Conscious Choice: Green Up Your Act

May 2008 | Art & Soul

Green Up Your Act

Unleash your inner rock god with our four easy steps to eco-stardom

by Eric Larson

The rock star fantasy is as common as dirt. Who, in youth, did not grip a number two pencil or detachable showerhead in her fist, and who has not more recently ascended the stage at the local karaoke joint imagining scores of adoring fans at his feet?

Some dreamers — now, I’m not saying who — had more elaborate fantasies than others, brainstormed names for the songs, for the albums, mocked up a few t-shirts, planned the tour route, rehearsed the Grammy speech. But few, I’m almost certain, worked an environmentalist’s ethos into the grand plan: “And I’d like to accept this award on behalf of the planet, for always being there for me.”

Though perhaps we should have. Because the fact is, the limelight we so desperately covet is a total energy suck. Those old jewel cases are leeched toxins waiting to happen. Those t-shirts we designed depend on unsustainably grown cotton. The van we’d drive guzzles gas like a frat boy in the front row chugs Coors Light. Like it or not, the music industry is far from innocent when it comes to the climate crisis.

Fortunately, the times, they are a-changin’. In recent years, musicians, record labels, venues, festivals and a variety of key industry players have been figuring out ways to green up their act. In celebration of the rock star in each of us, we’ve compiled this step-by-step guide to launching — and sustaining — your future eco-music career. Solid green, here you come.

Eric Larson suppresses vivid rockstar fantasies by biding his time as a freelance arts journalist and mental health professional.

Step 1: Sharpen Your Ax

First things first, you will need an instrument to accompany your warbling. In rock star parlance, one’s guitar is sometimes dubbed her “ax.” Unfortunately, the term is all too appropriate; guitar-makers and serious strummers insist upon the highest quality wood to produce the highest quality sound — and the highest quality wood just happens to come from old growth trees critical to forest habitat (the clear cutting of which contributes to global warming). To combat clear cutting, Greenpeace has teamed up with some of the top guitar-producing companies — including Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Fender and Yamaha — to stop it. The Music Wood (musicwood.org) campaign’s mission is to ensure guitar producers and distributors make instruments from wood that meets the high standards of the Forest Stewardship Council, an organization whose seal of approval ensures best practices were used in cultivating the wood. While you’re on the market, go even greener by choosing a guitar that incorporates recycled wood or sustainable materials — like the hemp guitar by Mada (madaguitars.com) or First Act’s (firstact.com) bamboo electric ax — or go greenest by buying vintage, and enjoy the added benefit of your rock ancestor’s good karma.

Step 2: Reduce, Reuse, Record

Assuming you’ve found your muse, scrawled inspired and inspiring lyrics on recycled cocktail napkins, and the elaborate instrumentation on your good wood guitar is complete, the next step is to make some actual music. Long before you decide whether you’re putting your product on CDs or keeping it completely digital, you’ll have to do the dirty work of tracking down a recording studio that matches your philosophy. If you find yourself in London, good thing. The Premises (premisesstudios.com) a studio complex in the East End, which counts Taj Mahal, Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse among its clients, has converted its Studio A to run completely on solar power. Moving west across the Atlantic, Tree Sound Studios in Norcross, Georgia, purchases offsets for the energy used in its recording and relies on LED and compact fluorescents whenever possible. As an added twist, they’ve cultivated an herb and veggie garden so artists can combat musician’s block with a shot of nature. Midwesterners could head to Hinckley, Minnesota, and crash at the home of Cloud Cult front man Craig Minowa and his Earthology Records, which is housed on an 11-acre organic farm, heated and cooled by a geothermal system and electrified by wind turbines. Westcoasters will no doubt delight in hanging with Jack Johnson at his greenified Brushfire Records digs in LA.

Step 3: Pack It Up, Ship It Out

The tracks are laid down. Now, how to reach your adoring public? It’s true, these days you can distribute music completely digitally and on your own, but for now, plenty of your fans are still going to want tunage in the form of that spinning piece of plastic. Some of the major labels are taking steps to green their practices — you could try pitching the good, increasingly green people over Sub Pop (home to The Shins, The Postal Service and Flight of the Conchords) with their commitment to offsetting energy to make their records — but we suggest you start small. Take a look at Stumptown Records in Portland, Oregon, Tree Sound Records in Norcross, Georgia, and Smog Veil Records in Chicago. All of these green-minded labels have taken significant steps toward eco-fying their practices. They’ve ditched jewel cases for new and improved types of packaging, like digipacks and eco-packs, which can be made from recycled paper, or the biodegradable PaperFoam CD trays. They’ve committed to printing liner notes on recycled paper using soy ink. Stumptown has converted its fleet of touring vans to biodiesel and Tree Sound is in the process of doing the same. Smog Veil has converted their live/work space in a self-sustaining entity. Representatives from all these labels can be found talking their walk on discussion panels at festivals and conferences or otherwise advocating to get fellow music biz-types on board.

Step 4: Tread Lightly

All your work would be for naught if you just hung out at home, entertaining your friends in the kitchen, right? Right. No rock fantasy is complete without hitting the open road on tour. The go-to orgs to aid you on your mission are going to be Reverb and Music Matters. Reverb, started by Adam Gardner, guitarist of the band Guster, and his wife Lauren Sullivan, makes its mission: “to educate and engage musicians and their fans to promote sustainability.” The organization has worked with fellow artists Ben Folds, Barenaked Ladies, Jason Mraz, Jose Gonzalez and Bonnie Raitt. Among other services, both Reverb and Music Matters can show you how to create a carbon neutral concert. They can educate you about converting vans or buses to biodiesel. They can make sure the merch you sell to fans is sustainable, and even set you up with what you need to offer fans offsets for the miles they travel to and from shows. Music Matters, a marketing company out of Minneapolis began its Sustainable Minded Artists and Recording & Touring (SMART) program a few years ago to help support eco-conscious musicians. They offer many of the same services as Reverb, and go the extra green mile by helping artists and venues switch the pizza and booze for local and organic backstage eats. They can also ensure leftovers are donated to folks who can use them. Now go forth, young dreamer, and rock.

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