They say seven is a lucky number. For Seven-Star, a green event-planning firm based in Asheville, winning the contract to “green” the Live Earth concert series is a lucky break—and a major task. They’re charged with ensuring that concerts in Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Tokyo, expected to attract more than a million people all told, will be soft on the planet.
Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis will feature nine shows staged on seven continents on July 7 (that’s 7/7/07). Spearheaded by former Vice President Al Gore and Kevin Wall, who produced an antipoverty concert series called Live 8, Live Earth aims to raise global consciousness about climate change and inspire mass audiences to lessen their impact on the planet.
“The South Africa event will be one of the most unique,” notes Matt Dufon, greening manager at Seven-Star. Compost tumblers that will be brought in to manage food waste will later be donated to 15 small villages in the area to support existing farming projects. Other green services the firm offers include helping venues switch from petroleum-based plastic to corn-based, biodegradable alternatives; recycling; and consulting with hotels on water and electricity consumption. Seven-Star staffers will also buy carbon offsets for their travel-related emissions.
Seven-Star won’t be the only star making the trek from Asheville to Live Earth in early July: The Smashing Pumpkins, whose nine-show residency at the Orange Peel has Asheville atwitter, is part of the New York Live Earth lineup. But you don’t have to travel far to see Live Earth—or to learn what you can do to lessen the blow of global warming. “Sometimes it seems so big and overwhelming that people just become paralyzed,” says Bruce Mulkey, who organized a Live Earth event here in Asheville after completing a training to present Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth slide show. “But it starts with each individual. What we want to do at this event is give each individual one simple, yet effective thing they can do to prevent global warming.”
Sponsored by WNC Friends of the Planet and other local nonprofits and businesses, Asheville’s free Live Earth party will take place Saturday, July 7, at the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company—located, interestingly enough, at 77 Coxe Ave. A live broadcast of the concerts will run from 1 p.m. until closing time. Local environmental groups such as the Canary Coalition and the WNC Green Building Council will be on hand to provide information about sustainable living, and there’ll even be a door prize.
Asheville’s Live Earth party and concert broadcast are free. The pizza and beer are not.
so, i’m sorry if i dont understand, but what exactly is helpful about a bunch of uber-rich megastars getting together and having a concert? i mean, are they all walking to the concert and performing acoustically so as to not use generators and whatnot? and then planting trees and dissasembling the military-industrial complex after the show?
no? oh, they’re just having a concert. a big, expensive, pointless, wasteful concert. crap like this makes me hope we all go down in a slow, painful ball of flames.
The reason why, SarahC, is because people need an excuse to party. We are so dumb that we can’t just do things because they are right, we have to be told that “Starina McFamouslady” does it. Then we all feel better.
It’s the same reason why we party to raise money. Well, I don’t. I’m sort of uneducated white trash, so I just get loaded to forget whatever I’ve had to put up with during the week. The beautiful people need a cause. That’s the only way they can feel good about it. So remember, if you see someone doing blow in the bathrooms of your local bar this weekend, ask them if they give money to charity. Apparently, if they do it’s all good.
“Now for some of you it doesn’t matter, you were born rich and you’re going to stay rich. But here’s my advice to the rest of you: take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the cross-hairs. And
take them down.”—- Bill Murray, Rushmore
yes, i’ve kind of noticed that most of ms bowe’s “green” topics revolve around what is currently hip and fashionable, as opposed to actually environmentally resposnible or sustainable.
(but i guess that’s what one gets from going to a liberal rich kids school where they have long discussions regarding the political correctness of white people with dreadlocks. i think the Bill Murray quote fits nicely here, eh?)
seriously, though. how the hell is this considered ‘green’, MS BOWE? i’m asking YOU directly, here. defend yourself or be perpetually mocked.
by the way, i am having a Save the Earth party at my house this weekend. we will be drinking eco-beer, and serving food on 100 percent pre-consumer recycled plastic plates.
afterwords we will all get together and pledge to save the earth more often.
it will be green-tific!!!!
I’d like to just say that I’m neither mocking the causes, nor am I questioning Ms. Bowe’s commitment to all things green. I am merely pointing out how stupid people are for having to somehow have a fun reason to do what for all intents and purposes is the right thing.
I’d also like to say that just because an issue or movement is the pet project of rich white kids who tend to fall on the left side of the spectrum that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But I’d also like to point out that I reserve the right to hate each and every one of them.
WOAH …. calm down, Sanders. Let’s have little bit of constructive dialogue here. After all, how I could I ever suffer the blemish on my reputation if you were to mock me in cyberspace perpetually?! I’d never get to sleep at night….
But seriously, thanks for pointing out the obvious with your assertion that a bunch of “uber-rich megastars getting together and having a concert” isn’t going to save the planet. Yeah, some one is making big money off of Live Earth. Duh. The point of this concert, as I understand it, is to raise global awareness about climate change. You and I may spend our lives thinking about this topic, but I’d doubt if most mainstream Americans spend their days planning how to reduce their electricity consumption or conserve water. The point of this event is to link things that excite the mainstream majority — i.e. Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, Ludacris, etc. — with this crucial environmental problem that will affect the entire planet. I’m very sorry to hear that you “hope we all go down in a slow, painful ball of flames,” but I’d rather try and avoid that, and I think that shifting consciousness is a really important way to affect widespread change. Will this concert be successful on that front? I couldn’t tell you. The reason I included it in MX pages, though, is because there is a local link: Aside from the Seven-star connection, The Canary Coalition, the Green Building Council and others will be in Asheville offering tips on sustainable living during the Live Earth broadcast. And if people were to tune in to what they have to say and implement real changes in their own lives, we might *actually* get somewhere.
Now to address your attacks on me as a person. When you write “i guess that’s what one gets from going to a liberal rich kids school,” you are implying that I am rich. Hate to break the news to you, Sanders, but I’m not among the ranks of the rich people you love to hate. I grew up working class. My dad is a carpenter at a construction company. My mom works in day care. I was the first person in my family to attend a 4-year college. Thanks to my education, I owe more money in student loans than I’ve ever made in my lifetime. And, surprising as this may be, writing for a free independent newsweekly doesn’t exactly leave me rolling in dough. I think that your perception of me as a clueless rich kid obsessed with what’s hip and fashionable has skewed your perception of my writing. Because if you were paying attention, you’d realize that every week my column focuses on grassroots, volunteer-based environmentalism that springs not from some glossy finish but from a genuine concern for our air quality, our disappearing forests, our atmosphere, or public-health issues that are linked with airborne pollution or environmental toxicity. People in our community are doing amazing work, on the ground, putting in countless hours for their dedication, and I try my best to spotlight their efforts. And if you don’t think I’m serious, go back and read my Q&A;with the National Climatic Data Center director, or pick up the paper next week and read my investigative piece on contaminated groundwater. I can understand your sentiment of feeling like certain efforts are pointless when you consider the tremendous implications of climate change. But don’t confuse me with your own muddled perception of some affluent, small-minded eco-fashionista. Recognize my column for what it is: a genuine attempt to inspire community dialogue and support a thriving local environmental movement.
Oops, I just realized that it was sarahc who expressed the “hope we all go down in a slow, painful ball of flames,” and who also made the comment about the “uber-rich megastars.” But the rest of my response directed to Sanders still stands. My apologies, Sanders, in case you do not share the wish that we all melt.
but oberline is still a liberal, rich, white kids school.
and isnt it just like a wealthy kid to say, “me? awwww, shucks, i’m not rich. my parents have to actually work for a living”
you see, the point of my initial critique, was that the energy expended to put on such a concert would fart exceed any of the possible ‘educational’ benefits of said concert. all the planes, tour buses, generators, etc etc etc.
i’m sure you dont agree, and i doubt i speak for all, but there are plenty of folks out there who do share the sentiment, that the only ‘solution’ we are going to find in the midst of this ever fluctuating climate is to scale-dwon and live are truly more Simple life. i would imagine you can see the truth in that. and, since you are the “green” columnest for the xpress, i feel like oyu oculd perhaps express some green opinions which dont just reinforce the dominant cultures fairy tale mythology that climate change can be effected by any of these sorts of petty, inherently hypocritical sort of activities.
bio-diesel, hybrid cars, and any other expensive, technology-specific method will not, by definition, ever help us solve the problems brought on by the same technology and mindset.
that is what i am expressing.
and yes, oberline is a school for wealthy kids poor kids rarely make it to school.. if you dont think your wealthy, just cuz you have debt, then you are really just proving my point more.
that is all for now.