Tim Vincent-Smith, Lead Artist and Co-Director of Pianodrome joins Earth Care for episode 11 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry series.

Pianodrome’s home base is in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a radical re-imagining of the piano in today’s throw away culture.

In 2017, bandmates Tim Vincent-Smith and Matthew Wright developed a creative way to extend the piano’s story while diverting it from a landfill. The team at Pianodrome built the first amphitheatre made entirely from upcycled pianos and delivered it to Edinburgh Fringe Fest where it saw 18,000 visitors. Since then, the Pianodrome has evolved into an iconic symbol of community and cultural resilience.

They’re a volunteer-based team that welcomes donated pianos and host adopt-a-piano days. Their creations include the Glasgow Arc, Leeds Piano Trail, Old Royal Pianodrome and more.

In this episode, Tim Vincent-Smith walks us through the careful labour that goes into dissecting a piano, then upcycling it into something new. He shares details on their adopt-a-piano days and how many pianos it takes to build an amphitheater. Tim also shares a few special stories about musical experiences from the amphitheater and the community it’s built.

Connect with Pianodrome: https://www.pianodrome.org/get-in-touch

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Kristie Peterson, Artist Liaison at Wear Your Music, joins Earth Care for episode 10 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

Wear Your Music is a sustainable music merchandise company that specializes in upcycling donated guitar strings into wearable jewelry. They strive to help green the music industry, connect fans to their favourite musicians and raise money for charities around the globe.

President and Designer Hannah Garrison, began in her NYC island studio where she would gather refuse left by musicians and create art. 20 years later, Wear Your Music has partnered with mega-stars such as Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Bonnie Raitt and more to transform their used guitar strings into one-of-a-kind memorabilia.

Additionally, each artist that donates their strings chooses a charity of their choice for the proceeds to support. They’re a values driven company that actively supports women, community and family.

In this episode, Kristie Peterson discusses the backstory of how Wear Your Music began diverting guitar strings from the landfill for a cause. We also chat about the artists they’ve worked with, the process of creating wearable jewelry, and charitable donations. Kristie emphasizes the power of creativity in sustainability and shares a pretty neat personal concert experience that was connected to a donated guitar string.

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Takeaways

• Wear Your Music upcycles guitar strings into wearable jewelry, diverting waste from landfills.
• The company works with a wide range of artists who donate their guitar strings, including Metallica, Joan Jett, James Taylor, and Duran Duran.
• The process of creating the jewelry involves careful tagging, cleaning, and custom production for each piece.
• Wear Your Music allows fans to request their favourite artists, and the profits from the sales are donated to charities chosen by the artists.

Jan Portheine, Co-Founder & CEO of KarTent, joins Earth Care for episode 9 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

KarTent is a sustainable solutions company based out of Amsterdam. Their name means cardboard tent because their original product was exactly that! After witnessing the waste left on music festival campgrounds, founders Jan and Wout wanted to develop a solution. Through their research, they found that 1 in 4 tents were left behind at festivals in the Netherlands alone.

Together, they developed a completely recyclable cardboard tent that was made from strong wood fibers, could survive heavy rain and fit two people. The tents were delivered to music festival sites, then taken back when it was over to use the cardboard again.

KarTent’s philosophy is that cardboard offers a perfect alternative for all kinds of products and is a sustainable alternative. Although they no longer produce tents, they now over 200 different products that are completely recyclable!

In this episode, Jan Portheine, co-founder and CEO of KarTent, discusses the problem of tents left behind at music festivals and the sustainable solution his company offers. The conversation covers the background of KarTent, the environmental impact of discarded tents, the process of turning cardboard into a sturdy tent, the logistics and challenges of KarTent, and the transition to other cardboard products. Jan also provides advice for individuals on reducing their impact at festivals.

Watch their TedX Talk, Waterproof, here

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Kate Johnston, Executive Director of Hillside Festival, joins Earth Care for episode 8 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

Hillside Festival is an eco-friendly festival located in Guelph, Ontario that has been celebrating music and community for over 40 years. Their Mission Statement reads, the Hillside Community Festival is a not-for-profit music festival that celebrates creativity through artistic expression, community engagement and environmental leadership.

Their story begins on July 14th, 1980, when they kicked off at Riverside Park Bandshell in Guelph with free admission, optional donation fee. The event was 11 hours of music for all ages.

From day one, Hillside Festival has made a strong commitment to ensure the environment is top priority. Fast forward to present day, they’re now a three day, multi-stage festival with a broad artistic vision that emphasizes diversity: of culture, of musical heritage and style, age, geography and influence.

They also have several green accolades under their belt. In 2014, they received the Honour Roll award from the Grand River Conservation Authority. In 2016, they won Best Green Operations awarded by Canadian Music Week. In 2019, the team received the International Clearwater Award for leadership in environmental sustainability. Additionally, for 8 years in a row, they were awarded Best Greening of a Festival from Festival and Events Ontario. They’re renowned as one of Canada’s most progressive, environmentally conscious, non-commercial community celebrations.

In this episode, Kate discusses the sustainability initiatives implemented at Hillside Festival. The conversation covers various topics, including transportation, food waste reduction, solar power integration, the green living roof, projects for artists, and advice for festival fans.

Hillside Festival is on from July 19-21, 2024.

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Aaron Brice, Founder and Director of Ambient Inks, joins Earth Care for episode 7 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

Ambient Inks is a merchandise company based out of Wisconsin that focuses on producing and managing conscious, sustainable merch for artists, bands and organizations. Their purpose is to create a positive impact within the global community.

The company was founded in 2009 by two best friends whose shared love of screen printing and merch led them to open a printing shop in their garage. As Ambient Inks has grown, the team has intentionally left room to reinvent their operation to benefit people, their community and the world first.

Their company sources products from sustainable, conscious brands and have systems in place that lessen the environmental impact of their production process. As their website states, they envision a merch industry that’s restorative and is mindful to the needs of people and planet.

One day each month, Ambient Inks donates their entire share of webstore proceeds to Plus 1. These donations support causes and organizations that align with their company values.

In this episode, Aaron Brice discusses the beginnings of Ambient Inks and their focus on supporting artists. Aaron shares his journey towards sustainability, including a transformative trip to Haiti. They also talk about the challenges and changes in costing and sourcing sustainable materials. Aaron emphasizes the importance of communication and education in promoting sustainable merch. They discuss the negative impact of fast fashion and the need for slow fashion in the music industry. Finally, they explore how fans can support the sustainable merch movement!

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Michel Smit, CEO of Energy Floors in the Netherlands, joins Earth Care for episode 6 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

Energy Floors aims to create awareness about renewable energy in a fun and approachable way. The company designs and builds floors that generate energy, are smart, interactive and make sustainability visible.They have developed a kinetic dance floor, kinetic walkway, a solar walkway and a kinetic photo-booth.

Interacting with their technology communicates that anyone can make a difference. Energy floors believes that all technology is available to create a sustainable world and it's now up to us to realize and embrace these technologies in our every day lives.

Their kinetic floors have brought sustainability to events around the globe including the FIA Formula E World Championship in London, Ski Resorts, Nightclubs, Coldplay's album launch in London and Berlin and Coldplay’s Music of Spheres tour!

In this episode, Michel discusses the concept of kinetic energy and how it can be harnessed to generate electricity. He explains how the idea for Energy Floors was born out of a desire to make nightclubs and festivals more sustainable. Michel also shares his experience working with Coldplay on their Music of Spheres tour and how the kinetic Energy Floors were integrated into the concert experience. Additionally, we learn about the logistics of building and transporting the Energy Floors and the impact they have on reducing the tour's carbon footprint. Michel emphasizes the importance of making renewable energy fun and engaging for people.

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Takeaways

Kinetic energy can be captured and converted into usable electricity through energy floors.

Energy floors can make nightclubs and festivals more sustainable without interrupting the party atmosphere.

Collaboration with artists like Coldplay can help promote renewable energy and engage fans in sustainability.

Gamification and data visualization can encourage people to actively participate in energy production and reduce their carbon footprint.

Laura Purdy, General Manager at Exhibition Place in Toronto, joins Earth Care for episode 5 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry Series.

Exhibition Place, located in Toronto, Ontario, is Canada’s premier destination for conventions, exhibitions, events and entertainment. The building’s history dates back to 1750 and was properly established in 1879. Fast-forward to present day, Exhibition place has grown into a world class venue that hosts numerous trade and consumer shows each year, including the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)! The event space has also become a leading participant in environmental sustainability.

For the past 30 years, Exhibition Place has participated in the GREENSmart program which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading edge green technologies and practices. They also signed the Net Zero Carbon events pledge which is a global initiative to address climate change across the events and meetings industry to achieve net zero by 2050.

Additionally, Exhibition Place is LEED Certified, which is an international symbol of sustainability excellence and green building leadership.

In this episode, Laura Purdy takes us behind the scenes at Exhibition Place to better understand the sustainability initiatives in motion. Laura explains how the site has achieved LEED certification, with Enercare Centre being LEED Platinum and Beanfield Centre being LEED Silver. We also discuss the various green practices that have been implemented such as retrofitting, district energy systems, green roofs, waste management programs and rescue bees!

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Hannah George, Sustainability Coordinator at SWG3 joins Earth Care for episode 4 of the Sustainability in the Live Music Industry series.

SWG3 is one of Scotland’s busiest venues and welcomes 250,000 guests yearly. In 2021, SWG3 began their substantial shift towards net-zero. With the help of Stance, they began measuring the carbon footprint from their operation to better understand their environmental impact. The team then used that data to develop a baseline that allows them to continuously move the sustainability needle.

In 2022, SWG3 introduced a form of renewable energy that no other venue had tapped into, BODYHEAT. Since then, SWG3 has been powering music gigs and live events thanks to energy generated by all of the venue’s visitors.

The venue’s mission to keep dancing, keep working, keep creating, while operating in a responsible way that recognizes the seriousness of the climate crisis.

In this episode, Hannah discusses the venue's journey to becoming net-zero and the various sustainability initiatives SWG3 has implemented. She explains the BODYHEAT technology and shares how long it took the venue to create it. We also learn about SWG3’s reusable cup system, the circular swap shop, the active travel initiative, and their plans for reducing touring emissions. Hannah emphasizes the importance of collaboration and communication within the live music industry to drive sustainability efforts.

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