CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Pollstar | Live Sustainability: Things Ain’t What They Used To Be

www.pollstar.com: As we approach the 49th celebration of Earth Day, the issue of sustainability/climate change/environmentalism is in the public consciousness in a way that it’s never before been.

Individuals and organizations around the world engage in activism and advocacy from the international to local levels; various forms of “green” technology and business are being pioneered and expanded to varying degrees of success; and discussions about the impact of humanity’s actions on the environment are taking place with unflagging vigor.

3 comments:

Mary Emily said...

As a whole, we in society have become both so aware of the damage we are doing to the Earth but also so numb to the damage we are doing, and it is highly problematic in creating and maintaining a livable planet over the next 100, 50, maybe even 20 years. This article does a good job at highlighting the potential that the music industry has to make a significant change for us as a whole. Every time I leave a concert or music festival, the fields always look similar to the picture of Worthy Farm in Somerset, England. I remember going down to Piedmont Park in Atlanta one time after Music Midtown had cleared out, and it has a very similar feeling to it- in what is usually a gorgeous and clean public park. I never think of the music industry being a way to change the environment, but after seeing the aftermath of concerts and the support that fans give their favorite artists, I definitely think that there is a way music can influence us all to treat our world with a little more respect.

Lauren Sousa said...

I thought the fact that this article talked about how an advertising technique for millennials and Gen Z was to align your product or event or whatever with a cause because, “People don’t know how to give back, but want to.” Though I do think that speaking generically of whole generations is inaccurate I see a lot of truth in this statement, however I don’t know if by acknowledging that it means companies are “authentically showing (their) dedication and passion for (their) causes”. I do worry that the approaches companies take to be “green” in sake of an advertising campaign are of all that much overall benefit to the environment. But of course doing something is typically better than doing nothing and we have some serious issues we need to face environmentally. My skepticism shouldn’t detract from the companies, groups and individuals who are actually fighting for environmental improvement because there are people and agencies doing very good work out there.

Kaylie C. said...

While it is kind of underhanded that some companies align themselves with certain political movements in order to gain a younger or larger audience, I really do not care as long as they are actually doing the things they said the would to attract my attention in the first place. Something has to be done, and I think larger corporations are the way to go simply because of how much waste they produce. It is really difficult to manage the waste of individuals because of human error in determining what to recycle and compost and availability of those options in the first place. If large companies cared about these issues too, even if just to gain more money, we could really increase our green habits. Sure, it is not the most genuine thing in the world, but if it works I do not mind. If you expect any company to be genuine right now, you are in for a bad time.