- In English below
Du kender højst sandsynligt det britiske rockband Coldplay, og du har måske også sunget med på deres kæmpe hit “Fix You” fra 2005. Nu vil Coldplay gøre hvad de kan, for at fikse de massive problemer med plastikforurening! Bandet har annonceret, at deres kommende album "Moon Music" vil blive udgivet på vinylplader lavet af genbrugt plastik, indsamlet fra floden Rio Las Vacas i Guatemala. Hver vinylplade kommer til at være 70% genbrugt plastik. Produktion af vinyler udleder carbondioxid, men med denne fremgangsmåde forventes det, at det såkaldte carbonaftryk bliver reduceret med 85%, og der spares 25 tons nyproduceret plastik.
Rio Las Vacas menes at være den flod i verden, der er mest forurenet med plastik, og organisationen The Ocean Cleanup har lavet afskærmninger langs floden for at forhindre, at plastik fra Rios Las Vacas ender i Hondurasbugten og Det Caribiske Hav. Det er plastik indsamlet med disse afskærmninger, der skal bruges til Coldplays vinyler, da Coldplay faktisk støtter The Ocean Cleanups arbejde. Før The Ocean Cleanup begyndte deres “Rios Las Vacas”-projekt, anslås det at der årligt blev udledt 20 millioner kilo plastik i Det Caribiske Hav, primært via Rio Las Vacas. Det anslås at denne udledning udgjorde 2% af verdens samlede plastikudledning til havene.
Det er langt fra første gang, at Coldplay går forrest i musikindustrien, for at beskytte miljøet. Da bandet i 2021 annoncerede deres kommende verdensturne “Music of the Spheres”, var det med en udførlig plan for, at gøre turneen så bæredygtig som muligt. Mere præcist var målet at reducere turneens carbondioxid-udledning med 50% sammenlignet med deres seneste turne. Et af initiativerne i planen er et såkaldt “kinetisk dansegulv”, som omdanner energien fra det dansende publikum til elektrisk energi, der så bruges til koncertens elektronik. Hvis koncertgængerne ikke er så danseglade, kan de i stedet hoppe på en af Coldplays “power”-cykler, hvor de også kan generere elektricitet til koncerten. Derudover kommer elektriciteten til koncerten fra solenergi, og andre klimavenlige energikilder.
Et andet af Coldplays initiativer er at plante et træ for hver solgt koncertbillet, og på nuværende tidspunkt har de støttet beplantning af cirka syv millioner træer via miljøorganisationen One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted har som vision, at genoprette ødelagte skovområder, blandt andet som følge af skovrydning, og dermed skabe levesteder for biodiversitet.
Det er en omfattende plan Coldplay satte i søen for deres verdensturne, og hvis vi skulle beskrive samtlige initiativer ville det tage rigtig meget spalteplads. At bandet nu tager endnu et innovativt skridt, for at beskytte miljøet, særligt vores havmiljø, er ikke overraskende, og vi håber det betyder, at Coldplay ikke blot er et musikalsk forbillede for andre store kunstnere, men også kan blive et forbillede når det gælder miljøbeskyttelse og bæredygtighed.
Billedmateriale: Samuel Regan-Asante og Jisu Han via unsplash.com, og The Ocean Cleanup.
Can vinyl records be made from plastic waste from a Guatemalan river?
You most likely know the British rock band Coldplay, and you might have sung along to their massive hit “Fix You” from 2005. Now, Coldplay wants to do what they can to fix the massive problems with plastic pollution! The band has announced that their upcoming album "Moon Music" will be released on vinyl made from recycled plastic collected from the Rio Las Vacas river in Guatemala. Each vinyl will be 70% recycled plastic. The production of vinyl records emits carbon dioxide, but with this approach, it is expected that the so-called carbon footprint will be reduced by 85%, saving 25 tons of newly produced plastic.
The Rio Las Vacas is believed to be the most plastic-polluted river in the world, and the organization The Ocean Cleanup has set up interceptors along the river to prevent plastic from Rio Las Vacas from ending up in the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea. It is plastic collected with these interceptors that will be used for Coldplay's vinyl records, as Coldplay actually supports The Ocean Cleanup's work. Before The Ocean Cleanup started their “Rio Las Vacas”-project, it was estimated that 20 million kilos of plastic were discharged annually into the Caribbean Sea, primarily via the Rio Las Vacas. This discharge was estimated to constitute 2% of the world's total plastic emission into the oceans.
This is far from the first time that Coldplay has taken the lead in the music industry to protect the environment. When the band announced their upcoming world tour “Music of the Spheres'' in 2021, it was with a detailed plan to make the tour as sustainable as possible. More precisely, the goal was to reduce the tour’s carbon dioxide emissions by 50% compared to their previous tour. One of the initiatives in the plan is a so-called “kinetic dance floor,” which converts the energy from the dancing audience into electrical energy, which is then used for the concert’s electronics. If concertgoers are not so keen on dancing, they can instead hop on one of Coldplay’s “power bikes”, where they can also generate electricity for the concert. Additionally, the electricity for the concert comes from solar energy and other climate-friendly energy sources. Another of Coldplay’s initiatives is to plant a tree for every concert ticket sold, and to date, they have supported the planting of approximately seven million trees through the environmental organization One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted has as their vision to restore degraded forest areas, for example as a result of deforestation, thereby creating habitats for biodiversity.
It is an extensive plan Coldplay set in motion for their world tour, and if we were to describe all the initiatives, it would take up a lot of space. That the band is now taking another innovative step to protect the environment, especially our marine environment, is not surprising, and we hope that it means Coldplay is not only a musical role model for other major artists but also can become a role model when it comes to environmental protection and sustainability.