Research findings show energy consumed by UK festival sector could power ten thousand homes

New research conducted this summer by creative industry greening experts Julie’s Bicycle, the University of Sussex and the Power Providers Forum (an informal network of power suppliers and festival promoters) maps out the uptake of biodiesel and renewable power across the UK festival sector, providing recommendations for increasing demand towards a low carbon future for the creative industries.

The Research took place in the context of intensified focus on the environment and climate change, following tragic events at festivals, including event cancellation due to flash floods, infrastructural damage (such as stages collapsing) and injuries to punters which arose during bad weather. These occurrences are not new to 2011, but the volume of instances this year has made extreme weather an increasingly urgent consideration for festival insurance policies, and the industry is beginning to engage with what changes might be necessary.

The research findings show that UK music festivals consume about 12 million litres of diesel per year, generating an estimated 48,000MWh of electricity and 31,600t CO₂e emissions. This energy use is the equivalent of powering 10,000 homes for a year; a significant statistic which is due to the inefficiency of diesel generators, which usually run at an average of only 40% fuel efficiency and therefore use much more energy to power equipment compared to the national grid.

Waste vegetable oil (WVO) biodiesel is currently meeting 3-6% of this festival power supply demand, and on-site renewable energy – solar powered battery, temporary wind or pedal power – is meeting just ~0.026%. Current capacity of renewables is 0.1% (91kW) of demand. The uptake of renewable power is currently dominated by a small number of committed festivals, and festivals certified Industry Green (IG) use an average of 12% WVO biodiesel and renewable energy. IG is the environmental certification for creative businesses, developed by Julie’s Bicycle. Bearing this in mind, it is possible that, despite being more expensive than diesel, the increase in demand anticipated by renewable energy suppliers is happening.

The recommendations identified by the research partners are designed to help drive uptake of these alternative power sources at festivals. They include:

• Festivals understanding and reducing their energy demand, including better planning and rationalising of generators, and using more energy efficient kit for PA and lighting;
• Tour bus operations significantly reducing energy demand;

• Increasing the supply of WVO biodiesel through better information;
• Energy suppliers providing better information about the power and entertainment output provided by diesel, biodiesel and renewable installations to increase confidence and promote forward planning.

The Power Providers Forum Steering Group, which includes Julie’s Bicycle, Kambe Events Ltd./Shambala Festival, A Greener Festival, AIF, Firefly Solar and Glastonbury Festival, are now developing a programme to increase the use of WVO biodiesel and renewable energy at festivals based on these recommendations. Alison Tickell, Director of Julie’s Bicycle, said “Mapping power supply across UK festivals was identified by the Power Provider’s Forum as the first joint step towards building a sustainable festival sector. This research reveals the scale of opportunity, the strength of commitment and the missed tricks. Our second step will be to focus on a small number of joint actions to make the difference.”  Chris Johnson, Director of Shambala Festival and Kambe Events Ltd., said “We’re very encouraged by the commitment from promoters and the industry to the Green Festival Forum so far. We believe it will be a hotbed for innovation and contribute a great deal to sustainability in the festival sector. Watch this space!”

Julie’s Bicycle has also developed the Green Suppliers Database, a platform for suppliers to share information and increase awareness of their business available at:

www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/jb-green-database

Julie’s Bicycle Launches UK-wide Better Batteries Campaign

Better Batteries: encouraging the music and theatre industries to recharge and recycle batteries for environmental benefits and cash savings

Julie’s Bicycle launched its new UK-wide Better Batteries campaign (on Tuesday 13^th September) at PLASA 2011. The campaign aims to bring together the music and theatre industries in a drive to switch over to rechargeable battery systems, particularly for portable sound equipment, and increase the rate of recycling for both disposable and rechargeable batteries. Focused on venues and individual productions the campaign is backed by scientific research and case studies from commercial theatre productions which prove the reliability of the technology, environmental benefits and cash savings available.

Broadway theatre productions already using rechargeable batteries have made significant financial savings, after being encouraged to use rechargeable battery systems by a highly successful Broadway Green Alliance campaign. The production of WICKED on Broadway has been using nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries since October 2008 and, since then, has made savings of over $4,300 (£2,600) per year, replacing a turnover of 15,808 disposable batteries per year (38 per show) to a tiny 76 rechargeable batteries per year. The West End production of WICKED at the Apollo Victoria Theatre followed suit in June 2011 and this week they will break even on the purchase of their rechargeable battery system, 15 weeks after they began using it. So far they’ve saved purchasing over 2,500 batteries, equivalent to more than £500.

The environmental benefits associated with using rechargeable batteries and recycling after use include less pressure on natural resources, less pollution from the manufacturing process, less waste created and less carbon emissions resulting from transport and distribution, due to a decrease in the quantity of products being manufactured. Research by UNIROSS (2007) has supported this by showing that throughout their life cycle rechargeable batteries have 32 times less impact on the environment than disposable batteries.

Better Batteries also aims to increase battery recycling rates in the UK, in line with government regulation. In 2009 only 10% of batteries were recycled in the UK and in February 2010 regulation was put in place requiring this to increase to 18% in 2011, and 45% by 2016. Recycling batteries is crucial to reuse finite natural resources and prevent the release of harmful chemicals such as lead, mercury or cadmium.

Organisations, companies and individuals can sign up to Better Batteries via the campaign website, where information and advice to assist them switch to recharging and recycling their batteries is freely available:

www.BetterBatteries.info

Festivals smash 10:10!

The 10:10 campaign and music industry greening specialists Julie’s Bicycle have persuaded the organisers of some of the biggest and best events of the festival season to set out on a mission to reduce their emissions by 10% every year. The first major music festival of the summer, the Isle of Wight(IoW), reported savings of 22% from 2009’s event. Initiatives included boosting generators with biodiesel and solar arrays, and a comprehensive carbon audit (including ticketholder travel surveys). IoW’s sustainability programme has been planned and implemented by Eco Action Partnership over the past four years. Juliet Ross-Kelly from Eco Action Partnership, said “It has been a real challenge to tackle such a big events carbon footprint and of course we have had to learn a lot on the job with a few bits of trial and error along the way but thanks to campaigns such as 10:10 we have really focused our efforts and  have seen some great measurable results”.

Lovebox, one of London’s landmark summer events, smashed the 10% target. Replacing diesel generators with solar arrays, hydrogen fuel cells, vegetable oil and even bicycle power organisers we able to reduce emissions from onsite energy use by a whopping 38% in 2010, despite almost doubling ticket sales. Andy Mead, director at Firefly Solar and Lovebox’s head of sustainability, said “Lovebox made great progress last year making significant reductions. In 2011 we hope to make further reductions by building on last year’s success.”

A number of festivals calculated their emissions in 2010, implementing reduction strategies in the 2011 season. Festival Republic, set baseline carbon figures for four of their leading festivals in 2010; the greatest rock shows on the planet; the Reading & Leeds Festival, the critically applauded Latitude in Suffolk, and The Big Chill set in the beautiful rolling hills of Herefordshire. 2011 will see Festival Republic launch a range of innovative strategies tailored to each event – such as switching to cleaner sources of energy, initiatives to reduce water use, landfill waste, and increase recycling.

Greener Festival Award winner T in the Park, Scotland’s biggest festival, is aiming to reduce waste to landfill by 50% and diesel usage by 10% through increasing biodiesel use and improving energy efficiencies. And sometimes the best things come in small packages and Lounge on the Farm, the smallest of the 10:10 festivals, is no exception. Only six years old, Lounge on the Farm have already won two awards for sustainability including the Greener Festival Award and another Greener Festival Award winner Bestival, the last big bash of the summer, went all out for 10:10 last year with a 10:10 stand providing festival-goers with solar and bicycle phone charging. 2011 looks set to be another bumper year for Bestival
who hope to reach their 10% reduction through energy conservation and waste reduction.

“Music festivals are a staple of the British summer time – come rain or shine! Lovebox and Isle of Wight have proved that you can put on an amazing show AND cut carbon at the same time – smashing the10% target they set themselves in 2010. We can’t wait to see the savings the other festivals clock up this year” said Angela Bryant, 10:10’s executive director. “The challenge of reducing impacts while growing the business is being tackled head on by this group of festivals, it’s not always comfortable to put the green brand to the test. This group of festivals are doing it for real” said Alison Tickell, director of Julie’s Bicycle

ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION FOR FESTIVALS THROUGH INDUSTRY GREEN

14 UK festivals including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Lovebox, Isle of Wight, Latitude, T in the Park and others, have been certified through the Julie’s Bicycle Industry Green (IG) scheme, and several of them achieved impressive carbon emission reductions with the support of the scheme in 2010. If your festival wants to join our growing community of IG festivals – all sharing best practice, exploring opportunities for renewable energy supplies, driving down audience travel impacts, and working across the board to reduce their environmental impacts – let us know!

Industry Green is a simple certification scheme specifically tailored to the creative industries that enables festivals to reduce their environmental impacts and demonstrate leadership on climate change action. Following the straightforward guidelines and criteria set out in the Industry Green documentation gives you the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions that make good sense for your business and for the environment.

The certification scheme is based on four principles of environmental good practice: commitment, measurement, reduction of impacts and disclosure. With carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction at its heart the certification  gathers evidence over a 12 month period covering impacts associated with energy, water, waste and travel alongside company commitment, improvement and communication. Industry Green is an industry-endorsed brand, and the certification is externally assessed by the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University and verified by an independent Expert Advisory Group.

Successful participants are awarded the IG mark, which enables participants to communicate their achievement to staff, suppliers, consumers and audiences. “IG-ed” companies represent a community of creative industry leaders that are setting the standard for environmentally responsible business practices.

For more information please visit: www.juliesbicycle.com/industry-green or contact info@juliesbicycle.com

14 UK festivals get IG

Julie’s Bicycle has awarded fourteen UK festivals its Industry Green certificates, with Shambala becoming the first to get the full three-star award for running almost entirely on renewable energy. Julie’s Bicycle director Alison Tickell told CMU: “The challenge of reducing impacts while growing the business is being tackled head on by this brave group of festivals, It’s not always comfortable to put the green brand to the test. This group of festivals are doing it for real” .The full list of newly awarded festivals is: Big Chill, Glastonbury, Grass Roots, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Isle Of Wight Festival, Latitude, Leeds Festival, Lovebox, Reading Festival, Shambala, Sonisphere, T In The Park, Truck and Wood Festival.

Also out this week are the nominations for the Music Week 2011 Julie’s Bicycle Green Business Award. The six finallists are Firefly Solar CIC, KOKO, The NEC Group, The Premises Studios Ltd, The Sage Gateshead and Truck Enterprises for the Wood Festival.

Green Events and Innovations – final speakers announced

Green Events and Innovations – Keynotes, Panels and Presentations

 09.30am        Registration opens (please arrive at the Gateway Building, Buckinghamshire New University and you will be directed over to the conference room (N3.06)

 10.00am        Welcome from Bucks New University and A Greener Festival

10.15am        Introducing the Greener Festival Award:  Presented by Helen Wright, A Greener Festival

 The Greener Festival Award is now in its 5^th year and is recognised internationally as a prestigious independent assessment of sustainability and environmental good practice. This session aims to allow delegates the opportunity to understand how the scheme works and what criteria are used in assessing festivals.

11.00am        Waste Management Solutions:  Presented by Andy Willcott, Network Recycling

 Network Recycling are acknowledged experts in providing waste management solutions to festival and Andy Willcott will provide a presentation on practical and effective waste management regimes for festivals. The presentation will follow a group discussion on the opportunities and challenges ahead for reducing and managing event waste most effectively.

12.00pm        Measuring GHG Emissions: Presented by Helen Heathfield, Julies Bicycle

Established in 2007 by and for the UK music industry, Julie’s Bicycle is a non-profit company working with the creative industries to co-ordinate and catalyse best practice in sustainability and develop cultural leadership around climate issues to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. JB help organisations understand their carbon impacts and take responsibility for reducing them by providing clear, practical advice and support, based on the best available research, tools and which will be explained by Helen Heathfield, Julies Bicycle’s Associate Director for Energy & The Environment.

 1:00pm          Lunch Break: Lunch is not provided but there are two cafeterias at Bucks New University – Rusty Bucks in the Gateway Building (ground floor) and Beats (1^st floor) as well as a number of pubs and restaurants in the centre of High Wycombe, just 5 minutes walk away.

 2.00pm          Keynote: The Role of Arts in Climate Change. Ben Challis 

 2.30pm          PANEL: Sustainable Power Solutions

 Whilst travel is known to be the highest contributor to a green field event’s GHG emissions, on site power is something that is possibly more within the control of organizers, and area where a demand from green solutions is seen to be rising in conjunction with some of the technological advancements of our society. This panel brings together a range of expertise on power  – from festival organisers, education, long established generator and large scale power providers, to those with smaller scale innovative solutions. The panel will discuss what is available on the market at present, what is being done, what are future the challenges, and where do we go from here?

 Panelists

Andy Mead (Firelfly Solar)

Juliet Ross-Kelly (Eco Action Partnership, Isle of Wight Festival)

Helen Heathfield (Julies Bicycle)

Sam Jenner (Eco Charge Technologies)

Rob Hutchinson (Innovation Power)

Tom Davidson (Buffalo Power)

 Moderator: Claire O’Neill  (AIF / A Greener Festival)

 3.45pm         PANEL: Travel Solutions for Music Festivals

 With audience travel now acknowledged as the biggest contributor to the music industry’s carbon footprint, panellists will discuss what festivals are doing to reduce car travel to festivals. Questions to be asked include what are the most and least polluting options of travel? Are there any new initiatives on the horizon? And what works and what doesn’t?

 Panellists

Lucy Brooking Clarke (Glastonbury Festival)

Kevin Green (Big Green Coach)

Zoe Burton (Liftshare.com)

Robin Bennett (Wood/Truck festivals)

 Moderator: Teresa Moore (Bucks New Uni)

 All sessions are in N3.06

 5.15pm          Drinks Reception, The GlassHouse  just under the subway 2 minutes away

 6.30pm          Close

PRESENTED BY A GREENER FESTIVAL AND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE NEW UNIVERSITY AND  SUPPORTED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT FESTIVALS, JULIES BICYCLE , ROBERTSON TAYLOR, BIG GREEN COACH & DMS

The course is aimed at Event Managers and Organisers,  Environmental Mangers working in the Events and Festival Industry, Green suppliers and Students who wish to learn more about Sustainable Event Management

Register at: https://store.bucks.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&prodid=39&deptid=154&catid=8

Up to six trains from Birmingham and London to High Wycombe every hour.

GREEN EVENTS AND INNOVATIONS CONFERENCE – 20TH APRIL 2011

The Morning encompasses a training session with presentations and workshops on sustainable events management. The Afternoon will be a full conference for everyone interested in key innovations for sustainable events and greener festivals. The course is aimed at Event Managers and Organisers,  Environmental Mangers working in the Events and Festival Industry, Green suppliers and Students who wish to learn more about Sustainable Event Management. Register at:

at  https://store.bucks.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&prodid=39&deptid=154&catid=8 .

The Agenda

10.00   Introduction Ben Challis (AGreenerFestival) & Teresa Moore (Bucks New University)

10.15   The Greener Festival Audit – Helen Wright (AGreenerFestival)

11.00   Sustainable waste management – Andy Willcott (Network Recycling)

12.00   Measuring Greenhouse Gas emissions at festivals  – Helen Heathfield (Julies Bicycle)

13.00   Lunch

14.00   KEYNOTE: the role of the arts in climate change    Ben Challis

14.30   PANEL: Sustainable power solutions  Chair: Claire O’Neill (AIF) with  Andy Mead (Firefly Solar), Helen Heathfield (Julies Bicycle), Juliet Ross Kelly (Eco Action Partnership/Isle of Wight Festival) , Sam Jenner (Eco-Charge Technology)

15.30   PANEL and debate:  Travel solutions for music festivals – Chair: Teresa Moore, with  Danny Newby (Big Green Coach),  Lucy Brooking Clark (Glastonbury Festival)

17.15   Drinks Reception (supported by Robertson Taylor)

18.30   Closes

Buckinghamshire New University, Alexandra Road, High Wycombe HP11 1JZ. Trains from Marylebone and Birmingham to High Wycombe

GREENER FESTIVALS NEWS

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL has already announced U2, Coldplay and Beyonce as Pyramid Stage headliners for an amazing weekend of fun  - and have now announced some green travel initiatives for 2011. As one of the world’s largest outdoor gatherings, Glastonbury Festival is totally committed to reducing carbon emissions – and to raising awareness of what can be done to help combat climate change. Michael and Emily Eavis have already installed solar panels on the roofs of all of the farm buildings at Worthy Farm, providing enough sustainable power for 40 homes in the village of Pilton, and has also built on-site reservoirs to save on transporting water to the site and has new greener sewage plans on a nearby farm, saving on transporting sewage away. Now as part of the ‘Love the farm, leave no trace’ message, the Festival wants to reward people for choosing to come to Somerset by public transport or by bicycle. So, this year, for the first time, Glastonbury  have put together a Glastonbury Festival Green Traveller package which they hope will provide an extra incentive for you and your friends to “go Green”. Ticket holders who arrive at the Festival by public transport or bicycle will be given a Green Traveller lanyard, offering vouchers for discounts on main meals, solar showers, solely provided for Green Travellers, access to beautiful clean compost toilets and  a generous discount on a Festival T-shirt. Over 50 per cent of Glastonbury Festival’s CO2 total emissions come from how “you” the Festival goers makes your way to the site. Glastonbury says “We understand that public transport can be expensive and we are working on trying to keep the prices fair. And yes, we know that getting on a train or bus isn’t necessarily as easy as jumping in a car parked outside your house. But once you have decided to head for your bike, the bus stop or the train station, we’ll do our best to make Festival life a little bit easier for you – from the moment you’re dropped right by the gate!” Glastonbury will be posting more information on the Green Traveller scheme (and how it will work) soon www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

WAVEFORM are pushing pedal power for 2011 and hope to run a stage powered by six bikes pedalled by up to 400 volunteers over the festival weekend  – in fact the bikes may be reduced to four or five if the stage is too loud! The stage will also have pedalled powered LED lights and some spinning heads – and Waveform are also looking at recycled LED light installations and solar and wind power options too.

T IN THE PARK have a host of new and revised green initiatives. Green T is the environmental policy in place at T in the Park.  In 2010 T took the 10:10 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 10% and adopted the motto is redeem, reduce and recycle and T want to keep the green fields of Balado blooming! All food containers sold at the event are now biodegradable and all food vendors must abide by this in all their products.  They must not use plastic, polystyrene or other non bio-degradable serving trays boxes, cups, cutlery etc and condiments must not be single serving.  Waste bins, wheelie bins and recycling bins are located around the site and vendors are told that cardboard must be flat packed and put in the recycling bins. In order to reduce energy use and emissions T will be measuring this in 2011 to establish the baseline, and it will be measured in accordance with Industry Green: a framework developed especially for music festivals by Julie’s Bicycle, a not for profit organisation helping the music industry go green – T is one of the first Scottish events to have signed up to the Industry Green programme. T have also introduced recycling into the campsite: one clear bag for plastic bottles, cans and paper, and a bin bag for all food waste (including all food packaging and cutlery). T Trash Trailers make their daily rounds in the campsite collecting everyone’s bin and recycling bags – and all crew catering waste will be composted rather than going to landfill. T in the Park was the first UK festival to introduce cup recycling and there are three strands to this:  REDEEM – when you buy your drinks tokens onsite, there is an additional 10p deposit charged for your cup. When you’ve finished your drink you take your empty cup to one of the cup recycling points around the festival and we redeem it for a shiny new 10p! REDUCE – we’re always trying to find new ways to reduce T’s impact on the environment, and that includes reducing the effect litter and waste has on the site too and finally  RECYCLE – every cup collected through the initiative will be fully recycled, reducing the landfill waste which leaves Balado.

Grey water is collected from all showers onsite, and this is used for priming toilets after they have been cleaned. With so many toilets being cleaned 3-4 times a day, this saves huge amounts of water, and reduces the tanker miles of water coming to site, & waste water being taken away from site. This reduction in tanker miles makes significant reductions in tanker miles CO2 emissions. As T in the Park takes place within the catchment of Loch Leven, which is a designated ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’, T always ensures that all water and waste water issues do not damage the sensitive environment. T’s toilet paper and hand towels are made from 100% recycled materials and come from commercial forests not from conservation areas: these managed forests plant three new trees for every one cut down.

Finally, T’s campsite will be lit with low energy festoon lighting, staff use bicycles to get around the site (it’s the quickest and greenest way of getting about!) and T in the Park recognises the important educational role festivals have to play, and has created a dedicated environmental area called The Eco Village situated within Healthy T. The area promotes the green message whilst not losing sight that everyone is there to have fun, and naturally it’s solar powered.

The CROISSANT NEUF SUMMER PARTY have won the PEA AWARD for arts and music – the award honours individuals who have used any form of the arts to raise awareness on environmental issues. It is also for those that have adopted sustainable or ethical practices in producing their art.

And talking of JULIES BICYCLE, the UK’s cross music initiative on climate change has announced that six UK venues will be getting the IG mark to reward their green efforts. The six venues are Wembley Stadium, Cardiff International Arena, Motorpoint Arena Sheffield, O2 Apollo Manchester, Southampton Guildhall and the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham. Julies Bicycle Director Alison Tickell said “We are delighted to announce the award of IG certificates to six of the UK’s most high profile live music venues. All have demonstrated their strong commitment to reducing their environmental impact and join a community of creative industry leaders that are setting the standard for environmentally responsible business practices through their transparency and accountability”.

Finally, Ben Challis from A Greener Festival, Fruzsina Szep from the Sziget Festival in Hungary, Daniel Barcza from the Moholy-Nagy Arts University and Andras Gross from the Medence Group were all speakers at the ‘New Ways and New Trends in Arts Management’ held at the British Embassy in Budapest on March 3rd looking at sustainable development in arts management.  You can see more at  http://en.artsandbusiness.hu/. Both Ben and Fruzsina have contributed chapters to a just published Hungarian book of the same name.

More venues get the IG

Julies Bicycle, the UK’s cross music initiative on climate change, has announced that six UK venues will be getting the IG mark to reward their green efforts. The six venues are Wembley Stadium, Cardiff International Arena, Motorpoint Arena Sheffield, O2 Apollo Manchester, Southampton Guildhall and the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham. Julies Bicycle Director Alison Tickell said “We are delighted to announce the award of IG certificates to six of the UK’s most high profile live music venues. All have demonstrated their strong commitment to reducing their environmental impact and join a community of creative industry leaders that are setting the standard for environmentally responsible business practices through their transparency and accountability”.

This year’s green panel at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) is on the morning of Saturday March 12th (10.00 – 11.30) and is chaired by JB director and chair of the BPI Tony Wadsworth with guest speaker Jacob Bilabel from the Green Music Initiative in German. The panel will invite a spread of international bodies, promoters and festivals to pitch in with their latest ideas and Julie’s Bicycle will be on hand to present their latest schemes, focussing on how by being more efficient, the industry stands to save both cash and carbon (Room 4). The ILMC is at the Royal Garden Hotel, London (www.ilmc.com) .

Another Planet

Global warming causes big freeze? It seems that global warming is set to make Britain’s winters to be far colder – just like they have been for the last two years with temperatures in Britain far far below what they have been in ercent history. Dr Simon Boxhall from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton has said that melting ice in the Arctic Ocean over the last four years means that the  ice cover is at its sma;lest area since records began and this creates a high pressure system that sends freezing weather south to the United Kingdom. Brrrrrrrrrr!

Julie’s Bicycle and Music Week have announced the launch of the Julies Bicycle Green Business Award in recognition of environmental achievements made by companies working in the UK music industry.  This is the first award of its kind and is open to any company operating within the UK music industry. The presentation will be made at The Music Week Awards, taking place at The Roundhouse in London on 24th May 2011.  If your company has introduced successful green initiatives in 2010, you can enter and full details on how to be considered for the award can be found at the official Music Week website at www.musicweekawards.com/enter or alternatively please get in touch with Julie’s Bicycle at info@juliesbicycle.com . The Application fee is £30.

Mediterranean fish such as anchovies and sardines are migrating into the North Sea and could be caught of the coast of Scotland within the decade according to Jan-Gunnar Winther, director of the Norweigian Polar Institute. Warming oceans are causing noticeable shifts in fish populations he told the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromso, Norway.

I’ve just lined my new food caddy with a corn starch liner for the first time as Islington introduces food waste recycling – almost all food waste will now diverted from landfill and will be recycled back into compost. Food waste is  30% of the average household’s waste – so this is a bog step forward - and it all looks lovely ! www.islington.gov.uk/recycling .

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch has shown that there are some exotic visitors to Britain’s gardens as birds such as the rarely seen waxwing and the redwing thrush look for food in urban areas, many driven to the UK by harsh winter conditions in Russia and North Eastern Europe. See www.rspb.org.uk .

A Suffolk based inventor believes he has afound a solution to the tens of millions of plastic milk bottles that end up in landfill every year – a paper based bottle which was inspired by a papier-mache balloon  made Martin Myerscough’s son – although it does have a thin plastic lining. The GreenBottle will be trialled by Asda in East Anglia.

Broadcaster Melvin Bragg (aka Lord Bragg) has joined the growing number of voices alarmed by the coalition government’s plans to sell of the UK’s wppdlands – in particular in the Lake District where he was born. He told reporters in the North West that “we need more of the Lake District in public hands, not less”. Forests at risk include Grizdale, Whinlatter and Ennerdale. See more at www.savelakelandsforests.org.uk .

Cheap, green and nutritious – is there a diet that can save the planet? The Observer reports on the World Wildlif fund has come up with a new diet that shifts consumers away from processed food and meat – increasingly blamed for obsesity, diabetes and heart disease . Meat is one of the key environmental issues – in the US alone 70% of land is given over to growing animal feeds along with asssociated water resource and pollution issues, and vast areas of rainforest are being cleared to satisfy our meet needs. In the UK we eat an average of 79Kg of meat each year – the new Livewell diet reduces this to 10Kg a year. See more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/30/livewell-plate-diet-nutrition 

The annual get together of ‘World leaders’ in Davos, Switzerland, you know, the politcians, the business leaders, the bankers, seem to have come to the conclusion that the banker bashing must now stop, that politicians and bankers weren’t really to blame, and they all need to be left alone to work out how to work on a clever new economic recovery. meanwhile …. not too much has been heard about clever solutions to climate change …..

35000 reasons to love the coach

Audience travel to music venues is the single biggest contributor to the music industry’s carbon footprint – accounting for a huge 45% of the music industry’s carbon footprint and festivals are a big part of this – with audience travel to out of town sites often contributing over 75% of that event’s greenhouse gas emissions. Coach travel has other environmental benefits: Far fewer natural resources are used in the operation of coaches than other forms of transport, the required infrastructure and associated costs are much smaller and noise pollution is vastly reduced. The Big Green Report is the second annual report reporting the carbon savings made by customers travelling on the Big Green Coach services rather than travelling by car to festivals and events including Sonisphere, Hop Farm, Creamfields, Global Gathering, Pink Pop, Kendal Calling, 2000 Trees, Beach Break Live, Dour Festival, Camp Bestival, V Festival, End of the Road, Wakestock and the Stereophonics at Cardiff Arms Park.

The team behind Big Green Coach deliver a “one-stop-shop’ for festivals’ transport requirements. BGC say that travelling to music events should be an extension of the event and by working with event promoters they look to develop an advantage for public transport users and enhance their experience from simply boarding a coach and travelling to an event, to being the start of a brilliant music event experience. BGC are working hard to increase coach penetration for festivals/events by engaging with attendees well in advance of the event and by constantly working on social networks and talking to festival goers on message boards, BGC can develop new routes, departure points and times requested by the audience to make travelling by coach easier and more accessible.

With 35,000 passengers on Big Green Coach this year the TOTAL PASSENGER MILES TRAVELLED was 2,996,375 miles … Or…120 times around the earth! The AVERAGE (mean) DISTANCE TRAVELLED by festival goers on a return journey was 188 miles; the FURTHEST RETURN JOURNEY was 774 miles (Edinburgh to Sonisphere, Knebworth). The SHORTEST RETURN JOURNEY was 7.4 miles (Tonbridge to Hop Farm Festival).

A fleet of 700 coaches was required to deliver all Big Green Coach customers to and from festivals during 2010. Each full coach takes approximately a quarter mile of traffic congestion from the roads, this means that the Big Green Coach operation removed 175 miles worth of queuing traffic from the roads around festival sites.…or a standing single lane of traffic from London all the way to Barnsley!

There are substantial carbon savings when compared to a car with the average UK car occupancy of just 2.6 people. The TOTAL CARBON SAVING MADE BY CUSTOMERS TRAVELLING BY BIG GREEN COACH RATHER THAN BY CAR TO FESTIVALS IN 2010 was 12,999 KG Co2 based on the average car emission of 33.515* gCO2 per mile and the average coach emission of 8.552* gCO2 per mile (*Defra / Julie’s Bicycle. Jam Packed. Part 1: Audience Travel). This would equate to 64,997,156 Google searches or 928,531 Boiling kettles – and doesn’t include Shuttle Bus and Park & Ride services!

So 13,500 car journeys were removed from the roads of the UK and using the average return journey distance of 188 miles – there have been a further 2.5 million fewer miles of car journeys as a result of BGC coach travel. Hooray!

http://www.biggreencoach.co.uk/

New Julies Bicycle research points to green gains from digital promos

Switching to digital delivery of music promotional releases across the independent music sector would save 1,525 tonnes of CO₂ annually – a reduction of 86% – new research conducted by Julie’s Bicycle on behalf of AIM and BPI has revealed.

Detailed research undertaken by industry environmental initiative Julie’s Bicycle estimates that the manufacture, packaging and transport of promo CDs by AIM and BPI indie members total 1,686 tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to three times the annual energy, water and waste emissions of a large performance arena.

The research follows the work undertaken by AIM following the “10 BIG IDEAS” session at the anniversary of its 10^th AGM in July 2009. Reducing the number of physical CD promos was pinpointed as one of the winning ideas to emerge. 

Working closely with independent labels and three digital solution providers, Soundcloud, Fastrax and FATdrop, Julie’s Bicycle undertook an analysis of the promotional market which showed that in 2009 digital promos accounted for almost a quarter of promotional material delivered, with 9,000 files being distributed digitally compared to 25,000 physical CDs. 

The subsequent evaluation of the value chain from promo production to end-user calculated the carbon footprint of a promotional CD to be 649g CO₂ compared to 62g CO₂ produced by a digital file, thereby demonstrating the potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to be achieved from a change of distribution model. 

In a bid to embed sustainability across the industry, the report further recommends a shift away from the traditional jewel case to lower carbon packaging and calls on the industry to place a greater emphasis on recycling material no longer suitable for use.

You can download the full report at www.juliesbicycle.com

JB TOURING RESEARCH PUBLISHED

The much anticipated research from cross music industry climate change initiative Julies Bicycle on the environmental impact of touring has been launched at a breakfast meeing at the Royal Albert Hall in London today (17th June 2010) introduced by JB Chair Tony Wadsworth.  The research, Moving Arts, covers bands, orchestras and theatre touring.  The reseach looked to quantify the current level of greenhouse gas emissions from touring and the offers practical solutions and actions for the music indstry. The report concludes that although there are concerns about the environmet these are not yet (with some exceptions) reflected in touring practces. This is partially because financial decisions and constraints alongside artistic considerations are the main drivers dictating touring and therefor these will override environmental concerns. There is also a perception that ‘going green’ will cost more. However the Repirt shows that artists have, for theatre and arena tours, a high degree of influence and at the club level promoters and especially venue operators have a strong influence on the supply chain. Maximising opportunities for reducing GHG emissions requires consideration of the environment at a very early stage when th artist, manager, agent and promoter are booking a tour as decisions taken at the stage will have ramifications on the overall environmental impact of the tour.

Catherine Bottrill, JB’s Director of Research, outlined the Report’s findings into bands which looked at 32 tours – 11 in the UK, 10 in Europe and 11 in the rest of the World. In total for 2009 it is estimated that 85,000 tonnes of C02 were generated from UK bands playing in clubs, theatre arenas and stadia in the UK and around the World, with the UK impact being about 20,000 tonnes. Unsurprisingly, flying artists, crew and equipment around the world constituted a major contribution to UK artist’s greenhouse gas emissions and the Report gives clear detail of  where greenhouse gas emissions come from.

The study found that in general touring bands, orchestras and theatre have not systemically embedded environmental considerations into touring practices. They are at the start of the process of engaging, measuring, reducing and communicating their efforts to improve the environmental performance of touring. JB found that industry professionals WERE willing to take action but needed help, advice and guidance to take proper and effective actions. The Report concludes by saying that the industry currently lacks capacity, resources and tools for an informed response to reducing GHG emissions, but the will to take action is increasingly evident. 

Alison Tickell, JB’s Director, outlined JB’s recommendations which include

-   Environmental sustainability needs to be embedded into touring

-  GHG emissions need to be scoped when planning a tour

-  GHG emissions need to be measured during a tour

-  Venues need to embed sustainability into  the operational and investment plans

-  Suppliers need to invest in and offer goods and services that have strong environmental credentials

You can download the full report at http://www.juliesbicycle.com/about-jb/research/moving-arts. Its free but you do need to register with JB.

BBC news – Festivals put green issues higher up the bill

A new BBC Business News article on greening festivals with quotes from Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn, Alison Tickell from Julies Bicycle, Benedict Addis from Standon Calling, and our very own Claire O’Neill!

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10145690.stm

The CD vs the download – a carbon conundrum

The Bristol Music Foundation’s announcement that our own Harvest Festival  album and the BMF/Generator album Crushing the Great North South Divide would be launched in IG marked eco-friendly packaging at the Great Escape in Brighton on May 14^th prompted some stinging criticism in an email that was forwarded to me, questioning how any CD could be ‘green’. The email asked “did the CD suddenly become environmentally friendly, without me noticing? Here was me thinking that the disk itself is made from plastic, which is made in OIL POWERED furnaces in Asia somewhere, and then shipped across the oceans in a large OIL powered ship, to a dock in the UK where it is unloaded and transferred to a DIESEL powered truck which carries it to the CD pressing plant in PLYMOUTH, where the CD is cut and then placed in the ‘environmentally friendly 100% card case which produces less than 400g of CO2 (forgetting of course to include the emissions from the trucks that ship the card to the factory)’ and then shipped again to BRIGHTON, where it is handed to delegates.” It is a fair point, but to my mind the green dilemma is not quite as simple the email makes out.

When we decided to put together the Festival Harvest album, both Luke and me saw this as an album that would be sold as a double CD AND as a download album – because not everyone wants or uses CDs, and not everyone wants or uses downloads.  2010 figures from the record label’s trade body the BPI said that approximately 75% of music was sold in the physical format (almost all CDs with a small proportion of vinyl and music cassette) and 25% was sold as downloads  - and although 98% of singles are now sold as downloads, only 12.5% of albums are sold as downloads (http://www.bpi.co.uk/press-area/news-amp3b-press-release/article/2009-music-sales-show-decline-but-digital-retail-market-starts-to-deliver.aspx ).

I have to say that my instinct is that downloads are greener and cleaner – although I have no direct evidence for this.  What I do have evidence for is that CDs sold in card packaging without the plastic jewel case have a substantially lower carbon cost than those sold with a jewel case.  According to Julies Bicycle, the UK music industry’s initiative on climate change, CD packaging is one of the music industry’s largest sources of direct GHG emissions contributing at least 10% of the total emissions. Julie’s Bicycle convened a working group of industry, science and specialist experts to scrutinise the science and the business of CD packaging and come up with some solutions and published recommendations in July 2008 in the report “Reducing the Impact of CD Packaging” with the result that the recording industry could reduce its packaging emissions by up to 95% by switching from the plastic jewel case to card wallet. Research into consumer preferences and manufacturer capacity supported the recommendation to switch from plastic to card. You can find the report here http://www.juliesbicycle.com/research.

Undoubtedly the share of music sold and distributed in the digital format is growing year on year and figures from the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI Digital Music Report 2009) say that 19 out of every 20 downloads are illegal – so in reality a lot more music is being distributed in the digital file format now than CDs, even if legal sales on CD still treble digital sales.  And every digital sale must have a (very small) direct carbon cost and I have to say this must be far lower than the carbon cost in producing, packaging and distributing a CD. But, as with CDs, there are indirect environmental costs. There is clearly an environmental cost powering and cooling everything from single servers to giant server farms. But there is also a (probably) much bigger environmental impact from the constant updating of digital devices by consumers.  Whether it is the latest iPod or MP3 player, the or mobile phone upgraded on a yearly basis, or a new lap top with improved storage, processing and software, who hasn’t got a couple of perfectly usable working mobile phones in a draw somewhere, or an unused MP3 player, or an old lap top? A recent study from the RESOLVE group at Surrey University analysed the future impacts of different trends in music buying and listening on material resources. It found that a substantial shift by consumers to digital music files away from CDs did not reduce total material resources below current levels, because of the proliferation in listening devices.

There is a very interesting paper on this topic by Tim Chapmanfrom Cranfield University. Digital Music Behaviour and Music Perceptions of Carbon Impacts explores the common preconception that physical music delivery has a greater carbon impact than that of digital music. It also evaluates the extent to which user perception of carbon impacts influence listening choice. You can read Tim’s paper at http://www.juliesbicycle.com/media/digital-music.pdf (you need to register to download the pdfs on Julies Bicycle’s website. There is no charge).

The email I received also seemed to criticise us for providing free CDs for journalist and people in the music industry. One of the main purposes of the album is to promote a Greener Festival and also promote the twenty eight brilliant new artists on the album – the very best of British emerging talent . Now some journalists and people in the music industry have already embraced the MP3 –  and at least one festival bookers I know says he won’t accept CDs at all – and only wants digital files by email. Conversely, and rather like the way consumers consume in different ways, many journalists and music industry professionals want albums in a physical format: A survey from the (digitally distributed) music industry trade journal CMU reported that “The vast majority of music journalists in the UK are not ready to switch to digital-only promos” and that “75% of those surveyed said their still preferred to receive review and pre-release copies of music in a physical format, ie as a CD.” http://newsblog.thecmuwebsite.com/post/7525-of-UK-music-journalists-against-digital-promos.aspx

So we went for a CD and a download album – and worked with our manufacturer DMS to come up with the best solution for an environmentally friendly CD in 2010. Julies Bicycle Industry Green certification for CD packaging assesses whether a CD packaging format is ‘lower carbon’. To be eligible for Industry Green status the packaging manufacturing process must be found to produce less than 400g greenhouse gas emissions per unit, at least two thirds less than standard CD packging (plastic jewel case, booklet and inlay). In addition, the packaging supplier must demonstrate that they are engaged and committed to greenhouse gas emissions reduction and disclosure

So my own view is that we are a GreenER Festival and what we were hoping to do was produce a greenER  album, but I have to accept this may not be a green album.  So we will be launching Festival Harvest as both a CD and a download album in (the newly green) Brighton. That said,  we are always open to constructive criticism if  it is well thought out. You can email any thoughts or comments to agreenerfestival@aol.com

Tim Chapman’s study concludes with evidence that more sustainable behaviour by music users could be achieved through positive environmental engagement and action by the music industry and by delivering accurate sustainability information for users to “enable the music industry and music users to understand the real impacts of digital music”.

The greenest solution might be that there is no music produced or distributed at all. But that is something I could never consider.

http://juliesbicycle.com/media/downloads/Carbon_impacts_of_recorded_music.pdf

New tools to help UK festivals get greener

Julie’s Bicycle, the organisation that helps the music industry to reduce carbon emissions, has launched an online tool to help festivals measure, analyse, report and act on their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of their post-event review.  The IG (Industry Green) Tools are available free of charge to any creative sector business in the UK, and provide a tailored approach to measuring and recording annual GHG emissions for festivals and outdoor events, venues and office spaces. Julie’s Bicycle Director Alison Tickell told us that “Julie’s Bicycle aims to take the guesswork out of how the music industry can reduce its impact on the climate and our shared environment.  Our IG Tools will help organisations like festivals and music venues understand where emissions are happening and what they can do over the long term to cut them.  Measuring how you’re doing is the first step towards tackling the urgent challenge of climate change”. And Melvin Benn from Latitude, Leeds and Reading promoters  Festival Republic said “In 2008 over a million festival goers gathered to share music and company. Many festivals have made real efforts to reduce environmental degradation. recycling waste, waste vegetable oil biodiesel, locally sourced food supplies, responsible water use, composting, and occasionally on-site renewable energy have been part of festival planning for some time now. In their beautiful locations greenfield festivals can, and some do, strongly communicate the ethics of sustainability. But we need to do much more, starting with the reduction of GHG emissions”.  Currently Julie’s Bicycle also has IG Tools in development to help measure CO2 from touring, recording studios, retail, distribution, and manufacturing facilities.  Continuing updates are available online at: www.juliesbicycle.com . Julies Bicycle say that the IG Tools aim to further unite the music industry by contributing to climate-impact benchmarking.  Benchmarks are indicators of environmental performance, gained by comparing an individual organisation with the average carbon emissions of similar organisations. Benchmarks allow a company to say with confidence whether their work to reduce GHGs meets or exceeds broader standards of best practice – and drive change.  Our own Greener Festival Awards scheme recommends that applicants make use of the IG tool for festivals if they need help or guidance in measuring their carbon impacts – which is a key awards criterion. The tools are also key to the process for businesses seeking an IG mark, an “eco-label” certifying creative organisations (or suppliers) who have a demonstrable commitment to carbon emission reduction and environmental responsibility.

Photo  Ben Challis (at Glastonbury 2009)

Lithuania asks fans to get green together

Come together, right now

Lithuania’s 20,000 open-air festival Be2gether have announced a new environmentally friendly initiative for 2009. The new initiative, – Green2gether – will ask fans to travel to the Festival by environmentally friendly methods – public transport, vehicle sharing and the bicycle – and will also focus on recycling waste at the festival. Its an important itiative – recent research by Julies Bicycle, the cross music industry group working against climate change identified that audience travel to and from festivals generated 68% of the greenhouse gas emissions – and this can be even higher for Greenfield sites with little or no public transport. New solutions including better  public transport and car sharing are a must and its good to see be2gether championing such a sensible initiative.  Now in its third year Be2gether takes place in the sixteenth century Norviliskes castle, just 50 metres from Lithuania’s border with Belarus. The 12^th-14^th June event will feature two stages and a dance tent and acts appearing include Gogol Bordello, Polarkreis 18, Touch & Go and Clawfingfer.

AGreenerFestival and Virtual Festivals team up

Get together, right now

With audience travel making up a staggering 43% of all of the CO2 emitted by the UK’s music industry – and with the audience at some “out of town” greenfield  festivals making up to 80% of  those festival’s total greenhouse gas emissions , we felt it was time we tried to publicise what everyone can do to make their own lives a little bit more environmentally friendly. So we’ve teamed up with those good folks at Virtual Festivals (www.Virtualfestivals.com) to put up some webpages called My Greener Festival that give practical advice on getting greener – and reveal what some of the more enlightened festival organisers are already doing to make their events more sustainable. If you want clean and green festivals and if you have the time please take a look at the new pages at www.virtualfestivals.com/green .

We are hoping that this new initiative, coupled with our Great Big Green Ideas competition which we launched with the Big Issue, Glastonbury and T-in-The-Park, means that festival organisers, crew, artists and fans can all participate in what is become an increasingly important battle against climate change. Enjoy – and if you haven’t entered the competition then have a go – there is a really great first prize with lots of festival goodies from Lattitude, Leeds, Glastonbury, T-in-the-Park, The BRITS, The Futureheads and the Verve!

Over one million people enjoyed music festivals in the UK in 2008 and audience travel accounted for 68% of all greenhouse gas emissions – and 24% of the music audience travel. You can find out more about greenhouse gas emissions in the music industry by going to www.juliesbicycle.com – they have two excellent research papers – ‘First Step’ looking at the UK’s music industry’s emissions and the just published ‘Jam Packed’ which looks at audience travel.

New CD packaging a smash hit

I'm low on CO2

The UK’s record music sector has firmly grasped the initiative in moving to a low carbon future by annoucing that it will reduce its manufacturing carbon footprint by 10% in 2009 alone. At a packed reception at Sony’s London headquarters last night (13th May)  Tony Wadsworth, chairman of the BPI, launched the new initiative and emphasised the importance of  the new Industry Green (IG) mark from Julies Bicycle to a cross music industry audience. The 2009 BRITS album was the first UK album to be certified with the IG mark which will give consumers a clear indication that materials used in a CDs packaging have met its standards for environmentally friendly products and services – and meetS consumer demands for a more green approach to packaging.

The launch also featured exhibitions from a range of manufacturers who are now offering green packaging and these contacts are below.

Sont DADC’s  BendIt Green eco packaging line: 100% recycled or FSC?PEFC certified materials, eco friendly soya inks, eco friendly glue and water based varnish. www.sonydadc.com

Wewow – the  WowWallet – the latest addition to the range of eco-friendly packaging – the WowWallet.  For further information take a look at: http://www.wewow.co.uk/wowwallet.asp  

Shorewood Packaging’s Repak: All paperboard disc packaging join’s Shorewood’s Greenchoice team – with no plastic in sight made from certified materials, recyled board and renewale paperboard.   www.shorewood-blueprint.com

Keyproduction’s Ecopak:  grey backed board containing 95%-100% recycled fibre of which 90%-95% is post consumer waste with vegetable inks and mineral free oils. www.keyproduction.co.uk

The London Fancy Box Co  www.londonfancybox.com

AGI Media  www.agimedia.com

Arvato Digital Services  www.arvatodigitalservices.com

Alpha Duplication  www.alpha-duplication.com

 The 2009 BRITS album – the first with the new IG mark