Music stars tackling environmental issues is not, strictly speaking, a new phenomenon. There have been plenty of international fund-raising events where singers have campaigned against global warming and, in France, everyone is familiar with the green protest songs recorded by the likes of Renaud and Yves Duteil. But today, it seems, action speaks louder than words and an increasing number of bands and industry professionals are proving their commitment to green causes by introducing radical new production methods.

In September of this year, the militant French band Tryo printed the CD booklet to their fourth album, Ce que l’on sème, on "ecologically responsible" paper and they have now promised to do the same with all future releases, too. What's more, the group slipped membership forms for Greenpeace inside Ce que l'on sème, hoping to encourage their fans to sign up to the global environmental organisation. "Greenpeace are the experts when it comes to eco-campaigning, but we can be their mouthpiece," declares Tryo's singer-guitarist  Guizmo, "Basically, if they need us, we're there. This is our way of joining the fight!"  

Prior to Tryo's eco experiment, the Madagascan singer Seheno had also attempted to make the release of her debut album, Ka, more environmentally friendly. When Seheno's album was released in the spring of 2008, it appeared not in the usual plastic CD box, but in an eye-catching circular cover made of recycled cotton (which had been hand-stitched by a team of fair-trade seamstresses in Calcutta). In 2007, Fairplaylist - the 'community' label that co-released Ka - brought out its own compilation Le "son" de Ménilmontant, in 100% recycled cardboard packaging. The sleeve notes were printed on the cover to avoid wasting additional paper.

Eco studios & fair-trade

Critics claim that iniatives like these are only a drop in the ocean, whilst cynics accuse green-minded bands of using environmental and fair-trade causes as a marketing gimmick. In an attempt to prove that its green credentials run deeper than this, Fairplaylist went one step further in the making of Le "son" de Ménilmontant, recording all nine acts featured on the compilation in a studio powered exclusively by renewable energy (electricity generated from natural sources such as geothermal heat, solar and wind power). Fairplaylist went on to distribute their compilation via stores specialising in fair-trade merchandise and organic products (such as Artisans du monde, Altermundi and Biocoop).

"Green production is not just some marketing gimmick," insists Gilles Mordant, co-founder of the Fairplaylist label, "We're offering consumers a genuine alternative because the economic logic behind the making of the product is different. The exchange is no longer based purely on commerce, it respects the craftsmanship and the human story behind the finished product as well."  Mordant, who is currently working on fair-trade projects with Sanseverino and Les Têtes Raides, explains that Fairplaylist try to keep the price of their albums down, too, limiting each release to the cost of a "Digipack" boxed set. "Our packaging is obviously more expensive than plastic," he says, "but it's more aesthetic, more environmentally friendly and people who buy our albums know that no-one's been exploited anywhere down the line."

For the time being, however, "100% green" music remains very much a Utopian ideal. In their recently-published book, La musique assiégée*, Charlotte Dudignac and François Mauger point out that "Music is circulated on highly pollutant materials… CDs are particularly harmful to the environment, being made of aluminium and polycarbonate, a transparent and highly resistant form of plastic derived from oil. It would be difficult to come up with a less biodegradable product if you tried!" The  solution to this problem, it seems, may lie in the humble ear of corn. Laboratories such as Sanyo and Mitsui Chemicals have been experimenting on a biodegradable corn-based resin for several years now. But they have not yet hit upon the miracle CD (there are still problems with heat resistance, for instance). Fairplaylist's Gilles Mordant is optimistic despite the technical challenges involved. "I'm confident green releases will happen in the future," he says, "Mentalities are already changing and so's the technology. Eco releases will eventually become  common practice."

As things stand now, music festivals are actually doing much more than record labels to advance green causes. "Given the huge attendance at music festivals, the environmental stakes are much higher at that level," Charlotte Dudignac claims. Interestingly enough, Brittany is the greenest French region in festival terms with thirteen local organisations (including Les TransMusicales, Les Vieilles charrues, Astropolis, Les Tombées de la nuit and L’Interceltique) working alongside local councils and the French environment and energy agency Ademe to campaign for sustainable development.

In concrete terms, this means festival organisers waging war on waste. In just two years, the "Bout du monde" festival, staged in Crozon, reduced its waste from 12 tons to just 3 by introducing a scheme whereby festival-goers retrieved a deposit for returning glasses to the bar. In 2008, the TransMusicales festival in Rennes is set to follow the "Bout du monde" example, banning plastic beakers for the first time in its history. What's more, the festival is also committed to feeding music fans with locally sourced organic produce. "Four years ago, only 10% of the stands served organic food," says Marilyne Chasles, the woman in charge of green festivals at Brittany's Regional Council, "But this year we're up to 60%. The catering for the artists and the festival team is already 100% organic." Proving itself to be a pioneer in green matters, last year Les TransMusicales festival also introduced a policy offsetting the carbon emissions generated by musicians' flights to and from Rennes.

Meanwhile, other festival organisers have been doing their bit to protect the environment at ground level. Marilyne Chasles explains that "in order to preserve local soil, the Vieilles Charrues festival is gradually introducing ecological dry toilets to replace the chemical toilets used in the past." Energy consumption is another major battleground. Les Vieilles Charrues recently did away with the practice of illuminating concerts by floodlight during daylight hours and are now training festival technicians on new equipment that uses less electricity. "The next step would logically be to talk to certain performers about their energy-guzzling stage shows," Charlotte Dudignac says, "But you have to tread carefully and respect artistic liberty. It's easier to introduce environmentally-friendly measures at smaller festivals with a more intimate atmosphere where shows can be lit by candlelight."

Obviously, candles do not make a big hole in festival budgets, but it has to be asked whether other green measures (such as deposits on returning glasses, dry toilets and organic food stands) are accessible to all? "We don't have sufficient data on that matter yet," Marilyne Chasles explains, "But it looks as if it's just a question of organisers rethinking their budgets. Organic catering may cost more, for instance, but the cost is outweighed by the fact that the food is of much better quality. And while introducing measures like reusable drinking utensils is obviously more expensive, organisers can save money on incineration taxes." For the moment, it seems safe to say that the future of music is definitely looking greener. But it remains to be seen just how long it will take for the record industry to be 100% environmentally friendly!