Sound Emissions

For fans, avoiding emissions must be put into perspective. Obviously the hardcore approach would be never to attend a gig or buy records and merchandise again, ever.
However music makes the world go round and that just is not a practical (or desirable) option. So how can fans avoid generating excessive emissions while still getting their necessary fix of fine music tunes?

For fans the avoidance of carbon emissions falls into the following 3 broad categories:
1. Travelling to and from the show;
2. Buying music; and
3. Consuming music related stuff ;
 

Travelling To And From The Show
Travel emissions depend on the types of gigs you attend and whether you have a preference for local "round the corner" pub gigs, capital city stadiums or one or more day festivals.
Generally speaking a greater proportion of fans will travel to local gigs using more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, bikes or public transport. Gigs that are located away from population centres or are just that awesome that people from all corners of Australia will travel to no matter what, tend to rely on private vehicles and air travel.

Avoiding travel emissions is hard and requires a certain commitment from fans. Below are a number of tips to consider. Note particular tips will be relevant to some fans but not to others (it just depends on personal circumstances):
• Attend gigs where you can travel by foot, bicycle or public transport;
• Avoid if possible travelling to too many interstate gigs;
• If you have to drive, where possible, avoid travelling with a half empty vehicle (i.e. take as many people as you can);
• If you plan to take a taxi make sure you fill it with friends to reduce emissions (and as a bonus it will be a cheaper fare for all); and
• If you can avoid taking your car because bus and train services are available, then consider taking them (mass transit can dramatically reduce your personal emissions footprint).

Australia is a big country so it is hard to avoid travel. The rule of thumb is to use public transport where possible. If you cannot take public transport make sure the vehicle you travel in is as fully occupied as possible.
 

Buying Music
Avoid buying music, are you crazy?
Actually just the opposite. You are encouraged to buy music and lots of it (preferably from home
grown artists of course). Buying music not only enriches your musical listening pleasure it also
plays a key part in maintaining the viability of the entire music community.
 

The evolution of music recording and publishing now means that fans have a wide choice of
formats to choose from when buying music. From vinyl, CDs and DVDs to digital downloads, the
choice has never been so wide. However the carbon footprint for each of these formats differs
markedly usually due to the product manufacturing, packaging and of course its transportation to
the retailer.
 

Every fan has a preferred format so of course the choice is yours. Next time when you go to buy
music consider some of the following points:
• Buying CDs in cardboard sleeves as opposed to plastic jewel cases can reduce carbon
emissions by up to 95%;
• Avoid buying music that is excessively packaged. Every layer and material used just adds
more emissions to our atmosphere;
• If it suits your preferences avoid buying a physical product and digitally download it (from a
site licensed to sell digital music - remember your ripping off the artist and the industry by
illegally downloading or file sharing music);
• Purchase music from stores that don't wrap their products in plastic (oh and refuse the
plastic bag at the counter); and
• If you are going to buy music in a physical format try avoiding travelling to the store by
private vehicle (use public transport).

Consuming Music Related Stuff
Like any consumer product there is good stuff and there is bad stuff. From a carbon emissions
perspective bad music related stuff is things like merchandise made out of fossil fuels such as
plastic, foam and rubber. Also a lot of merchandise these days is made in countries thousands of
kilometres away meaning tonnes of travel emissions.

Of course buying music related stuff is important for helping artists to make a living. What each of
us should be vigilant about is only buying stuff that has a lighter carbon footprint. Being discerning
about what you buy as a consumer sends a powerful message to marketing and manufacturing
people. If someone's line of life size plastic Elvis dolls are not selling because consumers don't
want to purchase something made out of 5 kilograms of non renewable, fossil fuel based material,
you can be pretty certain companies will not continue making such undesirable items.
 

When you are in the market for scoring some of your favourite artist's music related stuff consider
some of the following pointers:
• Avoid buying stuff made out of plastic and other non renewable resources;
• Try and buy merchandise produced locally to avoid excessive transport related emissions;
• Avoid buying stuff that is likely to have a short shelf life (i.e. stuff that is going to break,
fade, warp, split or shit itself in the first few days after purchase);
• Avoid buying gimmicky stuff as it always ends up in the bin in a very short space of time;
• Support artists who consider emissions generated by their merchandise (i.e. some artists
actually pay to offset part of all of their product's emissions or they source their stuff from
ethically approved suppliers, etc); and
• Avoid going over the top and buying too much stuff. Ask yourself, what do I really need,
and just buy that.

www.soundemissions.com.au