There’s no city quite like San Francisco to hop on a trend but in term of environmental awareness they seem to be pioneers. I remember when I was about 8 years old, a figure somewhat similar to Big Bird came into my 3rdgrade classroom to explain composting. It was so long ago that all the details are slightly mixed up but it serves as a reminder of how long San Francisco has been saving the planet. And their music festivals are no exception.
Outside Lands, the cities biggest music festival, has been working on sustainability since its creation in 2008 and has not lost sight of its mission for the past 11 years. In 2009, one year after the festivals debuted, the creators introduced Eco Lands, which devoted a section of the park to educating about sustainability. The festival also teamed up with PG&E to create interactive stations like a solar powered charging hub and a fully solar powered stage.
In terms of social responsibility, Outside Lands is one of the leaders among all music festivals, and they go so far with their sustainability efforts that nothing feels like an act to the consumer. The first year that Outside Lands introduced Eco Lands they had workers standing at each waste station with fly swatters to slap the hands of irresponsible festival goers that weren’t separating their trash properly. Along with their eco-friendly initiatives, Outside Lands offers a farmers market to promote local produce and sustainability through the food we eat. In 2018, OL diverted 92% of all waste from landfills.
The festival does not only promote sustainability, but also gives back to the community. According to their website, the festival has created a subsection called Outside Lands Works which is meant to promote music and arts education within the Bay Area. Through their ticket sales, OL donates to eight different organizations that support mental health, empowerment and community engagement through music.
This focus on social responsibility is rooted in the fact that Outside Lands is put on by Another Planet Entertainment (APE), a Bay Area born music company and the work APE does with Clean Vibes. Starting in 2003, APE has worked tirelessly throughout San Francisco, Oakland and the outer bay area. Just five short years after creating APE, the company was able to pull off Outside Lands which was their first major festival. Since then they have hosted another 11 OL festivals and created Life is Beautiful, Treasure Island Music Festival and Clusterfest along the way.
As a developing entertainment company, APE has done an incredible job of keeping social responsibility at the forefront of their work, which is shown through the successes of the brand and each event they sponsor. Not only do they keep San Franciscan’s happy with their efforts at Outside Lands, they have set a new standard for sustainability at festivals around the country and they’re hoping everyone hops on that greenwashing bandwagon.
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