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Free Tips!
- CD Packaging: Nowadays there’s plenty of options for avoiding the plastic nasties of traditional packaging. Consider used jewel cases, recycled cardboard, recycled plastic, and even… potato starch containers!
- Joint Tours: To fight the fuel woes, consider planning a tour with another artist. This can cut your gas bill (and your carbon footprint) in half!
- Recycled Flyers: This one’s easy. Request 100% recycled paper and soy-based inks next time you print your tour flyers, business cards, or brochures.
- CFLs: These newfangled bulbs use approximately 75% less energy than Edison’s incandescent. Get them for your office, your home studio, and your band’s rehearsal garage.
- Wind Power: Speaking of electricity, is your business signed up for wind power? Many utilities provide an option for renewable power. If not, you can offset your traditional electricity with renewable energy credits (see Resources below).
- Speak out! Use your voice on stage, on your website, or in your songs. We have a captive audience to promote causes dear to our hearts and educate the masses on how they can help.
- Go Greyhound! Buses aren’t just for college students any more. More fuel-efficient, extensive, and low-cost than cars and planes, this can be a great travel option to pepper into your tour schedule.
- Green Your Fest: Festivals around the world are getting green-savvy. From Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza (and several hippy folk gatherings in between), fest planners are banning water bottles, composting food waste, using solar-powered stages, and offsetting the artists’ CO2.
- Green Your Venue: Follow the fests, and make your concert space a sustainable space. Compostable cups, local beers, organic snacks, fair-trade coffee, and recycling bins are a good place to start.
- T-shirts: The ubiquitous tour t-shirt is every music fan’s ideal concert memento. But did you know that cotton is a major pesticide crop? About 25% of the world’s insecticides go to the fuzzy plant. So, choose organic t-shirts for your next order. Your fans will love you for it.
See the Resources section below for the vendors, partners, and examples that can help you implement these tips!
Touring with Waste Vegetable Oil
Last weekend I met Gabrielle Louise, a singer/songwriter who tours in a veggie van! We gave a green music workshop together at the FAR-West Conference, and I was super-excited to hear about how it’s done. Not only has she saved a hella lot of money, but she’s toured from coast to coast being completely carbon neutral!
Here’s the skinny on how to start your own veggie tour:
- Buy a car or van that has a diesel engine. Apparently, the diesel engine was originally invented to run on peanut oil! So this ain’t no hippie contraption. If anything, it’s a return to its roots. For a list of recommended cars see here or here.
- Buy a conversion kit. She recommends Frybrid. I’ve also heard good things about Greasecar.
- Of course, if you buy a car that’s already been converted, you can skip steps 1 & 2. Hint: you can find veggie cars for sale on Craigslist, by searching “veggie” or “WVO” in the cars for sale section, especially in bigger metro areas. Greasecar and Frybrid have car listings too.
- Now, you just need to get some veggie fuel! The official term is “waste vegetable oil” or WVO. There’s two ways to do this. The most economical approach is to contact local restaurants, and ask them if you can take some of their used oil. I know it sounds odd, but most restaurants actually pay companies to haul their used oil away. So, you’re doing them a favor by taking it for free. The second approach is to buy it. In many cities, you’ll find people or collectives who are selling or even giving away WVO. To locate fuel, try Fillup4Free, GoodGrease, or search for “WVO” on Craigslist.
- Lastly… drive away! Of course, there are a few things you’ll need to learn, like temperature requirements, switching between tanks, oil filtering, and maintenance. But your conversion company or some Google-ing can help you figure that out.
The enviro-benefit is easy. Touring with veggie oil is carbon-neutral, emits less toxins, turns trash into treasure, and avoids depleting a non-renewable resource. Gabrielle estimates her tour prevented 3,333 gallons of gas and 10.2 tons of CO2 emissions.
But what about the cost benefit? Here’s where we can jump for joy! Gabrielle Louise has saved over $5,000 over the last 1.5 years! In fact, she says she simply wouldn’t have been able to afford touring without veggie oil.
Here’s the math:
$2,000 to buy van
+ $800 to buy conversion kit (self-installed)
- $8,666 in fuel they would have spent traveling 50,000 miles
~$5,866 in savings!
Some pointers. First, you need to plan ahead. Depending on how big your tank is, you’ll need to map out fuel stops along your tour route. That’s where the sites in #4 come in handy. Secondly, plan extra travel time. Gabrielle says it could take up to 2 hours extra to fill-up between cities, especially if you’re extracting from a restaurant. But she looks at it as time paid. How? Imagine a normal fill-up costs $45 (a 15-gallon tank at $3/gallon). With free veggie oil, it’s like you’re earning $45 for that 2-hour refueling task. Not bad for a musician on a budget.
Lastly, you might consider getting a van, like Gabrielle, instead of a car. She was able to install a 150-gallon tank, which means considerably less fill-ups. And—it allows her to bring other artists on tour. Hallelujah, that’s even more musicians off the petroleum superhighway.
Gabrielle Louise regularly gives veggie oil workshops (and concerts!) at colleges nationwide. For booking inquiries, or for tips on veggie cars, email Gabrielle Louise.
Rothbury: An Über-Green Festival
It’s one of the greenest music festivals around. It has 4 stages, 70 acts, and 35,000 fans. And it’s only 2 years old.
Rothbury will take place this July 2-5 in Rothbury, Michigan, at a ranch on the western edge of the state (I grew up in Michigan and never even heard of the town!). Think camping trip + rock concert. It’s pretty much in the middle of a forest. And with another power-packed lineup (The Dead, Bob Dylan, Guster, Ani DiFranco, Broken Social Scene, Flogging Molly, Martin Sexton, etc), year 2 is sure to be a success.
What interests me though, is just how green these folks are. Their environmental mission is infused into all aspects of the fan experience. Check their Our Commitment page for a full rundown. Here are some of the highlights:
- Solar-powered stages and lights
- Ticket option for fans to add $3 carbon offset
- 500 ‘Green Team’ volunteers and 1 fulltime ‘Green Chief’
- Bus shuttles from Michigan cities, as well as Chicago
- Priority camping spots for car-free fans
- Each trash bin has accompanying recycle & compost bins, monitored by Green Team volunteers (they achieved a 94% waste diversion rate in 2008!)
- Water refill stations throughout the festival for reusable bottles (even artists don’t get bottled water unless requested)
- Compostable cups, plates, and utensils required from vendors
- Think Tank: a series of green workshops taking place throughout the weekend
- Art throughout the campgrounds made of reclaimed materials
- Program to install solar panels at local schools
- 100% recycled paper used for tickets, programs, etc.
Comprehensive, huh?
Rothbury isn’t alone though. A whole new crop of sustainable music festivals has been popping up in recent years. Some of the greenest include: Bonnaroo, Clearwater, Forecastle, Hillside, Kerrville, Oyafestivalen, SolarFest, and Telluride Bluegrass. (see our resource page for links)
If you’re a festival planner looking to go green, fear not. There are plenty of resources. But remember to take it slow, and do only what you can. Planning a festival is hard work, and going green adds lots of logistics. So get help, recruit volunteers, and build your green policies over time.
- A Greener Festival – a how-to site for greening festivals
- The Spitfire Agency – they run the greening of Rothbury
Meanwhile, if you’re a fan, the best thing you can do is carpool or take mass transit to the venue. Your travel is BY FAR the biggest environmental impact. Beyond that, try bringing refillable water bottles, avoid disposable products, and support local food & beer vendors when available.
If we all do our part—musicians, planners, and fans— our summer music festivals don’t have to destroy the earth.
An Eco-Friendly Evening with Cloud Cult
Last week I saw Cloud Cult in concert here in SF. I was curious to see one of the greenest bands in the biz (though that’s not why I went…my boyfriend’s a big fan). Strangely, it was only 4 months ago I realized Cloud Cult and Craig Minowa were one and the same. Who’s Craig Minowa? He’s the mega tree-hugging lead singer who also runs a green record label and duplication facility from his organic farm in Minnesota.
So clearly, I was excited to see what eco-principals they brought on the road! Here’s a few:
- They invited local nonprofit Surfrider Foundation to sign up fans for city beach cleanup
- The t-shirts were organic cotton
- The posters were printed on 100% recycled paper
- Their CDs and DVDs were packaged in recycled materials and powered by wind
- They had a SIGN to let fans know all of this
I was also impressed that the venue had plentiful recycle bins for beer bottles, but Cloud Cult probably had nothing to do with this.
BTW, these are steps you can take, no matter WHAT level your band is at. Getting any ideas?
My first interaction with Craig was 2 years ago when I made my first CD. I called his company Earthology about duplicating my CD. Unfortunately, they couldn’t fit me into their schedule, but Craig very kindly gave me all sorts of advice about the greenest way to package my CD. In the end, he sold me 1,000 used jewel cases. Yes, he collects rejected/overstock jewel cases to use in customer packaging! Of all the eco-friendly aspects to my CD, this is the part that gets the most comments. You can actually see scratches and remnants of those clear sticky strips.
So, thanks Craig!
ps… the music rocked too! Not sure which I loved more… the live painters on stage or the acoustic encore of Transistor Radio.
Happy Train Day!
Musicians take note. Before we dote on our mothers this Sunday, it’s time to celebrate National Train Day! That’s right, mark your calendars. It’s this Saturday 5/9. Whether this is an established tradition with historical significance or an Amtrak marketing scheme I’m not sure. But either way, I’m jumping on board.
Trains rock. They’re cheaper than planes, more comfortable than buses, and have dang good views. But they’re an oft-overlooked way of getting around in the US. Because of poor funding, limited routes, and car dominance, trains have become somewhat of a joke.
But for musicians, trains can be a great way to traverse the country and lessen our environmental impact. Trains emit 60% less greenhouse gases per person than car travel and 29% less than flying. When I went on tour last year, I tried to use them as much as possible. Of my 38 shows, I rode Amtrak to 7 of them. Not bad, for my first try.
Here are some tips for getting started:
- Compare the Fare. Next time you’re playing out of town, logon to Amtrak just to check. Is it cheaper than driving or flying? Can you afford the extra time it will take? To give it a fair shot, start including the train as one of your travel options.
- Start Small. The best way to break into train travel is with short trips. Try NYC-Boston, Portland-Seattle, or Chicago-Milwaukee for starters.
- Plan Ahead. Traveling without a car takes a bit of planning. Train stations are usually downtown, so make sure your gig and lodging are nearby, or look into local transit, taxis, or getting a ride.
- Baggage Bonus. With all the new airline baggage fees, trains give a huge advantage. Amtrak allows 2 carry-ons, 3 checked bags, plus your purse and backpack… all for free!
- Enjoy the Ride! Boarding a train is somehow immediately relaxing. Some trains have power outlets for your laptop or DVD player. Others have viewing cars so you can gaze at the countryside. I personally relish the chance to simply unwind, pull out a book, and soothe my hectic inner-artist.
I’m not saying train travel is always easy. Like most eco-solutions, you’ll have to adapt. But even if you replace one flight or road trip this year, you can feel good about quantifiably helping Mother Earth. All aboard!