With the looming threat of global warming approaching, scientists question how we can simplify our waste without drastically changing our lifestyles. The call for such fast change can seem overwhelmingly difficult, consuming a lot of time and effort.
Rock the Green, the Midwest’s first annual near-zero waste music festival, proves that going green doesn’t have to feel stressful. In fact, it can be a lot of fun.
Rock the Green, an all-day, outdoor concert festival, takes place Sept. 18 on the lakefront of Veterans Park. The festival’s lineup includes The Fray, Fitz and The Tantrums, Ben Folds, Parachute, Michelle Branch and local musician Evan Christian. Admission before Sept. 18 is $25 and $35 the day of the show.
Lindsay Stevens Gardner, founder and executive director of Rock the Green, originally worked in the music industry producing events in Golden Gate Park, Calif. After organizing numerous music festivals, she noticed how much waste was created. Inspired, the Milwaukee native decided to create a festival unique to the Midwest.
“Anything I am looking at from A to Z, I am looking to make greener,” Stevens Gardner said.
The goal of a near-zero waste festival is to create the smallest carbon footprint possible while still putting on a killer show. Rock the Green aims to do this in a few ways. First, all of the sound, lights and interactive areas will run on generators using biodiesel fuel.
Second, the festival will provide complimentary, BPA-free, recyclable water bottles to festival guests. These bottles go above and beyond normal recyclability, created with fair trade practices and designed so you can roll them up to fit in your pocket.
The free water bottles are designed to counter the American tendency to buy bottled water from stores. According to the Rock the Green website, Americans buy half a billion plastic water bottles per week, but taste tests around the country have established that people consistently prefer the taste of tap water to bottled water.
Most importantly, the festival hopes to educate the public about environmental awareness. But that does not mean the festival applies only to the niche of environmentally conscious folks.
“I wanted to bring the green movement to the mainstream, to people who don’t normally go to environmentally friendly festivals,” Stevens Gardner said.
The festival will also showcase interactive areas that display new eco-friendly products. The products will be matched with a corresponding classical element – earth, air, fire or water – and its interactive eco-friendly mission.
For example, the “earth” showcase features gardening items and material goods, including T-shirts donated by 43 Goodwill shops around the nation. The shirts were “upcycled,” which remakes the material into a higher quality product — in this case, new T-shirts.
Similarly, the “air” showcase features sports-related vendors and music equipment, “water” tents highlight products dealing with water sustainability and efficiency and “fire” hubs focus on solar and battery powered energy solutions.
Retailers aren’t the only ones getting involved. Local food and beverage companies will offer produce and other organic food and drinks for sale as well. Sprecher Brewing Co. partnered with Rock the Green to create its own private label version of their Special Amber beer for the event.
Rock the Green’s efforts don’t end with the last concert of the evening, though. The website will feature frequent updates throughout the year, including blogs and tips about how to continuously live an eco-friendly lifestyle.
“This is not your typical one-stop festival. Especially in Milwaukee, this movement is gaining momentum,” Stevens Gardner said. “Our festival comes full circle.”
Rock the Green takes place Sunday, Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Veterans Park, 1010 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr. Advance tickets are $25 or $35 on event day. For specific concert times and other info, visit rockthegreen.com.