Now that it’s officially March, springtime, but more importantly the summer months are in sight. Every summer, a group of friends and I try to attend a multi-day music festival or at the very least, a few good concerts. Last summer we followed Phish. This summer the plans remain to be determined, but my heart is set on All Good Music Festival in Masontown, West Virginia.
So why should you care about my summer plans or my taste in music?
Well, because Phish is one of the many bands grooving to the music with an environmentally friendly tour. In 2009 the group teamed up with Reverb Rock, a non-profit organization working with musicians to reduce the environmental impact of tours. Since its start in 2004, Reverb has:
| Tours Greened |
81 |
| Events Greened |
1,300 |
| Tons of CO2 Reduced |
67,000 |
| ENVIRO-GROUPS Involved |
1,783 |
| Fans Reached |
10mil+ |
The organization was founded by Adam Gardner of Guster and his wife, environmentalist Lauren Sullivan. Reverb works with all aspects of a musicians tour and green music, including transportation, waste reduction and recycling, hospitality and catering, and carbon offsets. However, they don’t stop there–Reverb also devotes substantial resources to grassroots programs and outreach at each concert. In an effort to educate and engage the fans about environmental matters, they establish Eco Villages, interact with local organzations (including Powered Green!), recruit volunteers, help to offset fan carbon expenditures, and assist in carpool coordination to reduce the amount of vehicles traveling to each show.
Powered Green at Reverb's Eco Village
And as if that wasn’t enough, Reverb also consults with the music industry as a whole, including concert venues, record labels, and radio stations.
In looking at the big picture, Reverb has certainly accomplished quite a bit, but just how much of an impact does the organization have on indivual bands?
Well, continuing with the Phish example, Reverb has inspired and helped the group quite a bit. They now use B20 Biodiesel in all tour buses and trucks, source food from local and organic farms, compost food scraps and other organic waste, use biodegradable catering products, drink from reusable waterbottles, clean and use eco-conscious products and supplies, and carbon offset all CO2 emissions from the touring fleet, air travel, hotel accommodations, and venues. Considering that most bands play bewteen 40-50 shows over the course of a single tour, these are some pretty serious environmental impacts and reductions.
Even though 2010 is still young, Reverb has already teamed up with multiple artists and bands to green their tours. On the list so far is Ben Harper and Relentless7, Drake, Brandi Carlile, Lilith Fair Tour, The Roots, and State Radio. Past green projects have included Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, The Fray, Maroon 5, The Dead, John Mayer, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and OAR (for the full list, click here).
Keep a watch on Reverb in the upcoming months to learn if your favorite musicians are participating in the efforts. If they’re not, make the suggestion to both Reverb and your artist/ group about why greening their tour is the smart and responsible thing to do.
Lastly and just for kicks, check out Phish’s cover of Bike (originally by Pink Floyd). It was/ is an epic performance.
*Gone Phishin’ is the title of a bluegrass tribute to Phish
