Every year around this time, pretty much every magazine, newspaper, and blog editor with a pulse churns out a list of the the Top 10 ways readers can act to save the planet. Hey, who are we to buck such a venerable trend. Here's our take on the Top 10 list, cleverly broken up into seven things fans can do and three things we want to saddle those poor, overworked rock stars with.

Fans: Hey, you guys are the lifeblood of the industry. We mean that. The stars may get all the press, but consider this: without music fans, Jack Johnson would be stuck in a cubicle somewhere. And since there are so many more of you than there are rock stars, your small individual actions can add up in a big way. So please, put aside the cynicism this summer concert season and take a couple of minutes to do something--anything!--to lighten your load on the planet. It's really not that hard. Here are some ideas. And just think of the alternative...




6: Recycle. This is an easy one. Pretty much every festival has recycling bins, and more and more venues are getting in on the act. But they don't work if you don't use them the right way. So for crying out loud, it's not that hard--the cans and bottles go in the recycling bin, not the trash can. Got it? We thought so. Great work!

5: Read. You want to save the environment. Really, you do. That's why you're here, reading this. So take it from us. The best way to make a difference is by educating yourself first. Got some free time this summer, maybe on that 20-hour drive to Bonnaroo? Try Natural Capitalism or The Omnivore's Dilemma, both great starting points for the journeyman environmentalist. Just looking to slack off during work? Head over to Worldchanging.org or Treehugger.com. And of course, don't forget about us. We're chock full o' green goodness for your eyeballs. Really.

4: Ask. Some people might say that we mean "nag" with this one, but we don't want you to do that. We just want you to ask questions, politely and respectfully. What kind of questions? Well, say your chosen outdoor venue doesn't allow you to bring in refillable water bottles or provide drinking water. Ask them to reconsider. Or perhaps your favorite nightclub doesn't recycle. Ask them to convert a couple of their trash cans to recycling bins. And if you want to know what your personal guitar heroes are doing to ease the burden of their tour, pop the question to them on their forums. You might not get an immediate response, but trust us, the people in charge are paying attention to the fans. And hey, if talking directly to the man is too much for you, ask us to ask them for you. Just leave your question and the person it's directed at right here in the comments and we'll work our journalistic magic, 60 Minutes style.

3: Spend wisely. It's the music business, get it? The people organizing the festivals, running the venues, selling the T-shirts...they're all in it for the money. And you control the purse strings. So don't just spend that hard-earned cash on any old thing. Let it talk for you! Spend it on an organic cotton T-shirt. Spend it on a souvenir Nalgene that you can refill again and again. Spend it at a festival that tries hard to do the right thing.

2: Find a better way to get there. It may seem like one little road trip won't ruin the planet, but when you see a long line of cars sitting idle waiting to get into a festival only half-full of passengers, it's pretty lame. Do your homework beforehand and see if the festival has carpooling, shuttles, or even a public transportation stop close by. It'll probably save you some scrilla while you're at it.

1: Vote. This is the single most important thing you can do. If you are still unsure of which candidate is right for you, visit this quiz. It does a really good job of asking you about where you stand on the issues and tells you which candidate feels the most like you do. That's what it's all about, right?

For bands:

3: Tour riders. You can build small things into tour riders that make a big difference like: insisting the stage lights be turned off between sets; making sure your catering comes from local sources and that your water isn't bottled if the tap water is drinkable. We'd love to see artists ban plastic cups from venues...please impress us!

2: Consultants. Many of the success stories we reported on got by with a little help from a consultant. Reverb is the most well respected in the industry. Check them out here.

1: Venue selection. If you've got a booking agent, make sure they're aware of your commitment to the environment. Try to get them to book your band at least one green venue per tour. See if other green bands have toured a certain venue before and contact their management to see what worked and what didn't. Live Nation venues are a great place to start.

Happy Earth Day from Jason & Sarah!

Labels: Earth Day, fan resources, jason, sarah, tour resources

Sundance 2008! Whoo-hoo!

I took a little trip to Utah over the weekend to take in the sights in lovely Park City, Utah. A brief power-outage in the middle of the Sub Pop showcase stopped the show, the cause of which is still undetermined (maybe Robert Redford wanted to green the festival through mandated energy efficiency?).

The highlight, besides the showcase, was a quick swim in a 10,000 year old crater. The crater, a 20 minute drive from Park City and 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, is a great, relaxing retreat amidst a busy tour, and probably one of the most amazing multi-sensory experiences I've ever had.

The crater looks like a rock version of Pantheon in Rome (left), a big dome with a hole in the center. From the inside it's a gorgeous calcified crater with azure clear water naturally heated to 90 degrees all year round by geothermal energy. Yup--a natural hot spring. Here are some more Flickr shots.

Mmmmmmm.

Labels: Kelley Stoltz, sarah, Sundance, tour resources, Utah

The dudes from Call and Response told me about a tour van rental company in the Bay Area that rents vans with video gaming consoles built in--pretty great for those long drives across Wyoming after the scenery doesn't do it for you anymore. On a related note, BoingBoing, posted a solar-powered gaming device today that would be great to stick next to the window of your van and use to play video games or charge your phone or ipod. From the pictures, it looks a little like a Speak-n-Spell, but hopefully sounds better.

From BoingBoing:

"This knock-off "MP4 Player" not only plays music and video, it can emulate the NES and Game Boy Color. But even better, it can be recharged with built-in solar panels. That's right: you can play Faxanadu until the sun explodes.

It comes with 2GB of memory built in, which is plenty for NES and GB ROMs, although perhaps not music and movies, and can be expanded up to another 2GB with an SD card. Oh, and it's got a USB out to which other gadgets can be connected—not for data, but to be recharged from the solar panel."

Get it here.

Labels: BoingBoing, fan resources, gadget, sarah, solar, tour resources

Hey all you touring bands, Enterprise Car rentals just announced plans to offer cheap, high-quality carbon offsets with car and van rentals. This would make for an easy and inexpensive way to green your next tour.

Check out the story from Environmental Leader:


Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis, have announced a voluntary customer carbon offset program - the largest of its kind in the industry, according to the company, and the first consumer initiative to be launched under all three rental car brands.

The 20 to 25 million annual customers of the car rental companies can offset the CO2 emissions generated by their car rentals by opting in during the reservation process to pay $1.25 per rental.

Customer offset purchases will be matched by the company dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million. Beginning in January 2008, the program will be offered at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada; it will be extended to Enterprise’s European customers in mid-2008.

TerraPass will administer the carbon offset program. Customers will be able to purchase their carbon offsets while booking their reservations through call-in reservation centers or online at the car rental sites.

Inc. Magazine has an in-depth article on how Enterpise came to offer voluntary offsets.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Hertz and Avis will offer in response. Along with Enterpise, these rental companies have added thousands of hybrids to their fleets recently.

Last October, Enterprise announced it was underwriting the planting of 50 million trees over the next 50 years at a total cost of $50 million.

Labels: carbon offsets, Environmental Leader, sarah, tour resources

One of my friends once lamented about a time he toured and kept holding his laptop up in the tour van to get a wireless signal while driving through Utah. When he finally got a signal, his battery died. Enter:

Labels: gadget, musician resources, renewables, solar, tour resources, treehugger