LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
Britain has incorporated its effort to cut carbon emissions into its music festivals this summer.
The Isle of Wight will kick off the effort as one of the 10 festivals that have joined to support the 10:10 mission to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10% during 2010.
The Big Chill, Latitute, Bestival, Reading, and Lovebox are some of the festivals involved and will host a variety of bands and artists this summer including Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Elbow, Lily Allen, The Prodigy, Hot Chip, and The Flaming Lips.
Each festival has agreed to cut its emissions from power use for lighting, sound systems and stalls, from waste and from water use. Innovations include a solar-powered stage on the Isle of Wight to recycled or compostable cups and cutlery at Latitude, Reading and Leeds, and composting toilets at Bestival, according to London’s Guardian. Festivals will be helped by low-carbon music industry specialists Julie's Bicycle.
The announcement follows research by Oxford University which showed that the combined emissions from 500 festivals in the UK was 84,000 tons of carbon dioxide in one year – more than the annual emissions of several small island states.
As the festival season gets underway, 10:10 has announced that four new international campaigns are being launched in France, Germany, Portugal and Washington state. This brings the total number of countries to 10: the Netherlands, Norway, Ghana, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK have already joined up according to London’s Guardian.
The London-based campaign group said it is talking to another 17 overseas groups in Australia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, China, Nepal, Nigeria, Serbia and Spain. Other plans include a day of global action on October 10th- dubbed 10:10:10.
The 10:10 campaign director, Eugenie Harvey, said that festivals helped the campaign reach new groups – particularly younger music fans at events like Reading and Leeds – and helped discard the image that all campaigns to tackle climate change preach denial and dismal living, according to London’s Guardian.
"As soon as we get over the excitement of one country wanting to start their own 10:10 operation, another gets in touch," said Lizzie Gillett, campaign director for 10:10 Global. "It goes to show 10:10 is inspiring people to make a genuine difference through simple changes," according to London’s Guardian. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
