Concerts going green

MUSIC festival organisers in Perth are taking a 'green' approach to the events they stage, creating carbon-neutral concerts and implementing elaborate environmentally friendly programs.

The West Coast Blues 'n' Roots Festival, held at The Esplanade in Fremantle each March, was this year awarded a Greener Festival Award for its carbon offset initiatives.

In recognising the festival's organisers, Sunset Events, the judging committee stated: "Our assessor reported that the festival excelled in sustainable energy with a real commitment to renewable energy resources and the audience was invited to offset their own carbon footprints with a plant a tree scheme.

"With good onsite recycling, it was encouraging to see that the majority of stallholders were local and that a number of environmental organisations and charities had been invited by the organisers."

Festival organisers worldwide entered the Greener Festival Awards, with only 18 international events receiving an accolade for their green efforts in seven categories including event management, carbon emissions, fair trade and recycling.

Australia's biggest music festival, the Big Day Out, went carbon neutral in 2007, introducing a program costing about $30,000 to plant eucalyptus trees to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.

Last year on its Australian tour, the John Butler Trio performed a carbon-neutral show at the Perth Concert Hall.

Emissions associated with the tour, such as electricity consumption and carbon outputs from air and road transportation, were calculated and a reinvestment was made into renewable energy projects.

People were also able to purchase a green ticket for an extra 50 cents, with the additional money donated to renewable energy programs.

Sunset Events' flagship festival Southbound, which accommodates 40,000 concertgoers over two days in Busselton, is another green event.

Other carbon-neutral events include the V Festival held in Perth each April and the Across the Great Divide tour by Powderfinger and silverchair at Claremont Oval last year.