![]() ![]() Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey’s McGee called for less talk and more action when it comes to wanting change. Disco Biscuits guitarist Jon Gutwillig spends an extra $4 a month to purchase wind power, and said he was shocked by the small percentage of people in his home state choosing to do the same. “The seeds of change are really already creating a groundswell of movement for protecting the environment and switching to a different way of looking at our place in the world and on our planet,” she said.Ĭonversations with other artists proved that many of them also had green issues on the brain. “I’m a musician,” Raitt said, “but I live and breathe this air, and I eat this food, and I don’t wanna contribute in my lifestyle to not making things better.” She named sustainability “the issue of our time,” and offered hope to the large crowd of listeners. The next day, Bonnie Raitt, long a fighter for environmental justice, forest protection, and an end to nuclear power, also took to the Solar Stage for a one-on-one interview with Rock the Earth founder Marc Ross. They weren’t the only artists who practiced what they preached. They took a few classes at a local college to learn how to make it work, then hit the road. After realizing they’d be touring the country without much money, the band explained, they decided there was an “obvious solution”: using waste veggie oil in their bus. On Saturday, the members of “high-altitude bluegrass” quintet Hot Buttered Rum String Band spent an hour-plus on the Solar Stage playing a few of their politically charged songs - including “Well-Oiled Machine” and “Guns or Butter” - and explaining the finer points of biodiesel filtration to an engaged audience. “ teach people that if we don’t respect the land that we’re allowed to have these amazing gatherings on, then we’re not going to be able to have these amazing gatherings anymore.” Giving ‘Em Something to Talk About ![]() Spanning all generations, Bonnaroo’s “citizens” ranged from hippie to hipster, but Borofsky says she’s noticed more of a “hippie-crite” presence at many of the large music festivals. “By showing people that in a sustainable way, then we can apply that to the big picture.” “These festivals are a kind of microcosm of the real world,” Borofsky said, adding that the Bonnaroo community serves as an example of what’s possible. An organization called WastAway will also contribute, by melting down and compacting 250 tons of the non-recyclable, non-biodegradable garbage into “fluff” that can be used for park benches and construction. By recycling plastic bottles and aluminum cans, Bonnaroo officials hoped to divert more than 60 percent of the event’s waste from landfills. Clean Vibes - the official “pick up the mess organization,” according to head picker-upper Anna Borofsky - set up 2,000 trash barrels and 2,000 recycling bins throughout the grounds, carting filled bags to sorting facilities and composting areas. Then there was the eco-army dealing with waste: some 600 tons of it. Which is why organizers made a conscious effort to reduce its environmental footprint this year, and have even grander plans for the future. ![]() In the words of psych-folk singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart, “It’s an opportunity to live in a temporary village centered around music, expression, awareness, consciousness - all the goodies!” The festival literally becomes a community - complete with residential areas, trailers with running water, port-o-potties, wi-fi and cell-phone service, security officials, and medical facilities - and deals with many of the issues a small city might. As Thom Yorke - the frontman for this year’s headliner, Radiohead - put it to the writhing masses waving glow-sticks under a star-speckled sky last week, “Now this is what we call a festival.”īut with some 80,000 people camping out for the four-day, 24-hour jam-band showcase, whose other featured acts included Tom Petty, Phil Lesh, and Beck, Bonnaroo is much more than a festival. The now-legendary event features long-haired musician-types, massive stages, sprawling campgrounds, and vendors hawking all manner of food and crafts. But for a short time each summer, the idyllic setting is taken over by a different kind of herd: the tens of thousands of fans who descend for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Here's Howįor most of the year, this 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., provides open, grassy pasture for a herd of cows. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. ![]()
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