Resources for becoming a more sustainable musician/music lover
Green Swag
Your band’s t-shirt is a great promotional tool and a fantastic souvenier. Too bad t-shirts and other clothing rank fourth in producing carbon emissions, after transportation, food, and housing.
We are researching and sharing companies, practices, and inspirations for going the sustainable way with your swag.
Check our article out about each stage of having more sustainable shirts.
Promotion
Putting up a flyer in the local coffee shop is a rite of passage for many musicians. Then a poster. Then print many posters, stickers, cd cases, and so on.
Musicians have been trying to figure out how to promote music in more earth friendly ways. We are sharing their ideas and resources.
Touring
The music indsustry is finally taking reducing the climate impact of touring. Reports commissioned by the bands Massive Attack and Coldplay are setting out guidelines for global tours.
Younger artists like AY Young and his Battery Tour and Dane Myers, powering concerts with his Tesla are changing touring for smaller tours. Stay tuned!
Northshore Printing
Northshore Printing has shirts, masks, and printed items that are environmentally friendly. Also, check out this inspiration about another eco-friendly way to have tour shirts.
A Greener Festival
Recycle Used Strings
D’Addario has an instrumental strings recycle program, Playback. Keep them out of landfills!
Decomposed:
The Political Ecology of Music
by Kyle Devine
Sea Us Rise's How to Green Your Schools booklet
Making and recording music has always used the earth’s resources. Decomposed, a prize winning book, explores the history of music recordings and how the digital age of music making and listening impacts the planet.
Download our How to Green Your Schools Booklet download for students, teachers, parents and all planet lovers. Simple clear steps on how to take action to make your school more earth friendly.
Greener Booking Agency
Encore Musicians claims that they are the world’s most sustainable booking agency. They plant trees and support sustainable projects for every booking, and help with carbon offsets.
Roadmap to Low Carbon Live Music
The band Massive Attack worked with UK’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research to publish this report: Live Music Roadmap Watch this video to find our more.
Trees of Music
Trees of Music is focusing on making classical music more sustainable through planting the Pernambuco tree in Brazil. Pernambuco is used in bow-making. Planting these trees will regreen parts of Brazil; provide sustainable livelihoods for farmers, and ease Pernambuco tree loss.
Are green CDs possible?
Discmakers reports that while actual cds (are people still using cds?) have to be made of plastic, there are a lot of ways to green the process. Recycling, using vegetable based inks, and lighter non-plastic packaging helps. Conversely, GreenDisk helps dispose of technotrash.
Julie’s Bicycle & other UK programmes
Julie’s Bicycle was created provide and share sustainable resources with musicians. You can see their infographics that help you think about facets of shows that can be greened.
Great Example: Jack Johnson Greening Music
Musician Jack Johnson has shown a 100% commitment to environmental protection for decades. Musicians can visit his sites (he has several music/environmental/community foundations) to see how it is done well.
The Big Event Companies Make Green Commitments
Who will hold them to it? If you are a festival/concert goer, here are the links to their commitments. Live Nation’s Green Nation; AEG’s Climate Positive Touring; Tour Production Group (TPG) started a working group, to name a few.
Listen Sustainably
House of Marley, and yes, it was founded by one of Bob Marley’s sons, creates audio devices out of recycled materials. These headphones, for example, are ” designed with FSC certified wood, recyclable aluminum, our eco-friendly REWIND™ fabric, durable stainless steel, and delivered in 100% recyclable packaging.”
Dance Powered Club
SWG3, a club in Glasgow powers it’s lights, sound system, air conditioning and heat, and other electric systems by using the body heat generated on the dance floor.
Vinyl is getting better
Vinyl records are made of plastic, so there is room for improvement. Lots of innovation in this area. Unified Manufacturing uses 100% wind power, soy ink, and other sustainable practices. Dutch group Green Vinyl Records who are revolutionizing record making and materials.
Meadows in the Mountain Music Fest
MMMF is an amazing music fest nestled in a Bulgarian mountain range. This decade old fest is dedicated to being green. Vendors don’t supply cups or bottles, food is composted, and eco-toilets are used.
Offset Your Tour's Carbon Footprint
Right now we haven’t yet figured out how to significantly reduce our impact on the planet. At least we can amend some of the damage through carbon offsets. CarbonFund.org is one group that helps do that for festivals, individuals, organizations, and more.
Clean Vibes
Clean Vibe’s mission and business plan is to help music festivals and their attendees lesson their climate impact. They focus on sustainable waste management, which is an area that all festivals can pretty swiftly pivot to.
Sustainable Travel Guide for Artists & Music Industry
The Journal of Music just shared this Sustainable Travel Guide. It breaks down different ways touring can be made less harmful to the planet. Musicians and fans care! You can download the guide here.
Music Declares Emergency Climate Pack
Music Declares Emergency, the great artist led environmental group, has put together a helpful kit for musicians, recording professionals, venues, and fans. You can download it here.
Kendal Calling Music Fest Sustainability Pledge
Want to see a great example of a sustainability pledge for a music fest? We knew you would! Here is Kendal Calling’s version. We hope it inspires other fests to follow suit.
Eco Friendly Packaging from PaperFoam
PaperFoam makes internal and external packaging from natural fibers. Get rid of plastic in your shipping, cd cases, etc. They say their packaging is 100% compostable.
Songs for Teaching
Songs for Teaching is a for-profit company that works with teachers. They provide playlists for recycling, appreciation of nature, alternative energy, and even science musicals.
Environmental Music List from Listen to the Earth
Listen to the Earth is a non-profit, similar to Sea Us Rise. They understand that there is music out there that can inspire people to take climate action. They have a list of 5,000+ songs.
Biodegradable Festival Wristbands
Innofest has biodegradable festival wristbands which have seeds in them. Right now the inventor is seeking to expand production. Other versions include bamboo wristbands and ones made from recycled materials.
Figure Out Your Carbon Footprint
We write a lot about carbon offsets. Here is a carbon calculator to help you figure out your carbon footprint. Just a tip, your power company has your monthly energy usage in your account settings.
Festival Toilets Go Green (in a good, not gross, way)
Not a big part of the discussion, but if you are at a festival, eventually you’re going to need the loo. Loowatt enters the chat. Chemical and energy free, the toilet compresses and stores waste, then processes for biofuels or fertilizer.
