Clubs, DJs and festivals want to become more ecological. But many attempts and innovations are disappointing. And an uncertain rental market prevents investments.
The music industry and environmental pollution, apparently, cannot be separated. No wonder: club-goers looking for ecstasy on the dance floor at the weekend have little time to think about their own CO2 balance at the same time. The switch from traditional sound carriers to streaming services gave rise to hope for a long time.
The idea is that if you don’t hold a product in your hand, you can’t cause any waste. In fact, a study revealed that music downloads can save between 40 and 80 percent of CO2 emissions compared to CDs.
Understanding emissions twice as high
The industry produced between 200 and 350 million tons of greenhouse gases in the year with the storage and processing of song data. The oil companies that supply the raw material for the records would benefit from the vinyl trend that has been prevalent for several years. In addition, due to the advent of music downloads, plastic consumption has decreased from 61 million to just 8 million tons since the turn of the millennium .
Music festivals have a role to play in our response to the climate crisis.
How DJs put pressure on
Some musicians like Eli Goldstein from the Boston DJ combo Soul Clap are now campaigning for more environmental awareness in electronic culture. That means: You want to convince organizers to book more local musicians. At least at some festivals this has already met with approval.
Goldstein is part of the activist group DJs for Climate Action. In his work, he faces a system that is based on being harmful to the climate. Because in the club scene it is common for artists to fly from metropolis to metropolis for their performances without a long break. He himself is now trying more and more to travel to concerts by train. He moved to the country to grow his own vegetables with his neighborhood. he said that if DJ’s will change, others will follow.
Insecure tenancies prevent climate protection
The Future Party Lab in the Blank club in Berlin looked at how such changes could look in practice. Organized by interest groups from the club scene and the Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation, the central question was how partying can become climate-neutral. Why not create indoor gardens to supply plants with the CO2, set up a city-wide club collective for solar systems or at least replace the thermal insulation?
The big problem for the clubs is not the will to invest, it is the uncertain tenancy that makes them hesitate. According to Turtur “Many operators do not know whether they will still be in the same place in two years”