Sustainable Touring Resource Guide

While we wait for tours to get back on the road and festivals to once again pitch tents and welcome crowds of fans, the shutdown of mass gatherings gives the live industry a chance to pause and reevaluate the way things are done from an environmental perspective. Hopefully tours can safely resume sooner rather than later – and when they do they’ll be more sustainable than ever. 

There are many approaches to green touring and events, including eliminating single-use plastics, hiring food vendors that offer vegetarian/vegan dishes and locally sourced produce, and encouraging fans to carpool or use public transportation when traveling to shows. Simple things can make a difference like adding Rock and Wrap It Up! to one’s rider so backstage catering that’s been prepared but not served can be donated to places of need rather than ending up in a landfill (a win-win for food recovery and reducing greenhouse gas emissions).
Here, Michael Martin, founder and CEO of Effect Partners and r.Cup, offers a curated list of resources for approaching sustainable touring. 


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CARBON CALCULATORS, GREEN TOURING GUIDES & RIDERS: 
Creative Green Tools: https://ig-tools.com/signup
A free set of unique carbon calculators developed by Julie’s Bicycle specifically for the creative industries.
This guide features tools for reducing the carbon footprint of a tour and how this can be communicated without being suspected of “greenwashing.” 
Julie’s Bicycle Green Touring Guide: https://www.juliesbicycle.com/resource-touring-guide-2015
This guide focuses on the touring aspect of production, divided into before the tour, on the tour and after the tour.
Oceanic Global’s Music Industry Edition: https://oceanic.global/projects/tos-music-industry/
 
A support program for traveling musicians and tour managers, providing tools for reducing their plastic footprint on the road.  
Designed to help agents and production managers communicate with venues on sustainable action items.
 
A guide for artists and managers who want to implement sustainable production for their shows.
 
The Making Waves Guide to Plastic-Free Festival Events and Events: http://rawfoundation.org/making-waves/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Festival-Guide-20181.pdf
ACTIVISM / COALITIONS
 
BYOBottle Campaign: https://byobottle.org/
DJs for Climate Action: http://www.djs4ca.com/
Music Declares Emergency: https://www.musicdeclares.net/
Sustainable Concerts Working Group: http://sustainableconcertsworkinggroup.com/
PRODUCTS 
Reusable Water Bottles
Earth Bottles – https://earthbottles.com.au (Australia)
honua – https://honuadrink.com.au (Australia)
RAW Bottles – https://raw-bottles.org (UK)
The Ocean Bottle – https://theoceanbottle.com
Water Refill Station Providers
Camelbak – Water Filling Stations for music festivals and events
Dolphin Pump or FineDine – Water jug attachments for 5 gallon water dispensers
Event Water Solutions –  Water Refill Stations for festivals and events
FloWater – Refill stations for businesses or events
FRANK Water – Charity provider of water refill services (UK)
MeetPat – Water Stations for public spaces and events (Australia)
MTD Water – Temporary water services for events (UK & Ireland)
MeetPat – Water Stations for public spaces and events in Australia
Quench Buggy – Mobile Water Stations for outdoor festivals or remote locations
Tapp Water – Smart Water Filter for faucets
U.S. Pure Water – WaterBars for festivals and events
vi – Smart water dispensers for still and sparkling flavored water on demand
Water Monster – Hydration solutions for festivals and events
We-Refill  – Hydration systems for festivals and events (Australia)
Yeti – Water Silo Units for festivals
Reusable Pint Cups
bettercup – https://www.bettercup.com.au (Australia)
Festival Cup – http://www.festivalcup.co.uk (UK)
Globelet – https://www.globelet.com (Australia & New Zealand)
Happycups – https://happycups.co.uk (UK)
Hydrodroflask – https://www.hydroflask.com
r.Cup – http://rcup.com
Reusable Straws
Aardvark (paper straw) – https://www.aardvarkstraws.com
Klean Kanteen (steel & silicone straw) – https://www.kleankanteen.com
Simply Straws (glass straw) – https://simplystraws.com
Steelys (steel straw) – https://steelysdrinkware.com
StrawFree.org (bamboo straw) – https://strawfree.org

Reusable Utensil Sets & Tableware
Bee’s Wrap – https://www.beeswrap.com
Honeywrap – https://www.honeywrap.co.nz (New Zealand)
Lilybee Wrap – https://lilybeewrap-us.com (New Zealand)
Reusable Bags
Reusable Plastic Free Beverage Products
Yoonit (eco-friendly wine kegs) – https://www.yoonit.com
SERVICE PROVIDERS & NONPROFITS
Effect Partners works with musicians, artists and inspired brands to accelerate climate positive solutions, from leading the charge on customized offsets for global tours years ago, to leading the reuse revolution today.
A nonprofit organization working to reinvent activism and empower individuals to seek a global balance, focusing on the power of creativity to drive progressive social change.
Provides a service to develop zero-waste events and festivals, with customized waste-stream management services, products, and educational outreach.
Julie’s Bicycle: https://juliesbicycle.com/
A London-based charity that supports the creative community to act on climate change and environmental sustainability.
Oceanic Global: https://oceanic.global/
Oceanic Global works with leading scientists, conservationists, artists, and industry experts to drive positive change for our aquatic ecosystems.

Uniting around the music we love, tackling the environmental and social issues we face, Reverb is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering millions of individuals to take action.
TerraCycle offers a range of national, easy-to-use recycling platforms, as well as Loop, a sustainable shopping experience moving the world away from single-use packaging.