Those clever folks at Natural Resources Defense Council quietly launched a social networking sight called "It's Your Nature.org" a few months ago. The site offers a smattering of concert information and ways to email and text message your friends and is geared toward a Gen-Y audience. I don't see the services offered to be enough of a draw for me to sign up for another social-networking site, but it does have some good basic information on the front pages that I will probably check out from time to time. In general, NRDC is a good source of information on environmental issues.

To encourage more participation, NRDC is stepping it up a notch and offering a drawing for a guitar signed by Tunstall to any fan who installs the It's Your Nature widget by November 26.

On a separate social networking tip, a new Facebook application called Greenbook allows users to offset the time they spend on the site with carbon offsets. They source their offsets from a company called 3Degrees Inc.--a company that without hesitation, I completely endorse to bring forth good quality offsets. Greenbook also provides confirmation documentation of each one of their purchases. Here is some information on Greenbook's process. It was enough for me to click "install"!

Labels: KT Tunstall, NRDC, sarah, social networking

All the biggies made the move to green their operations this week. While there isn't much information out there on how deep their greening measures will go, it can safely be said that this is a step in the right direction. Always one step ahead of the game, Sub Pop started the trend last year when they signed up for renewable energy to offset the electricity in their headquarters.

Big 4 Labels Make Green Moves-repost from Environmental Leader

The biggest brands across the music business are changing their environmental habits, MediaPost reports.

Every major label is on board in one way or another in corporate-wide greening efforts, ranging from copying on both sides of the paper to the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, according to Bill Werde, deputy editor of Billboard.

Warner Music Group and EMI are working with the Natural Resources Defense Council on a series of greening initiatives. An unnamed environmental agency is advising Sony-owned companies on environmental policies. Universal Music Group follows directives from parent company Vivendi.

One of the most significant changes the labels can have on their environmental practices would be the elimination of the jewel case. “The labels are working with key distribution partners and retailers–the Wal-Marts and Best Buys, which represent two-thirds of all record sales,” Werde says.

Labels: Environmental Leader, greening music, NRDC, record labels