On the Road: The Green Revolution

Concert promoters, venues and artists are increasingly going green, teaming up to reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of their industry and raising awareness about green products, technologies and issues by utilizing the strong connection between artists and their fan bases.

The basic message: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

For the multibillion-dollar concert business, that means:

· Staging carbon-neutral concerts using green energy sources whenever possible or purchasing carbon offsets for energy used, such as planting trees to help with future carbon reduction.

· Relying on clean-burning, domestically made biodiesel fuel to power tour buses and trucks and even stage generators.

· Providing on-site recycling.

· Offering biodegradable food services and reusable or recyclable cups, plates and utensils.

In the next few weeks, Save Our Selves -- the Campaign for a Climate Crisis, the organization staging the 24-hour Live Earth global event July 7, will introduce the Green Event Standard, which will be usable industry-wide, from small venues to larger arenas and stadiums. Live Earth, whose broadcast could reach more than 2 billion people worldwide, will implement many green practices, including sourcing all electricity from renewable sources (utility-supplied renewable energy, biodiesel generators, renewable energy credits), issuing carbon credits for air travel by staff and artists, and reducing waste from concessions. The final leg from Giants Stadium in New Jersey will be the country's first "green" stadium event.

When the Live Earth concerts were announced in April by former vice president Al Gore, he said: "This will be the largest musical event in history and the beginning of the biggest change we've ever had to make. But we have to really make a commitment to this change, and that's what Live Earth is designed to kick off."

About the same time, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, by far the area's busiest summer venue, announced "a complete assessment of [its] environmental footprint," with plans to minimize the park's impact, "eventually positioning Wolf Trap as an environmental model and resource for arts presenters across the country."

For guidance, Wolf Trap need look no further than its July 31 headliner, Guster. Adam Gardner, guitarist for the indie-rock band, and his wife, Lauren Sullivan, who has a degree in environmental education, founded Reverb in 2004. The Portland, Maine-based nonprofit group advises bands and venues on environmentally friendly options. Among the tours Reverb is "greening" this summer are those of John Mayer, the Fray, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and the Dave Matthews Band.

Greening can involve large festivals as well. The upcoming Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, June 14-17 in Manchester, Tenn., will recycle 250 tons of festival garbage into construction material and park benches to be used at future events. The recent Coachella festival featured split trash cans -- recyclables in one part, trash in the other -- allowing organizers to collect 90 percent of the recyclable material. At England's upcoming Glastonbury Festival, each ticket holder will get a free, environmentally friendly roll of toilet paper; about 150,000 rolls will be handed out in a bid to encourage people not to bring their own.