May 20th, 2009

By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now

This summer five-time Grammy winner John Legend will become just one of many artists who are choosing to go green with their concert tours. Legend has joined up with Reverb, a non-profit organization specializing in promoting environmental sustainability, to present a carbon-free tour. His summer tour, in support of his latest CD Evolver, will kick off in late June in Muskegon, Mich., and travel across America and Canada.

While the greening details of the tour are still being finalized, Reverb’s Brian Allenby is excited about John Legend being the first urban artist to go green. The tour also will offer eco-friendly merchandise. At another Reverb concert, Dave Matthews Band fans received their merchandise in biodegradable plastic bags. Many other concert tours are offering such items as reusable water bottles and organic bamboo T-shirts with the band’s logo.

More than 80 percent of a concert’s carbon footprint results from the fans’ commute to the event location. John Legend, as with other Reverb touring artists, will have a ride-share website.  As an incentive at other Reverb concerts, carpoolers qualify for reserved and closer-in parking spaces.

Reverb took form after the success of Bonnie Raitt’s “Green Highway” tour in the summer of 1998. Allenby says “the demand for our services has gone through the roof in the last two years.” The group encourages different venues to use biodegradable catering products, recycling and waste reduction. Kelly Clarkson and Willie Nelson joined with Reverb to use biodiesel fuel for their tour. Maroon 5,  John Mayer and Jack Johnson have all used Reverb to green up their tours.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media