Clean Vibes: Exemplar in Waste Management

Anybody who says that proper waste management is too difficult to maintain in their own household needs to read the rest of this blog. Consider all the simple things that go into waste management such as recycling, composting, and re-using non-recyclable materials. Now imagine doing this at an event that hosts up to hundreds of thousands of attendees. It certainly makes you appreciate the small of amount of work that goes into maintaining your own trash.

Clean Vibes is a company that works with local recycling centers and provides waste removal for outdoor events such as festivals and concerts. Their mission is simple: try to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills while educating about recycling and proper waste management.

They have been working events since 1997 and are estimated to have recycled over 610 tons of trash. Along with recycling, they offer food composts and donate to food shelters. They were even able to collect and donate 400 pairs of shoes just from working two festivals!

Along with their recycling and waste removal work, they also promote awareness. At festivals, they can be seen educating concert-goers on how to reduce waste and keep landfills low. Even their website offers some great links that will definitely benefit the needs of our team when we start production.

For example, Earth911 offers a feature that allows the viewer to enter their city and state along with what they want to recycle, and it will list recycle/re-use centers. You can imagine my delight when I decided to try this feature out and typed in “food” along with our prospective production location and thirteen centers were listed!

And by simply reading how Clean Vibes prepares for a festival we have a good waste management blueprint. Getting in touch with recycling centers in the area, researching which centers recycle certain materials, researching food shelters in the area, and keeping in close contact with the centers to arrange the transportation of the waste are all tools we'll need to execute in order to sustain an eco-conscious production.

REVERB Helps Other Musicians Go Green

The following piece was written by one of our interns, Meg Cunningham:

In my opinion, there's nothing better than hearing music live. Seeing your favorite band play with the hopes that they might revisit some old songs, the experience of the lights, theatrics, and being surrounded by other fanatics - it's what makes concerts so enjoyable.

But from an environmental standpoint, it gets overwhelming when you think about all the non-recycled bottles, paper plates, plastic cups, and overpriced merchandise that is overlooked at the different venues. It gets depressing when you realize that this action is repeated nearly five times a week when bands tour through the city.

Luckily, Guster’s lead vocalist/guitarist, Adam Gardner, and wife, Lauren Sullivan, have decided to change the way the music industry approaches the environment. By founding the non-profit organization, REVERB, they have been able to connect with many mainstream bands and artists to educate them and their fans on the importance of conserving while on tour.

Some of the services REVERB offers are connecting tour buses with biodiesel and bio-gradable catering utensils, recycling bottles and cans, providing green merchandise such as old guitar strings to be used as necklaces, and educating the fans about sustainable living in their “Eco-Village” camps.

However, as much good as REVERB does for the many bands it partners up with, there is an aspect of touring that even the band can't control: pollution. According to REVERB's website, nearly 80% of the CO2 footprint produced while a band is on tour can be traced to the fans. In an effort to reduce the amount of CO2 released by traveling fans, REVERB works closely with groups like The Barenaked Ladies and The Dave Matthews Band to promote their Fans Carbon Offset Programs. The bands promote online awareness and encourage their fans to carpool or take advantage of public transportation whenever possible. The program will also sell eco-friendly merchandise with proceeds going towards REVERB and other eco-conscious programs.