by Rose Orrala
Musicians have long influenced society through their musical activism with many artists being rock-oriented. It’s common for an artist to use their platform as an opportunity to promote a cause since they’re able to appeal to a large following. Many have used their platforms in the past to endorse social and political movements, but there’s one that gets less attention: sustainability.
Environmental advocacy at large has been a cause primarily promoted elsewhere, but beginning in the 1960s, environmentally minded songs became commercially popular. In 1974, Jackson Browne released the song “Before the Deluge,” which acted as warning of where we were heading if we didn’t stand up and advocate for large-scale change. In a 2021 interview, Browne acknowledged that this may not have been the first environmental protest song of the time, but it was certainly one that had a powerful impact. Despite the song’s success, this form advocacy was simply not enough for some.
In 2011, Milwaukee hosted the Rock the Green Festival, their first such Earth Day celebration. This festival focused on impactful zero waste methods to show that one can be festive and still be sustainable. Every aspect of this festival is green including the energy used to power stages and other ecofriendly equipment. The festival has a total of three stages: Eco-kids Solar Power stage, the Pedal Power stage, and the main stage. As the names imply, the Eco-kids stage is powered by solar, while the second stage is powered by bicycles. The main stage, however, runs on bio-diesel generators. Past line ups have included artists such as Fitz & the Tantrums (2011), Imagine Dragons (2012), Switchfoot (2012), and Robert Delong (2014). The Rock the Green 13th annual festival will take place in 2025 on April 20th from noon to 3pm.
Further, rock bands such as the Lumineers have partnered with non-profit organizations to ensure the environmental footprints of their tours are reduced. Since 2019, the Lumineers have partnered with REVERB. In 2022, they worked together during their Brightside world tour, throughout which they were able to get fans to take 47,000 actions, which included fundraising, educational quizzes, donations, refillable water stations, and voter registration. Other measures were taken that ensured that 88% of their venues had vegan entrees available and every stop backstage and for fans had recycling.
It’s truly amazing to see the progression of environmental advocacy through rock music and we can only hope this will continue well into the future. Of course, eco-stages and tours aren’t common, but as issues surrounding climate change and sustainability become more prevalent, I’m sure we’ll see more of our favorite rock artists using them.
