U2 Blog

U2 Strives to Lower Carbon Emissions

It was quite a wake-up call for Irish rock band U2 a few weeks ago when Helen Roberts of the environmentalist group Carbon Footprint publicly declared that the carbon put into the atmosphere by the band and people traveling to their concerts was enough to power a trip to Mars. While some rockers might let this roll off their back, U2 has built a reputation as a socially-conscious singing group. So they’ve responded.

Live Nation, the producers for the band’s current 360° Tour, have announced that they will begin adopting more environment-conscious policies. Their goal, according to the group, is to balance the Tour’s carbon footprint through an offset and reduction strategy.

The Tour has said their first goal is to work with venues, production and fans to reduce the Tour’s environmental impact, and yet not compromise the experience for the fans. For instance, they will set up recycling programs at many of the venues. They are also encouraging fans to use Brita hydration stations at venues to reduce plastic-bottle waste. Those directly involved in the concert will also ue these stations and Brita products to refill reusable steel water bottles.

The Tour is also offering fans a PickupPal carpooling program, so taht fans can lower the amount of carbon emissions from their vehicles while traveling to and from the concert.

There have also been several changes backstage at the U2 concerts, as well as in the office and on the road. For example, there is now bus and backstage recycling, recycling of batteries and electronics, refillable water sations, and constant analyzing of bus and truck operations for areas in which carbon emissions can be reduced.

And finally, the Tour is announcing a customized U2
“Next we will announce the 2009 customized U2-360° Tour OFFSET strategy, details of which are still being finetuned.

All of this is welcome from a band that preaches environmentalism to their fans and which is eager to not appear to be hypocritical. And they’re doing a fine job of living up to their own talk.

Interested in seeing the socially-conscious U2 in person? Tickets are still available for their current tour. And remember that FrontRow.com has the largest selection you’re likely to find on the Internet, so contact us with your ticket needs. http://u2tickets.com