Photo by Kevin Couture
Greening the Music Scene
Music tours can generate literally tons of trash and needless waste. Reverb founders Adam Gardner and Lauren Sullivan decided to help change that, and have been greening the U.S. music scene ever since.
At a recent Jack Johnson show, the mellow singer-songwriter told his fans to support “all the great people here, doing great things.” He was referring to the nonprofit environmental groups in the Eco-Village, a string of tents where fans could learn about conservation, get free stuff, and take action to help the environment. The Eco-Village was all set up—along with the “greening” of Johnson’s tour—by another nonprofit doing great things, Portland-based Reverb.
Reverb is proudly and literally a mom-and-pop organization, run by Adam Gardner, a guitarist for the indie rock band Guster, and his wife, Lauren Sullivan, a fifth-generation Mainer who previously worked for the Rainforest Action Network. Reverb works with artists, promoters, and venues to lighten the environmental impact of tours and facilitate grassroots education and outreach for music fans.
Established in 2005, Reverb has worked with jam bands such as Phish and the Dave Matthews Band, pop stars such as Sheryl Crow and Maroon 5, country artists such as Willie Nelson, and hip-hoppers Drake and Wiz Khalifa. Celebrating their 100th tour this summer, Reverb managed to grow through the economic downturn and the struggles of the music industry. They attribute that to forging relationships and building trust, artist-to-artists and nonprofit-to-nonprofit.
“We’re insiders, not third-party outsiders,” Gardner says. “I always say we’re bilingual. I understand the touring world—I’ve been doing it for 20 years. And Lauren understands the environmental world because she’s been in it just as long.”
Reverb provides a customized “greening” programs for artists, arranging bio-diesel for vehicles, waste reduction and recycling, carbon offsets, local farm-to-stage catering, and public relations, from websites highlighting eco-friendly initiatives to text messaging campaigns. The nonprofit also helps local and national environmental groups—more than 200 of them, from the Maine Solar Energy Association to the World Wildlife Fund—reach fans through Eco-Villages, using locally based part-timers and a network of more than 2,000-plus volunteers to help connect the groups and fans.
Fans often receive samples from corporate partners who support Reverb—Ben and Jerry’s, Stonyfield Farm, even reusable water bottles from Kleen Kanteen, to be filled at Brita water stations. They’re asked for their email addresses so Reverb and/or the band can follow up, and they’re asked to do something: anything from pledging to get outside more to signing up for community service or writing a letter to their representatives.
“There’s a lot of awareness and education,” Sullivan says, “but that’s not enough for us. There’s always a call to action. We let them know what the issues are and what they can do about it, and then we immediately follow that with, ‘Here’s what we want you to do, right now.’”
Reverb generates revenues from fees (often a 50-cent add-on to tickets) and from corporate partners who provide funds and merchandise for fans and prize giveaways—including a Honda Civic designed by the band Blink-182 for the Honda Civic Tour, a longtime Reverb partner.
Reverb’s come a long way from its origins as part of Bonnie Raitt’s Aria Foundation—prompted after Sullivan called Raitt’s team in the wake of the star’s eco-friendly Green 2002 Highway tour, which became a model for Gardner and Sullivan. They moved back to Maine in 2005, and by 2006, landed several world-famous clients and created their annual Campus Consciousness Tour.
Reverb is continuing to grow and get better at what they do, Sullivan says, and is staying in Maine: “We have incredible people here who think it’s a great place to be. We’ve accomplished a lot with seven [full-time] people, because everyone’s so dedicated.”
Now, they’re spreading their wings. Reverb founded the Green Music Group, a coalition of artists, venues, record labels, and nonprofit partners working on creating best practice standard for green tours. In partnership with AEG, one of the largest sports and entertainment firms in the world, Reverb has a new research project to determine exactly what impact the music industry has on the environment. And, they’re looking to work with smaller bands, to educate and help them before they become big. (Carbon Leaf, the band Reverb fans chose via Facebook to be Reverb’s 100th tour, played at the Yarmouth Clam Festival in July.
Expanding means Reverb will do what a lot of nonprofits do: apply for grants. “We’re trying to help bands that can’t afford to be green, or don’t have the staff to do it,” Gardner says. Still, the heart of Reverb remains the organization’s bond with big-time artists, who wield the most influence and draw the largest crowds.
“We called this Reverb because the passion starts with the artists and reverberates out to the fans, out to the community, and so on,” Gardner says. “It’s a whole ripple effect, starting with the artists onstage. They reach people, and give them the power to change the way the music industry operates and the way individuals can make a difference.”
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