Bonnaroo 2006.
Photo: Sarah van Schagen.
I'm sitting in the middle of a field in rural Tennessee, and it feels like it's got to be 110 degrees out. Somehow I've forgotten about my sweat-lined brow and muddy shoes; instead, I'm focused on listening to Bonnaroo's head press guy, Ken Weinstein of Big Hassle Media, talk about the music festival's ongoing efforts to put on a greener event. "No one likes to be trendy," he says. "But as trends go, this greening shit is pretty cool."
The "greening shit" he's referring to is certainly a growing trend among music festivals. From dishing out organic food on compostable dishware to using recycled toilet paper in the port-o-potties to powering stages with solar energy or biodiesel, festivals around the country are getting creative in their efforts to be green. Some, like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, are even devoting venue space to the issue, inviting artists and fans to participate in educational activities and visit informational booths staffed by nonprofits (like Grist).
But can a music festival ever truly be green? An hour in a line of idling vehicles waiting to reach Bonnaroo's entry gates answered that question for one Grist staffer. Certainly any event requiring masses of people to travel is already in the red when it comes to being green. Whether an event is in an urban center or in the center of a field starts to matter big-time when you're aiming for sustainability.
The sheer volume of trash generated by one of these multi-day events is also a massive issue. Last year's Bonnaroo festival produced more than 1 million pounds of waste, but recycling, composting, and reuse efforts kept more than half of it from ever reaching a landfill.
As cities across the world this week begin preparing for the climate-change-focused Live Earth concerts on 7/7/07 (an event that has come under fire itself), I decided to take a closer look at what some of the major music festivals in the U.S. are doing (or have done) this year to address climate issues.
I've graded them based on overall intent and six specific factors: ubiquity of recycling bins; use of green power sources like solar, biodiesel, and wind; presence of green exhibits or educational aspects; purchase of carbon offsets; direction of donations or proceeds to green causes; and availability of organic and local food options.
Unfortunately (for the music fan in me, but probably fortunately for the planet), I haven't been able to travel to all of these festivals and judge them firsthand. Instead, I've relied on the festival websites, press releases, media coverage, and event organizers themselves when possible -- not as good as being there, but it does help indicate how well the festivals are communicating green initiatives to fans.
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South by Southwest
Where: Austin, Texas
When: March 9-18, 2007
Who: 27,000 attendees
The scoop: In addition to offsetting energy use at concert venues during the festival, SXSW organizers accounted for energy used all year at their offices. They also boosted mass-transit options for festivalgoers and assisted in local tree-planting efforts.
The score: B-
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Coachella
Where: Indio, California
When: April 27-29, 2007
Who: 100,000 attendees
The scoop: Apart from a partnership with youth-focused eco-group Global Inheritance that resulted in an alternative-energy display and carpooling incentives, this Hollywood-heavy festival showed little green initiative.
The score: C-
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Sasquatch!
Where: The Gorge, George, Washington
When: May 26-27, 2007
Who: 22,000 attendees
The scoop: Via Sustainable Energy Partner's Carbon Harmony program, the event was over 100 percent offset, but that's about as green as it got. Aside from the Global Inheritance TRASHed Recycling Store, there was nary a recycling bin in sight.
The score: D
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
Where: Manchester, Tennessee
When: June 14-17, 2007
Who: 80,000 attendees
The scoop: The jam-band festival's ongoing efforts to be greener this year include use of non-VOC paints, organic cotton T-shirts, recycled toilet paper, a festival-wide composting program, and a solar-powered stage.
The score: B+
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Lollapalooza
Where: Grant Park, Chicago
When: Aug. 3-5, 2007
Who: 165,000 attendees
The scoop: Former Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell has worked hard to green this fest, which this year will use biodiesel to power vendor stands and solar energy to power a small stage. Additionally, a Green Street area will feature nonprofit-staffed booths to educate concertgoers on eco-issues, and 'Palooza proceeds will benefit Chicago's Parkways Foundation.
The score: A-
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Bumbershoot
Where: Seattle, Washington
When: Sept. 1-3, 2007
Who: 150,000 attendees
The scoop: This long-established nonprofit music festival is aiming to fully integrate green initiatives into its operations and hopes to get festivalgoers on board by offering rewards (like cash!) for recycling. Because of its urban location (read: limited parking), bikers and carpoolers will also be encouraged with incentives.
The score: B-
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Austin City Limits Music Festival
Where: Zilker Park, Austin, Texas
When: Sept. 14-16, 2007
Who: 165,000 attendees
The scoop: Festival promoters helped jumpstart an Austin Parks & Rec plan to install an irrigation system on the Zilker Park grounds, providing healthier grass for concertgoers and park users year-round. ACL will also feature a special area within festival grounds to highlight various environmental nonprofit groups.
The score: B+
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Comments View as Flat
sarahbei Posted 5:49 am
03 Jul 2007
NC music fests
I worked on Signal Festival, an annual electronic music festival in April in Chapel Hill, NC. We composted for our meet & greet.
- I got some compostable utensils from the folks who do Durham, NC's Festival for the Eno River.
- Chapel Hill's local waste department dropped off and picked up the compost bin (with some reluctance)
- I had two volunteers to help make sure that no one threw anything in the compost that wasn't compostable
The host venue didn't have to do a thing. That's the way they wanted it...Any system that relies on the festivalgoer to figure out by themselves which bin to throw something into is doomed -- sorting has to be either done by staff/volunteers or done with staff/volunteer assistance, unfortunately....
Perhaps if it's during the day and people aren't wasted some folks MIGHT do it right, if you have some of the bins that have openings shaped like what you're recycling to prevent mistakes. If it's at night or inside and people are the only thing lit, forget it!
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kdurance Posted 7:26 am
03 Jul 2007
You should check out the Telluride Bluegrass Fest
Just got back from 4 days in Telluride where TBF (hosted by Planet Bluegrass) went totally Carbon Neutral this year.
"This year we are taking the historic final step toward a 100% carbon neutral festival by purchasing 4,111,699 KWh of electricity from renewable sources to offset the emissions from all festival travel to/from Telluride."
http://www.bluegrass.com/green/
It was a pretty amazing sight to see volunteers on top of three large dumpsters labeled: Compost, Recycle and Trash. Beer cups were reused w/ cheaper beer if you brought your cup back - disposable cups were made of corn and fully compostable. Even those who were full "trashed" took the cheaper beer incentive to heart (yay New Belgium for the support).
There was much talk throughout the festival of the environmental impact (including artist anhttp://www.bluegrass.com/green/d festivarian travel) w/ nonprofit booths located within the grounds to offer education on energy related topics.
I believe the stage was powered by Biodiesel generators as well.
There was even a sizable group of festivarians who traveled to Telluride by bike (amazing!!) who got lots of cheers from the crowd.
The festival was over 10,000 people strong (obviously not Bonnaroo sized but still a good crowd) and did an amazing job of sorting types of trash, keeping people interested, and tying the town of Telluride into the whole thing (cups sold in town are also compostable and I think they do this year round).
Anyway just thought I'd give a shout out to the folks at Planet Bluegrass - they are doing a great job!
Kristen
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oldtactics Posted 1:03 am
04 Jul 2007
Bonnaroo
I agree with your assessment but you've forgotten to mention the massive environmental-and-social awareness 'street' where there were at least a dozen booths (if not more) set up collecting donations and handing out information about a variety of organizations in the US. I don't know whether festival organizers were donating some of the money to these groups, but the average person certainly had an opportunity to donate at almost all of these booths. And smack right in the middle of these fantastic tents was none other than Grist!
Loved this article, loved Bonnaroo, keep up the good work guys :)
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WWAGD?! Posted 4:42 am
04 Jul 2007
Kent Meridian 4th of July "Splash"
I'll take care of monitoring the Kent (WA) Meridian 4th of July Festival for you. I'll be there in a few hours...
http://www.ci.kent.wa.us/arts/splash/activities.asp
The non-motorized dragon boat races should appeal to the Grist in all of us:
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dave stohler Posted 5:19 am
05 Jul 2007
Telluride
Kristen beat me to the punch. For years, Bluegrass has been doing a great job.
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scotq Posted 7:36 am
05 Jul 2007
SXSW and Bonnaroo
My organization, Dogwood Alliance, had the opportunity to attend both SXSW and Bonnaroo this year. Our current campaign focuses on the packaging problem and at both of these events we had the opportunity to talk to folks in the industry, bands and fans about music packaging.
At SXSW we did not have a table, but we attended the convention and so had all access. They held an excellent panel on greening the music biz that included Perry Ferrell, some great labels and studios like Tree Sound in Atlanta and Smog Veil in Chicago, and more. We would have liked to have a table, but working the floor seemed more productive. The only thing that would have made SXSW better for us would have been more access to bands to talk to them about their packaging choices.
Bonnaroo was a blast! We were a couple tables down from Grist in Planetroo... this was our 5th year tabling there and it gets better every year. We got thousands of signatures, 300+ photo petitions and some great video on what festival goers think about the environment, forests and music packaging. This is always a highlight in our year, because it is smack dab in the middle of one of the most special places in the South we are trying to protect... the Cumberland Plateau. Bonnaroo has gotten better and better over the years and this year was no exception. If you can stand the summer heat, festivals are a great way to connect with fans and supporters.
Thanks for the great piece and check out some of the interviews from B'roo... http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/content/view/118/28/
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John R Posted 1:59 am
09 Jul 2007
Telluride Bluegrass 07
We went about as organic as we could with regards to backstage catering this year, 100% being an almost unattainable goal. We've been using corn resin cups and flatware, recycled plates and paperware and recycling/composting for years. Telluride Blues and Brews has been doing the same thing. Offsetting our footprint as much as possible is a great business model to follow.
jr
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