​Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, DGTL, SkyNRG & more launch a climate tracking tool for the music industry

Turns out, all the flights that contributed to the rise of “techno tourism” weren’t so great for the planet. Travel in general accounts for around 20% of global CO₂ emissions. Fortunately, a few super people we love spent the bleak years of the pandemic dreaming up ways to create a better music industry that would emerge on the other end of this thing.

The Climate Gig is a new climate action tool launched by a dream team of green people and brands within the music industry who share a common goal of reducing the carbon footprint left behind by an indulgent industry and its actors. The joint venture comes via the Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, SkyNRG, CHOOOSE, DGTL Festival and Revolution Foundation, and looks to enable artists, music fans and venues to think of travel in the name of music in a more sustainable way.

The question they set out to answer was: “How can we remove the carbon-heavy component of live events, without jeopardizing the key consequence: travelling to meet each other and experience music in the flesh?”

What they came up with was an easy-to-use tool, available on both desktop and mobile, that calculates and reduces the carbon footprint of journeys to and from events. For music fans, lowering the footprint is as easy as using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and/or carbon offsetting a journey. The platform does all the calculations for the user based on the method of transportation and travel destination.

For artists and music venues, there are even more options. Users can create a profile and reduce the carbon footprint of entire large events including crew, transportation, accommodation, and more. They can also access in-depth climate content and track the positive impact in real-time.

To get things going, artists and festivals already using the tool include Deer Jade, SHARE, BLOND:ISH, and DGTL Festival.

“When we reached out to artists about this project, we found out most of them were already engaged in more sustainable travel,” said DGTL Festival’s Artist Handler Jelle Lobbes. “Agencies already implemented offset programs for their roster and really thought about their journeys. This showed we’re all on the same page and motivated us to join forces and take the next step forward.”

BLOND:ISH, an artist herself as well as the founder of Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, has long been conflicted about the travel that comes with the job. ”I love my career and am super grateful for all the places where I get to play and be a voice for change, but travel emissions continue to be a big dilemma for me. I'm a climate activist and I want to remove single-use plastics from the scene, so I really don't feel at ease burning all this fuel to go spread my music. The Climate Gig is a perfect solution for me and I hope it gets a lot of love in the industry."

So go on, fly to Ibiza this summer—just don't forget to offset your journey. And don't forget to take a reusable water bottle with you while you're at it. (Or a reusable wine bottle, if it's 750mls like mine).

Learn more about The Climate Gig tool here