-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Music Festivals that are Going Green"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"If you are like me, you’re going to hit as many music festivals this summer as your wallet can handle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be joined by hundreds of thousands of people heading out to enjoy great band performances. <\/span>Of course, that also means hundreds of thousands of people eating packaged food and drinking bottled water (and other substances) and all the waste that entails. And let\u2019s not forget the tons of fossil fuels burned just getting there.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, many festival programmers and organizers have been working behind the scenes<\/strong> for years to try to mitigate some of the environmental impact of these annual throngs of music-lovers. <\/span>They all adhere to the \u2018reduce, reuse, recycle\u2019 principles at the heart of greening their festivals, but that is just the beginning. <\/span>Most are upping the ante on green initiatives. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Here I highlight just five of this summer\u2019s festivals and their creative and inspiring eco-initiatives: <\/strong><\/h3>\n

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1. Bumbershoot, Seattle<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bumbershoot<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/em> is a leader in green festivals<\/strong>. <\/span>To begin with, organizers have creatively applied the re-use principle by turning their old signage into new Bumbershoot bags. A small local business called Alchemy Goods turns old rubber and vinyl into bags. \"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>All this is after the festival signs have already been used multiple times. <\/span>First they print most of their new signage locally on 100% recyclable material using 100% VOC<\/span> and solvent-free inks. <\/span>Then they re-use a large percentage of the previous year\u2019s signs for the current year\u2019s promotion. <\/span><\/p>\n

To power up the festival, Bumbershoot uses clean energy<\/strong> from Seattle City Light, a long-time carbon neutral energy provider. <\/span>Its refrigerator trucks are biodiesel powered and its Northwest Rooms that showcase festival art is solar-powered. <\/span>In addition, Bumbershoot sells pesticide- and sweatshop-free cotton T-shirts and has a vendor ban on Styrofoam use.<\/p>\n

2. Lollapalooza, Chicago<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/em><\/a>Lollapalooza<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/em> continues its eco-traditions this year<\/strong> with the Green Street area and Rock and Recycle program. <\/span>In addition to great local and organic food, Green Street showcases retailers selling green goods, local non-profits, and solar cell-phone recharge stations. <\/span>They only accept vendors selling sustainable, eco-friendly, and\/or fair trade products.<\/p>\n

The Rock and Recycle program works like this<\/strong>: every official Lollapalooza program guide has a detachable Green Card, which users get stamped at various sites and activities throughout Grant Park. <\/span>For example, concert-goers pick up a free recycling bag at one of the four Rock and Recycle stations, return their recyclables, and get stamps as well the chance to win a free t-shirt. <\/span>Green Card holders can also earn stamps for taking public transit, riding their bike, and refilling their reusable water bottle at one of the refill stations. <\/span>Green card holders with three stamps or more have a chance to win a 2010 Honda Insight hybrid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like many other festivals, ticket-buyers have the option of purchasing a $5 carbon offset, called BeGreen Fan Tag. <\/span>The goal this year is to sell 10,000 carbon offset tags. <\/span><\/p>\n

3. High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA <\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>The<\/strong> High Sierra Music Festival<\/a> is a 4-day community camping and music extravaganza.<\/strong> <\/span>High Sierra actively promotes responsible camping, following the \u201cLeave No Trace\u201d principles. <\/span>Visitors are given a bag for waste and a bag for recyclables when they arrive. <\/span>Priority camping spots are given to sustainable campers and this year they have a cool, new incentive: the campsite that is the most creative, clean, and sustainable will be honored publicly on the last day of the festival and win camping gear. <\/span>Daily finalists receive drink vouchers, late-night performances wristbands, Leave No Trace memberships, and HSMF gear. <\/span><\/p>\n

The festival also partners with local farmers<\/strong> to divert food scraps from the landfill with its composting program and also teams up with sustainable companies like Bay-area based Clifbar and Colorado-based and wind-powered New Belgium Brewing Company in the Start Global Cooling campaign. Like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, it offers the option to purchase a $2.50 Be Green Energy Tag to offset the carbon imprint of driving to the festival. <\/span><\/p>\n

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4. Rothbury Festival<\/strong>, Michigan<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Rothbury Festival<\/a> is not only on top of the pack with regard to greening initiatives<\/strong>, it has gained a reputation for being an innovator in sustainability projects. <\/span>Its motto is to \u2018throw a HUGE party with a purpose\u2019. <\/span>In addition to selling Green Tags to help offset festival-goers carbon output, Rothbury has invested in the Tatanka Wind Farm<\/a>, the largest wind farm in the Dakotas, to offset its own staff and band members\u2019 carbon air-print.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

Rothbury hosts the Sustainable Schools Program<\/a>, <\/strong>partnering with local company to install two wind-turbines at local Michigan schools. They also run the Green Rocks! Contest<\/em>, challenging local school children in grades 1-8 with the question, \u201cHow can you make your school or community more sustainable?\u201d\u00a0Classrooms submitted their ideas, ranging from live roofs to green building and winners and prizes were recently announced.<\/p>\n

Other notable eco-initiatives<\/strong> at Rothbury include: the \u2018V-Bike\u2019 by Viability, an 8 person bicycle that generates renewable, carbon free power for an onsite digital recording studio; organic festival t-shirts; an annual food drive; and a cell phone recycling drive, where concert-goers can turn in old, unused mobile phones and in return get discount vouchers and a chance to win prizes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like the High Sierra Music Festival, Rothbury partners with Clifbar\u2019s GreenNotes program to help reduce fan transportation impact by both promoting rideshares among fans and assisting touring bands with ways to reduce their eco-footprint.<\/p>\n

5. Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Tennessee<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Camping<\/a>Bonnaroo<\/a> is dedicated to being a leader in sustainable festivals<\/strong>. <\/span>One of its primary guiding principles is \u201clocal is sustainable\u201d and in 2008 it was one of just six festivals worldwide that received the top-category recognition of \u2018Outstanding Greener Festival Award\u2019 from A Greener Festival Awards<\/a> (along with the other U.S. winner, Rothbury Festival in Wisconsin).<\/p>\n

Among the many ways it is living up to that award are sourcing food vendors and suppliers locally, having over 2000 recycling bins, stages powered with biodiesel blends, the Less Bottled Water Program, and hosting a food drive that benefits the Good Samaritan Food Pantry in Manchester, TN. <\/span>Find out more details about Bonnaroo’s green initiatives on Timothy Hurst’s post from last month: Bonnaroo, the Green(er) Summer Music Festival<\/a>,<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been to a festival lately,<\/strong> you probably have seen the color-coded bins: green for compost, blue for recycling, and orange for landfill. <\/span>This is the work of Clean Vibes<\/a>, the premier waste manager for festivals, including Bonnaroo. <\/span>They also partner with Lollapalooza, High Sierra, Outside Lands, Power to the People, and many other festivals, to manage waste streams, diverting tens of thousands of pounds of recyclables and compostable materials from the landfill.<\/p>\n

While there is no doubt that there is still a long way to go on the path towards sustainability, these green initiatives are a welcome eco-step forward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is clear that music festivals are not only about fun, music, art, and community, but are also evolving into ways to empower people and educate about sustainability. <\/span>So while your roaming summer music enjoyment can still be a shock to the wallet, it doesn\u2019t have to be as big of a shock to the earth.<\/p>\n

Photo Credits: Rothbury Recycling Bins–Beth and Christian<\/a>; Rothbury recycling store–yacht_boy<\/a>; High Sierra State– Five Low Notes<\/a>; Bonnaroo Camping–kloppster<\/a>; Bumbershoot–M.V. Jantzen<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Posts about Music Festivals: <\/strong><\/h3>\n