AL gore I am not so sure.

[Andy Hamilton]

Well tickets for the Al gore concert have gone on sale. Live earthwill be seen by billions.

But is this the best way? I admire many people who are doing there bit for the environment, but how many flights will be taken for this concert, how many car journeys? There are a team of specialist that are going to be dealing with this by all accounts. But what about the concert goers? Will there be 2 billion cyclists going??

IF anyone has seen the Al gore film an inconvenient truth they might notice that he is driven about in an SUV and walks through airports after every scene. These are private jets that he takes too.

Fair play on getting a concert on the go and if it does exactly what Al Gore wants it to then it will make a massive difference. I just find the mixed messages of what he says and what he actually does are a bit hard to swallow.

[the.fee.fairy]

I agree.

He is to the American Green Movement what David Cameron is to ours.

All talk and no action. If he really wanted to make a difference, he'd stand by hiswords and actually put things into action.

If there were more incentives for people to live a more earth-friendly lifestyle, then things might be different. As it is, there are too many people driven by 'cheap' things and easy living.

How is the concert being powered? Is it solar and wind? or are there going to be generators onsite? What about the toilets? Are they composting? Or are they using drinking water to wash away effluent?

[Andy Hamilton]

ah, was not sure if I was being a bit of a sourpuss on this issue.

Really if you are having a concert like this you would need to do a few things such as -

1. All the artists should live within a 30 mile radius of each venue and travel there by bike, horse or at the very least public transport.
2. All the roadies and staff should do the same.
3. All refreshments should be local and organic.
4. As you said fee the toilets should be composting toilets.
5. Again as you said it should all be powered by solar or wind power.
6. The audience should also travel by bike or another carbon free way.

Otherwise it will be like holding a party full of booze in aid of Alcoholics anonymous.

[Thomzo]

Well this is what their website promises:

Each venue will not only be designed to maintain a minimum environmental impact, but will showcase the latest state-of-the-art energy efficiency, on-site power generation, and sustainable facilities management practices.

Let's hope they live up to that.

I wonder if someone from the organising team would be prepared to keep us informed of what they are doing so that we can assess for ourselves?

Zoe

[the.fee.fairy]

Really if you are having a concert like this you would need to do a few things such as -

1. All the artists should live within a 30 mile radius of each venue and travel there by bike, horse or at the very least public transport.
2. All the roadies and staff should do the same.
3. All refreshments should be local and organic.
4. As you said fee the toilets should be composting toilets.
5. Again as you said it should all be powered by solar or wind power.
6. The audience should also travel by bike or another carbon free way.

Sorry, Andy, not convinced on some of the points there:

1. BGG is well over 30 miles away from me, but they do encourage people to use public transport/other forms of transport, and they put on buses from cities/large areas like London (i think there's one from bristol). So...if AG is to get people from other states to join the concert, then it is feasibly friendly, as long as its transports a lot at one time.
2. As above
3. Agreed!
4. in an ideal world! Using BGG as an example again, the council where the farm they now use is won't allow composting toilets. Apparently, in earlier years they were all treebog type things. It also depends on what the land is used for before and after the concert as to whether it is safe to use composting loos. Humanure is fine AFTER it has rotted down, not whilst it is still raw.
5&6 Alreay covered/agreed!

I think that AG could learn a lot from the people who do BGG - they've got all their green credentials sorted, even down to having separate bins to make it easy for people to recycle. The farmer uses all the compostable rubbish on the land as well.

[biffvernon]

Al Gore has done a lot more than me, and possibly several other contributors to this forum, to bring to the world's attention that we have a problem. Since the American courts didn't actually allow him to take up the Presidency he doesn't have much direct power - just his power of persuasion. He's been doing a pretty good job on that front. Of course we need most people to stay at home pooing in their compost toilets but, so long as there are so many people who haven't got the message yet, we also need a few good communicators to fly about world doing what they're good at.

Of course those who have done more to help than Al Gore may have a right to criticise but they are probably too busy with more important stuff.

[Andy Hamilton]

Fair points above and I stand corrected here and there. (I think I was getting carried away in rant)

I think you are right about using the BGG as a yard stick. I wonder if they are in consultation with the organisers? I would imagine that logistically speaking it would be difficult to get the facilities in Wembley to match that for BGG. In retrospect of this you can't argue so much with Gore or the organisers- as Wembley, being a new flagship building for London, should have taken into consideration green issues in it's plans.

As for Gore himself, he ia at least raising awareness that much is true, but could be do this in economy class? Or drive a hybrid? Could he nominate people from different countries to spread his message and give his talk negating the need for him to fly? We do need someone to do what he is doing and yes, I DO applaud his message, I just think he could modify the way it is done and he will perhaps have more of an impact instead of giving the cynics (me) something to moan about.

[paradox]

I bought the dvd when it first came out and i think his motives for been green are placed elsewhere to be honest.

Thats nearly £20 that could have been better spent

[hamster]

I'm glad someone else noticed how odd it was that all the footage from An Inconvenient Truth showed Gore driving an SUV and flying all over the world!! I thought it was just me!

I do worry about this concert though. I had my doubts about Live8 too, as it seemed to inspire an outpouring of guilt and one-off donations, which prompted the G8 summit to increase aid in a big crowd-pleasing gesture, yet they got away with not doing anything that might change the status quo and allow poorer countries to develop on their own terms, by making world trade fairer for example.

Sorry, I've gone off on a bit of a political rant here! I'm concerned that, just as many people have a vested economic interest in keeping poor countries poor, many people also make a lot of money from environmentally unfriendly practices and are just as unwilling to change those.

Live Earth has huge potential to raise awareness and show how it is possible to do 'modern' things (like big concerts) while respecting the environment, and that being more environmentally sensitive doesn't necessarily mean going back to the stone age. If it is done well... I can anticipate, however, the articles that will probably appear in certain newspapers the day after, about how many unnecessary journeys were made to the concerts and how much litter was produced, energy was used etc... Which means it might not be taken seriously and ultimately have very little effect.

That said, scientists have been talking till they're blue in the face about how global warming is real and our lifestyle is unsustainable, and haven't really got very far, so perhaps a fresh approach might be a good idea!

[Andy Hamilton]

Ok so some points raised, I have just emailed live earth -

Hello

I have a few questions about live earth -

1, Will there be transport provided to reduce cars? - Or car shares, cycle routes etc?
2. Will the toilets be compostable?
3. Will there be recycling bins on site?
4. Will all the food and refreshments be local and organic?
5. Are any of the artists flying to the venues?

I personally think that the tabloid press would have field day if at least 3 or 4 of these issues are not covered. Composting toilets being a moot point as the venues will be unlikely to have those facilities. Point 5 could really cause a few headlines.

Kind regards
Andy Hamilton

Will post any response.

[the.fee.fairy]

Go you Andy!

Keep us updated on this.

The composting toilets may be going a little too far for a lot of people (personally, i like them - i hate the waste of good drinking water), but the other points are fair points to make.

I might e-mail them too, i'm interested in how they're treating the land before and after, will it be arable land, or pasture, and if it is to house animals, how are they going to make the land safe - ie, who is going to go round picking up cigarette butts/giving out buttbins?

Something tells me, from what i've seen of it, Live earth is very much a publicity stunt, and very hastily thought out and put together by a load of people who know the buzzwords, but not what they mean.

[Thomzo]

According to their website, the UK and US legs are in sports stadiums (or should that be stadia?), Wembley and the Giants Stadium in New Jersey. So I guess the issue of making the ground safe for animals doesn't apply there. Also the toilet facilities will be what ever is already there.

I also guess they will just say that they will encourage the audience to travel by existing public transport to these venues but we'll see.

Zoe

[Andy Hamilton]

Well it is going to be at Wembley so I doubt if the land will be used as an arable space.

I got an out of office reply from them - Thank you for your note, we have been overwhelmed with the massive response to our campaign and we appreciate your interest. We will review all emails and get back to you soon.

Thank you for supporting Save Our Selves and Live Earth, your attention is greatly appreciated.


So I imagine that it will be a while before I get a response.

[Wombat]

Well for good or evil, I have applied to be a volunteer presenter for the program. They train you (in Melbourne) but you have to commit to doing 10 programs in the following year. I won't know if I am accepted until September.

Nev

[catalyst]

well, surprise surprise, I am with your first post on this one.
any large event uses masses of resources to be able to happen.
EVEN the bgg - how do you think eveything gets there. all that infrastructure for a few days of fun in the sun....
(I know because I used to take an info marquee to events like the BGG - days driving from one to the next)
just think about all the vehicles (even if buses are laid on), food, sewage... and all those people selling crap! even the BGG is more of a money making event than an info event - we've been to loads of 'green' festies where we were the only people NOT trying to sell anything more than an idea or two...

ok, its good to spread all these green ideas, but practically everything we do in this culture/society has a negative impact... and BIG things have a disproportionately bigger impact, while the message somehow gets lost in the masses...
yes, i am a stick in the mud - but many small local events would be better, run by local people who know what local problems exist. if we all took care of our own patch the world would be fine.

and i used to live near glastonbury - yuk, that one is horrible, but it makes vast amounts of cash!