Environmentalism in music

I have been collecting songs that talk about the condition about our environment and is available for anyone to view in this YouTube playlist. However, environmentalism in music has been more than just these songs. Efforts have been made to greenify the music industry across the world. There have been quantitative studies such as the study that revealed the carbon footprint of the UK music industry. They were alone responsible for 540,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. To get things into perspective, I used EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalancies calculator to find out what 540,000 tonnes of GHG emissions really means. It looks something like this.

On a global scale, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other partners, the UN Music & Environment Initiative was initiated. It aims to leverage the power of music to address some of the most pressing environmental problems facing the planet. According to this initiative, the music industry’s impact on the environment is broadly associated with the following activities:

• Business operations
• Business Travel
• Recording/Studios
• CD Manufacturing
• Live events
• Venues
• Touring (performance and promotional)
• Merchandise and promotional materials
• Ticketing
• Digital delivery of music content
• Instruments
• Sound & Lighting
• Music listening devices
• Audience Travel

The music industry has been trying to compensate for this with solar-powered stages, help reduce waste, offset carbon dioxide emissions, promote eco-friendly merchandise and encourage recycling, organic T-shirts produced using renewable energy, powering recording studios with solar power, committing to emissions reductions via CD packaging and offering temporary water fountains as an alternative to bottled water at live events. The next time you go to some music performance, I guess you’ll think about this. I will.

The Green Music Group is a project of the non-profit organization Reverb. GMG is a large-scale, high-profile environmental coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans using our collective power to bring about widespread environmental change within the music industry and around the globe. Good to see some of my favorites there: Linkin Park, Dave Matthews band, Paramore, and Maroon 5. Do you have a favorite in there too? And here’s Skyler Jett. He sings Think Green. Skyler is deeply committed to the Environment and to bringing awareness of Green issues through his music and throughout the entertainment industry.

Don’t forget to check out this YouTube playlist. :)

Also, updating this blog with my own songs – let me know what you think and enjoy!

Sing