The Green Music Scene

Throughout history, music has created movements to inspire generations to make a change. From Elvis’ gyrating hips to Beatlemania to Nirvana’s voice for an unrepresented generation, these artists bound together audiences from all walks of life and made us realize that what we listen to, in a sense, reflects what we believe.

Some bands are now taking this energy and putting it toward the environment. While artists such as Michael Jackson and Joni Mitchell composed songs that made a statement for the planet during their time, today’s rock stars are taking it to another level. We’re starting to hear more than just eco-friendly lyrics. We’re in the midst of a musical change.

"Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse; And if the first two R's don't work out; And if you've got to make some trash, don't throw it out Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle." - lyrics from Jack Johnson's "The 3 R's" Photo: Rollingstone.com

Artists are taking their environmental voice on stage and on tour as music festivals and concerts take on a shade of green. This trend has reached a broad spectrum of performers and festivals, and here are some of our favorites.

Artists Grabbing the Green Mic

Jack Johnson

While Planet Green calls him the “quintessential surfer dude gone rock,” Jack Johnson is one of the more well known artists that is taking a major environmental stand.

In fact, Johnson started the Kokua Hawaii Foundation to support environmental education in the state by teaching kids about Hawaii’s environment and what they can do to better it.

On his 2008 World Tour, Johnson’s buses, coaches and generators were powered by biodiesel fuels and included recycling venues. Johnson also kept track of his total CO2 emissions from his tour as he strives to be 100 percent carbon neutral.

As a result, 4,172 metric tons of CO2 were offset from the tour – 65 percent through contributions to renewable energy and 35 percent from program that protect large tracts of old-growth jungles and forests.

Along with several other artists including Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnson works with Reverb, a company that helps musicians green up their tours. The artist also has a “Greening” section on his Web site to educate fans about environmentally friendly practices and overall human impact on the planet.

Radiohead

“Touring is very important to us, a large part of the joy and passion of what we do, and we are committed to finding more responsible ways of doing it,” says Radiohead.

The band is concerned about more than just its own eco-footprint. Radiohead also includes its fans’ footprint as well. Partnering with Best Foot Forward, and Oxford-based company that is committed to reducing carbon emissions, Radiohead analyzed its tours in big American cities versus its shows in small ones. The band based its calculation on transportation, food consumption and waste left behind.

"The way that tours are structured now and the way it works is a ridiculous consumption of energy...I would consider refusing to tour on environmental grounds," Radiohead's Thom Yorke told The Guardian in 2006. "If nothing started happening to change the way the touring operates." Photo: Meandtheartisitsilike.blogspot.com

The result? Radiohead found that the majority of emissions stem from transportation and now encourages its fans to use public transportation or carpooling.

In fact, if average car occupancy increased from 2.2 to 3, the whole tour’s overall CO2 output would be reduced by 22 percent, according to the report from Best Foot Forward. Therefore, the band plays in cities where public transportation is readily available to all concert-goers.

Willie Nelson

“There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it,” Willie Nelson told the Associated Press in 2005.

The iconic singer was on board the biofuel bus long before the concept began dominating the headlines. Nelson has been a fighter for sustainable farming for decades. In fact, he organized Farm Aid over two decades ago in order to draw attention to the plight of American agriculture.

Today the singer has his own biodiesel fuel, aptly named BioWillie. Nelson has also opened an eco-friendly truck stop in Carl’s Corner, Texas, where truckers can fill up their tanks with 5 percent and 85 percent biofuel. Nelson is reaching out to a community that is hard for environmentalists to break in to. However, Nelson is able to communicate directly to this group, and people really listen.

Festivals Getting Back to Their Roots

Bonnaroo

The 2008 “outstanding” Greener Festival Award winner, Bonnaroo flaunts more than its big-name headliners. Based in the tiny town of Manchester, Tenn., the concert is a leader in environmental awareness within the festival circuit. Its 2009 festival focused on a “Buy Local” message and also boasted its highest recycling rate yet.

Once the music ended and the crowds dispersed, the landscape of Manchester, Tenn. was littered with beer bottles, plastic soda bottles and aluminum cans. According to Martin Smith with the Orange Grove Recycling Center, the facility has collected about 45 tons of recyclable waste since Bonnaroo ended on June 14.

The festival also had a high composting rate and made a point to educate concert-goers about everything from carbon reduction and solar energy to reducing bottled water usage and recycling as much as possible. The festival was an aesthetic testament to the environment as well with permanent water wells, a composting pad and the new Bonnaroo Victory Vegetable Garden.

The energy consumption of large concerts can be off the charts. However, some major music festivals are using the large crowds and waste to generate renewable energy and create a more sustainable entertainment venue. Photo: Brooklynvegan.com

Bumbershoot Festival

It makes sense that eco-trend setting music festival would take place in the one of the greenest cities in the U.S. Based in Seattle, Wash., the Bumbershoot Festival has a long-standing history of going green.

According to its Web site, Bumbershoot has been environmentally friendly for four decades! From recycling to eco-art to merchandise, the festival has its eco-friendly practices down to a science.

Just like Seattle, which has continuously raised its recycling rate for five consecutive years, Bumbershoot ups its eco-ante every year with more hydration stations to reduce bottled water usage, organic cotton merchandise and tons of recycling bins.

The festival also took preemptive measures to stay green by banning vendor Styrofoam use and using energy from Seattle City Light for the Labor Day weekend event.

This year’s festival will have even more opportunities for fans to contribute to the environment with Bumbershoot Gives Back, a new program that supports local nonprofits for a more sustainable community.

VANS Warped Tour

This is where grunge meets green in one of the most interesting ways we’ve ever seen. VANS has teamed up with EarthEcho, an environmental nonprofit group, to create ecoRoadie, an online and onsite gaming challenge that combines the fans and bands together in a challenge to save the oceans and get some crazy eco-points.

There are weekly challenges for the competitors, each having a significant environmental impact. For the week of June 26, fans and bands are encouraged to recycle their used cell phones by bringing them to the Warped Eco Initiative tent on any show date for a proper “non-burial.”

Past challenges have included conserving water in true “Meet the Fockers” style by adhering to “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush down” motto. The winning teams and total water savings will be announced on Aug. 23. VANS is also calling on fans’ creative sides with its third challenge: designing an original Klean Kanteen water bottle in an effort to discourage disposable water bottle usage.

Be a Part of a Rad Movement

So you didn’t make it to Bonnaroo this year, or perhaps you just can’t shell out the money for a Jack Johnson ticket. No worries. The most important point that these artists and festivals make is that it doesn’t take fame, money or 40,000 screaming fans to make a difference. It just takes one individual with the will and the motivation to make a change. As Van Halen says, Hey! It’s your tomorrow.