What Your Favorite Music Festivals Are Doing To The Earth
Coachella marks the beginning of the music festival season. A season that a lot of us look forward to every single year. All summer long, there are weekends packed with our favorite artists and bands, best friends, good vibes, and even better music. Not only have some of the best concerts I have ever attended at festivals, but the best weekend of my life was also at a music festival. Many of us have a deep affinity for music festivals, and we hold them very close to our hearts. That being said, some light needs to be shed on the darker, less-seen side of the music festival business: the aftermath.
Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals in the United States, and worldwide. Year after year, Coachella manages to sign some of the biggest and most well-known artists that people worldwide are itching to see. The festival pulls in around 750,000 people every year and runs for two weekends, a total of six days. That means six days of food being sold in disposable wrappers and trays, six days of beer cans, and six days of 750,000 humans worth of waste being produced in one place. And that’s just Coachella. According to Deployed Resources, there are around 800 festivals that take place yearly, just in the United States. Imagine how much waste is produced at all of those 800 festivals combined. Now think about how many other festivals take place across the world. Now think about how much waste that might be in total. Circular Online says music festivals produce 23,500 tons of waste yearly. 68% of that waste goes straight to landfills. Landfills that contaminate soil and groundwater and produce toxic gases for up to 50 years. Not a good look for music festivals.
On top of the actual waste being produced, a massive amount of carbon emissions come from music festivals. The Greener Festival report shows that, on average, one festival will produce 500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Aside from the festival itself producing an insane amount of carbon emissions, many famous festivalgoers are taking private jet rides to and from their favorite festivals every year. According to Transport & Environment, “Private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes (per passenger) and 50 times more polluting than trains.” This means that every single celebrity that takes their private jet to a festival accounts for at the very least five times more pollution than any other festivalgoer.
The total impact that music festivals like Coachella have on the environment is very intense. Tons of waste are produced, and tons of carbon emissions are produced. While music festivals are usually beautiful experiences, think about each festival's impact on our Earth. Next time you plan a festival trip, be weary of these things. Bring yourself a reusable water bottle. Reuse clothes you already have in your closet. Carpool or take public transportation. Avoid disposable products as best you can. Only use what you need. Don’t litter. And most definitely, don’t take your private jet.
Strike Out,
Ryan Manney
Boca Raton
Ryan Manney is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine Boca. His hobbies amount to surfing, skating, writing, reading, and everything music. When he isn’t surfing, he loves watching and/or playing live music. He also likes to wear cool clothes. You can reach him on Instagram @ryanmanney or email @ r.manney3@gmail.com
