Event Producers Strive to Lighten Their Footprint

Large-scale events—such as trade shows and music festivals—have historically earned high marks for bolstering local economies and low marks for earth-friendliness.

Last year’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival drew over 130,000 fans to Golden Gate Park over three days. Photo by Doug Mason

By Bill Picture
Published: August, 2009  

“It’s partly our desire to run our business the same way we live our lives, and partly that people attending these events expect it from us, particularly here in the Bay Area,” says Bryan Duquette of Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment LLC, producers of the upcoming Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival (August 28-30 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park) and the Treasure Island Music Festival (October 17-18 on Treasure Island).  Another Planet co-produces the event on Treasure Island with San Francisco-based Noise Pop Industries, which also produces the annual Noise Pop Festival, held in February and March at venues through the City.

“I’m very proud of what we’re doing, but I don’t know that we deserve some pat on the back,” says Aubin Wilson of New York-based George Little Management LLC, which produces the upcoming (and twice-yearly) San Francisco International Gift Fair (August 8-11 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center).  “I think it’s all of our shared responsibility to do what we can for the environment.”

Promoting green gifting and living

For George Little Management, which produces about 50 trade shows each year nationwide, that “do what we can” mantra has resulted in a long checklist of green to-dos. The company minimizes paper consumption by posting all registration forms, and exhibitor applications and materials, along with a directory of exhibitors, on an event’s website.  Attendees can also now pick up a separate list of exhibitors offering green products, and exhibitors can attend panel discussions about green product ideas and business practices. 

Aubin Wilson, director of the gift fair, which regularly draws between 13,000 and 14,000 people, says the idea is to encourage more exhibitors to add green items to their inventories. “And we’re definitely seeing more green items pop up each year,” Wilson adds.  “I’d say that, over the last two years, the number of green and sustainable vendors has probably tripled.  It’s been a little slower lately because of the economy and the fact that green products tend to be a little more expensive, but people are definitely still interested.”

Wilson applauds Moscone Center for its ongoing green efforts, which she says continue to serve as a jumping-off point for her and her staff every year.  Since 2000, solar panels have been installed on the roof of the two-million-square-foot structure, and high-efficiency toilets and fixtures have been installed in all restrooms.  Older lighting fixtures have been replaced with new, energy-efficient lighting technology, and recycling and composting programs have been stepped up.  A few years ago, non-compostable food service containers and utensils were banned from the venue, and traditional cleaning agents were switched out for non-toxic alternatives.

“Anything they can do to be green, they do,” she says.  “It’s pretty awesome.  Venues in other parts of the country aren’t going to nearly the same lengths.”

Hearing green, seeing green, being green

Another Planet Entertainment, producers of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, are going above and beyond the green call of duty for this year’s event, which features headliners Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band.  (The organizers are currently attempting to replace their other headliner, the Beastie Boys, who pulled out of the festival shortly before press time.)

In addition to taking all of the usual steps to green their event—banning non-compostable cups, food containers and utensils, providing a free bicycle valet to encourage attendees to bike to the event, and ensuring that there are enough waste stations on-site to handle the tons of trash generated by the 130,000-plus people who attend each year—Another Planet is adding a water-refilling station, where attendees can refill their own canteens for $1 or purchase an Outside Lands canteen and get refills for free.   The organizers of Southern California’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival added a similar station to their event last year, and reduced the number of single-serving plastic bottles of water consumed by 40 percent.

The East Bay-based promoters are also increasing their focus on promoting alternative sources of energy.  Last year’s solar-powered stage, which was small by festival standards, is being replaced with a much larger one.  And green goings-on in the festival’s EcoLands area, a section devoted entirely to sustainability, are being stepped up.

This year’s EcoLands is entirely solar- and biodiesel-powered, and will feature a solar- and wind-powered cell-phone charging station, as well as a farmer’s market, organically prepared food, a lounge area with furniture made entirely of materials salvaged from a local landfill, and a store where attendees can trade their recyclable plastic bottles and compostable cups for food, concert tickets and Outside Lands merchandise. 

“And we’re tossing around a lot of ideas for Treasure Island Music Festival,” says Bryan Duquette of Another Planet, referring to the company’s other property, which happens in October and regularly draws about 16,000 people over the course of two days.  This year’s Treasure Island Music Festival features headliners MGMT and The Flaming Lips.

“We’d like to eventually push a zero-trash policy, and have literally everything used on-site be either compostable or recycle, not just the beer cups and food containers,” he explains.  “Another idea I came up with is maybe having a lights-out period, just to draw people’s attention to the energy situation.”

“I think people not only expect event producers here to be on the cutting edge, they demand it from us,” Duquette adds.  “The Bay Area is a very educated and conscious community, more so than other parts of the country.  That’s why it’s such a great place to live and to do business.”

For more information on the San Francisco International Gift Fair, visit www.sfigf.com. For information on the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, visit www.sfoutsidelands.com. For more information on the Treasure Island
Music Festival, visit www.treasureislandfestival.com.

Waste Stations that separate items for recycling, composting and landfills are provided throughout the festival ground in Golden Gate Park. Photo by Doug Mason

Empty, single-serving water bottles account for a sizable share of the waste generated at Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. Photo by Sanseri