Concerts Going Green: Part 2

Energy Consumption

 

1. Transport

 

Some of these music festivals have tried to encourage its festival goers to reduce their transport emissions by incentivizing them through various means.

 

One example would be Coachella Music festival, where they tried to reduce their C02 transport emissions through creating a challenge called #carpoolchella. Through this challenge the festival goers were encouraged to carpool with 4 or more people in their cars instead of having them split up into their own cars which would generate more C02 emissions. Of the people who participated in this challenge, some of them would be rewarded with prizes based on their carpool experience as well as how decorated their carpool car is.

 

 

Another example would be how in 2011, Glastonbury Music Festival introduced the ‘Green Traveller Initiative’ where festival goers were rewarded with prizes and discounts at the festival if they took either public transport or rode a bicycle to the event.

 

2. Event Itself

 

The event itself does also consume large amounts of energy as seen by the numerous generators needed to power it. However, in the case of powering the entire event, it is very hard to find a more environmentally friendly alternative, especially if it a very large festival. That being said, smaller events such as Bimble Bandada have experimented and succeeded with using solar power to power the event instead of relying on pollutive energy generators. While this may not be feasible for larger scale events as of now, it is a step in the right direction for festivals as a whole.

 

For now, more large scale festivals such as Glastonbury can stick to reducing their environmental impact, as they have been doing, by using 100% biodiesel fuel to power their generators. This in turn emits 85% less carbon than ordinary diesel. While it may not result in as big of an impact as having the entire festival be solar powered, it is still an improvement from what they were initially doing.

Music events centered around the environment

 

Apart from the older music festivals that are currently adopting more environmentally friendly practices, newer forms of music festivals built upon the principles of environmental sustainability have been created with the sole purpose of promoting both music and sustainability together.

 

One example would be the Rainbow Serpent Festival held in Australia. This festival aims to be the world’s first zero-waste festival and are well on their way to doing so. According to their website, they follow an environmental policy where they are committed to:

 

1. Educate and inspire positive environmental change
2. Lead by example
3. Focus on tangible areas as energy, carbon emissions, resource use and recycling, and support the creation of sustainable systems within the festival.
4. Review their targets and work to put their strategic plan into practice
5. Communicate this environmental policy to employees, volunteers, patrons, vendors and relevant stakeholders of the festival.
6. Comply with all the environmental laws, regulations and codes of practice

 

Their full policy is available on their website: should you be interested in reading more:https://rainbowserpent.net/sustainability/environmental-policy/

 

Here is a video that will also help to explain more about this festival:

 

 

In my next post I will be talking about a music festival in Singapore that is centered around the environment. So stay tuned for that.

 

References:

 

Sustainable Concerts: Music Festivals Take Steps to Go Green. (2020, March 18). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.drinkflowater.com/blog/sustainable-concerts-music-festivals-take-steps-to-go-green/

 

Sustainability. (2018, July 08). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://rainbowserpent.net/sustainability/

 

Sing, N. (2020, February 13). Why so many musicians are greening up their live shows. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/03/world/green-touring-intl-c2e/index.html

 

Home. (2019, June 11). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://byobottle.org/

 

Bug, B. (2020, January 09). BYOBottle: The Future of Sustainable Concerts and Festivals. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://burgundyzine.com/byobottle-the-future-of-sustainable-concerts-and-festivals/

 

Environmental Policy. (2018, June 18). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://rainbowserpent.net/sustainability/environmental-policy/

 

Paton, A., McCullen, P., & House, M. (2014, July). What effects do UK music festivals have on the environment & how can they become more environmentally friendly?. In Contemporary Perspectives in Tourism and Hospitality Research: Policy, practice and performance (pp. 0-0), from https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/476990/McCullen+TPPP+paper.pdf