Have you ever wondered about the impact that the concerts you attend have on the world? Artists all around the world are trying to make less impact on the environment as they provide a good time for their fans.
Can you imagine how much garbage a festival produces every edition? According to Nielsen Music, 52% of the American population attends live music events every year. To make things more illustrative and clear, let’s think about plastic water bottles sold at the festivals. Most people use them as single-use products, so that means that once they are done drinking, the bottles are thrown away, and then bought again if you feel thirsty.
The Desert Sun reported that Coachella, one of the most famous and awaited music festivals in the country (if not in the world as it attracts people from all around the globe), makes up to 107 tons of waste every edition, and only 20% of it is recycled. Around 125,000 people attend Coachella every edition, so you can already tell that, in that heated desert, the number of plastic water bottles that are thrown away and not recycled is not a pleasant one.
It is necessary to think about how much single-use plastic is distributed at each show, where the sources of the merchandise are from, and how much electricity is going to be used for lighting and sound equipment during the show. The damage goes not only to the concert itself, but also to the band’s transportation.
Going green is not just something related to how you eat and how you dress, but also about your habits and how the way you live impacts the world, so the concerts you attend are also included in this narrative. Because of this, artists are beginning to rethink the way they provide a good time for their fans.
In late 2019, Coldplay just released their new album, they made headlines when the band agreed to not tour to promote their new album “Everyday Life”, because of the impacts the concerts would have on the environment. So, instead of doing in-person concerts, they chose to play and record online concerts that were broadcasted to fans all around the world, and would only return to the tour and fans worldwide when a more sustainable way to perform was discovered.
Another artist who is dedicating herself to a more eco-friendly career is Adele. Her efforts are not just good for the planet, but also good for her home life. Her friend, the CEO of Drop4Drop, a British charity dedicated to alleviating the world’s water crisis via funding local clean water solutions in different countries around the world. The singer, who is known to not be very much into social media, declared that she would start tweeting herself if 10,000 people started following the official Twitter account for Drop4Drop.
Radiohead is another example of artists going green. The band who is known for their environmentalism joined causes such as Friends of the Earth, and made their tour eco-friendly, sending all of their gear via ship and not via planes, as it is usually done. Radiohead’s tour buses run on biofuel, and the members-only use water flasks instead of plastic cups. All of it is just to encourage their fans to live as green as possible.
The future of concerts is looking increasingly green, and thanks to the influence of these artists and many others who are joining the cause, more and more people will be adept at this healthier lifestyle.