Al Gore announced the Live Earth series of concerts last week, with lots of media coverage (we mentioned it in the Spotlight section of our site). A few more details have emerged, and it's stacking up to be a fantastic, sustainable event. The sustainability initiatives are being organized by a team headed by sustainability guru John Picard, the award-winning sustainability expert and former member of President Clinton’s Green White House task force. Their job is to follow the wastestreams of the concert, in its various locales, and cover their tracks with offsets. They're talking about things like producing the first concert powered entirely from the garbage of the people attending...wow. Additionally, all electricity used to power the event will be from renewable sources (biodiesel, solar, wind, etc.) and all concession stands will be using biodegradable plastics; anything leftover will be taken care of with on-site recycling. When it comes to the performers and their time on stage, compact fluorescent bulbs and LED lighting will be used in both trailers and on stage. Taking it one step further, any hotel wishing to accommodate Live Earth staff must switch out any incandescents or other inefficient bulbs with either CFL or LED alternatives, and non-toxic cleaners will be employed in the rooms, along with a recycle bins provided for each room. Lastly (but certainly not least), all air travel for Live Earth will be offset with carbon credits.
This is quite an array of sustainable efforts. As with other large-scale events like this in the past, the concern is that they'll fall apart in the face of the huge crowds and difficult logistics of any large-scale event like this. They're certainly headed in the right direction to start. [Live Earth] via [Ecorazzi]
