The beautiful force and power of vocals. The inspiration in the effortless contrivance of instruments. The warmth of harmony and expression. The transcendent, uplifting magic of performance, which embodies it all. Music, a layered masterpiece, a universal language that speaks, heals, dreams, and resonates in one way or the other.

Music has always played an indispensable role in my life. During every weekend road trip of my childhood, the concert in the car to the destination was half the fun. From Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and The Temptations to Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and Alanis Morissette, each song or artist ties into the memories of my youth, evoking a distinct feeling of nostalgia.

As I grew into my early 20s, live music became a favorite hobby of mine. I traveled near and far for music, even though it was at the ease of my fingertips. For me, music was and will always be so much more than pressing play. The all-encompassing brilliance of music is what makes it special – seeing, hearing, feeling. It’s surrounding yourself with people who are all there for the same reason you are – to celebrate the live music experience.

It wasn’t until my late 20s that I began picking up on what goes into creating these live music events for artists and fans of music around the world. At this point, I was attending 15-25 concerts a year. I started thinking about the amount of fuel burning into the atmosphere while approaching traffic to the venue, the number of tickets printed, scanned and thrown away, and the energy and power needed to produce flawless sound and lighting for 10,000+ people to enjoy. I began to see excess and waste where I once saw only joy and camaraderie.

After joining ClimeCo in mid-2018, I became more conscious of the environment and how impactful carbon is. I felt like the universe was working in my favor because months later, we were in contact with one of my all-time favorite bands, Pearl Jam, whom I had gone to see in Philadelphia two years prior on their 25th Anniversary of Ten Tour. Pearl Jam ended up working with us to mitigate their 2018 European and US Tour’s carbon footprint through an Alaska-based forest preservation project, Afognak Island. They care about preserving and protecting wildlife, forests, oceans, and our planet. They didn’t have to go the extra mile to do this, but they did. Isn’t that incredible? 

A few months later, a fan tweeted Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind on Twitter, nudging him to do the same by referencing Pearl Jam’s initiative. Days later, Stephan’s team got in touch with us to discuss mitigating the emissions for their upcoming 2019 Summer Gods Tour with Jimmy Eat World and Ra Ra Riot. He accepted the Twitter fan’s challenge and wanted to raise the bar by including the carbon footprint of the fan travel to each stop of their tour.

This past August, Bill Flederbach, ClimeCo’s President & CEO, and Dan Linsky, VP of Voluntary Markets, asked me to join them at Third Eye Blind’s final tour stop at the FivePoint Amphitheater in Irvine, California. Fast forward to that evening: Stephan Jenkins, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist, announced mitigating the carbon footprint for the entirety of fan travel for their 2019 Summer Gods Tour on top of mitigating the tour itself. About halfway through the setlist, Stephan honored ClimeCo by inviting Bill and Dan onstage and presenting them with a Silk Floss Tree, which would be planted at FivePoint Amphitheatre as a continued reminder of ClimeCo’s support. It was a magical, feel-good moment. I felt immensely gratified to be recognized for the work we had put into this fantastic cause.

Music unites us all. Why not unite to make it cleaner for our planet? Why not nudge and call on other artists to do the same as Pearl Jam and Third Eye Blind? Let’s open their eyes, educate, and inform them that carbon mitigation is an option. Let’s tell them how much we care. And let’s convince them they should too.

Photo by Stephen Albanese