Hollywood Goes Green: Dave Matthews Band

Sep 08, 2011 10:00 AM by Laura Willard

Posted in Living / Going Green / Hollywood Goes Green

Green Celebrities

Just when you didn’t think you could hear more about how “green” Hollywood is, we’re bringing you the Hollywood Goes Green series. Sure, we sometimes scratch our heads wondering how celebs who live in 20,000-square-foot homes, charter private jets and own 10 vacation compounds call themselves green because they drive a Prius. But as it turns out, being green means more than using less electricity and carpooling. Check out our weekly pick for the top green celebrities in Hollywood. This week, we discuss the Dave Matthews Band.

Dave-Matthews-Band-green

The Dave Matthews Band has been creating amazing music and making girls swoon -- Crash into Me, anyone? -- for two decades. The Grammy-winning band tours the world and makes adoring fans happy with their talent.

However, Dave Matthews Band is more than just a group of musicians who can sell tens of millions of CDs (and tapes, if we're being accurate). The members of Dave Matthews Band care about the environment and do their part to take care of Mother Earth.

Green touring

In 2005, Dave Matthews Band began working with Reverb, a nonprofit group, to green their tours. Reverb "provides comprehensive, custom greening programs for music tours while conducting grassroots outreach and education with fans around the globe."

The band got on board with the idea of greening up their tours and took action. According to bassist Stefan Lessard, "We all got very excited about the prospect of doing something about the unfortunate impact our touring had on the planet, and immediately created a comprehensive greening program with Reverb."

And as of last year, they had definitely made an impact -- or rather, lightened theirs -- thanks to Reverb's help. Since then, DMB has:

Reduced 7,200,000 pounds of CO2.
Fueled their buses and trucks with 75,000 gallons of sustainably produced biodiesel.
Hosted more than 200 local environmental groups in the Eco-Village.
helped their fans prevent 2,352,000 pounds of CO2 through their online rideshare and fan carbon-offset programs.

Not bad, right?

Green Music Group

Dave Matthews Band also launched the Green Music Group, "a large-scale, high-profile environmental coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans using our collective power to bring about widespread environmental change within the music industry and around the globe."

Other members of Green Music Group include Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow -- among others. Green Music Group calls fans to action, then requests they share their experiences. It's all about spreading environmental awareness and making changes for the better.