Ideas to manage unnecessary production in the music industry for independent artists:
Screen print, heat press, or paint new designs on old merchandise.
Make patches with salvageable material from damaged merchandise.
Is that a broken guitar string or new wire for wraps?
Turn unused handbills into rainbow scratch paper for personalized promotions (handbills, homemade cd covers, invitations) using black paint mixed with a little dish soap.
Give a discount for shows people bring a handbill in for to be reused for the rainbow scratch paper.
Print one batch of posters for each tour with room to write specific details for each venue/date.
If any clout, have poster signing sessions so they are less likely to end up in the trash.
Offer personalized playlists and charge extra to burn CDs.
Donate unused instruments to schools or a kid near you.
Consider what art installations or repurposing could be done with any broken gear or extra office supplies.
Could busted speakers be gutted into themed furniture?
Can a broken guitar case be turned into a guitar stand?
Collect and loop used wristbands for handmade streamers.
Create ticket collages for home craft stage or photobooth backdrops.
Wrap/tie/knot old instrument cables into wall art.
Broken microphones make great balloon/decoration/paper weights for any entertainment themed event.
Drums that are no longer playable could become flower pots, foot stools, or end tables.
Even broken glass can be used for mosaics.
Look at what is lying around unused, find a way to make a new purpose for it.
Links:
Music industry and climate change, Part 2: What can a musician do?
How can music fans be environmentally responsible in 2019?
Massive Attack to help map music industry's carbon footprint
Everything’s Gone Green: What can the Music Industry do to Combat Climate Change?
Updated: Dec 26, 2019
Recommended listening: Dave Brubeck’s Take Five
Green the Scene is a concept that is easier said than done.
As in any other intricate system, the many parts that make it all happen have become standardized over time.
So how to change an issue that exists because that is just the way it is?
Weighing matters reflects priority, responsibility on the majority consequential for the minority.
One of the biggest obstacles of an environmentally friendly music industry is income disparity.
Why are finances able to make such a difference in sustainability, especially for niche business sectors? What can be done to fix this?
Knowing the history behind the way things became the way they are can potentially lead to treating the problem.
Take five aspects of how the music industry impacts the environment into consideration:
1. Barriers to Education
2. Paradox of Tolerance
3. Putting Motivation into Action
4. Analyzing Results
5. Making Changes
People are not just sitting around letting their world go to shit.
When “limited resources” just means society supports a corrupt faction that hoards all of the world’s wealth and destroys humanity for profit, “limiting resources” is the cross that many have to bear to indulge few.
Learn. Discuss. Adjust. Evaluate. Green the Scene.
Barriers to Education:
Education for sustainability: Challenges and opportunities
Children Still Face Barriers In Accessing Music Education
Environmental Education Barriers to Transformative Sustainability Learning and Action