Billie Eilish is renewing her eco-responsible objectives with her new Hit Me Hard Hit Me Soft tour, from last September to July 2025. The singer and her teams have rolled out a number of sustainable initiatives to limit the environmental impact of this type of event.
Energy-hungry and carbon-intensive, music tours are often singled out for their high environmental impact. While efforts are beginning to be orchestrated in the industry, Billie Eilish intends to be a forerunner by proposing a series of sustainable measures at its concerts, from the creation of ecological villages to vegetarian food options.
Hit Me Hard Hit Me Soft: Billie Eilish’s sustainable tour
The performer of Happier Than Ever and Bad Guy, also known as a seasoned environmental activist, is offering an eco-friendly music tour. Called Hit Me Hard Hit Me Soft, the tour, which runs from September 2024 to July 2025 around the world, incorporates a number of initiatives to reduce its impact on nature as much as possible. Promoted by Live Nation, the tour is continuing its long-standing partnership with Reverb, an environmental association.
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Some of the measures are fairly standard, such as the installation of recycling bins and the reduction of single-use plastic waste. Others are more significant.
Ecological villages will be set up at the concert venues in the main hall. The stands will enable fans to ‘take part in the tour’s sustainability efforts, connect with non-profit organisations and take meaningful action for people and the planet’, according to a press release.
In terms of food, fans will be able to bring an empty reusable water bottle or donate a personalised Nalgene RockNRefill bottle. Free water refill stations will be scattered throughout each venue. For sustenance, the venues will offer vegetarian food options.
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Through a partnership with Support+Feed, a charity founded by Billie Eilish’s own mother, Maggie Baird, a campaign will be launched to encourage fans to eat one vegetarian meal a day for 30 days. They will also be encouraged to take part in vegetarian food drives to raise awareness and redistribute the food to local communities.
A partnership with Google Maps
A few days ago, the singer, winner of nine Grammy Awards and two Oscars, also unveiled her brand new partnership with Google Maps. Part of this collaboration will focus on transport, enabling users to find eco-friendly means of transport and fuel-efficient routes, from public transport to cycle paths. Vegetarian eateries will also be listed in every city where Billie Eilish is performing, starting with North America.
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‘I’m so excited to see you all at my concerts over the next few months, and that we’re working together to reduce our collective footprint in terms of transport and what we eat,’ said Billie Eilish in a statement. ‘Every gesture counts, big or small, and together we can really start to heal our beautiful planet. Thanks to Google Maps, everyone will have easy access to resources that will help you make good, sustainable choices when you come to my shows.’
A fine ambition from the artist, who recently revealed his sustainable vinyls (the production of these records being rather impactful for the environment) and who is helping to change the way music shows are organised. Harry Styles, Coldplay, Massive Attack and Lorde are also committed to greener concerts.
In 2023, the Syndicat des musiques actuelles and the Fédération des lieux de musiques actuelles launched the Déclic project with the aim of decarbonising shows. Carbon audits have been carried out on 18 concert halls and venues, as well as festivals, to estimate the ecological impact of their shows. A concert venue on the panel emits an average of 570 tonnes of CO2 a year, while a festival emits 742 tonnes. Unsurprisingly, the main cause of pollution is travel by the audience and the artists. According to other studies, a festival with 50,000 spectators in France would represent almost 1,000 tonnes of CO2.
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Featured photo : © Vitaly Mazur – Unsplash
