LIVE RESPONSIBLY!
When the Monolith Festival was conceptualized, the goal was to create an interesting, memorable, and most importantly - an environmentally responsible green music event. Shortly after the announcement of the 2007 Monolith Festival, we teamed up with San Francisco-based Esurance to launch a full scale greening initiative.
Through our Esurance partnership, the 2007 festival has been able to achieve a number of eco-friendly milestones. Most importantly, we have officially achieved a Carbon Neutral status through a carbon offset program with NativeEnergy. As the festival grows, we intend to grow our greening programs as well. For the 2008 festival, Monolith and Esurance will be working together to build on our current achievements by commissioning eco-friendly vehicles, researching alternate power sources for live music stages, promoting carpooling, and adding recycling incentives.
Paul from Esurance, Planting Trees with MONOLITH
Friends of Red Rocks, Esurance and Monolith creating a new home for a tree
+ Learn More about the MONOLITH Reforestation Project (PDF)
We are very proud of these accomplishments, and hope you are as well. As the largest festival to ever be held at Red Rocks, we feel it is important to set a trend, and increase awareness about how easy it is to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
Take a look at what the MONOLITH Festival has done in 2007:
2007 MONOLITH GREENING PROGRAMS:
+ Carbon Neutrality - Through our partnership with
the fine folks at Esurance.com and CarbonFund.org, Monolith is taking
the necessary actions to become a certified Carbon Neutral event. Through
energy conservation and the purchasing of alternate energy sources,
Monolith will eliminate our Carbon Footprint for the 2007 festival.
+ Recycling - Red Rocks Amphitheatre is pleased to announce the implementation of a brand-new, permanent recycling program. Red Rocks, Denver Recycles and EPA Region 8 have partnered to help the venue go green this summer. Concertgoers, hikers and stair-runners who use the amphitheatre, parking lots and trails at Red Rocks are encouraged to deposit plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the familiar purple recycling bins located at the entrances and plazas of the venue. The Friends of Red Rocks will be on-site and roaming the parking lots during the Monolith Festival. They will be encouraging attendees, when possible, to store personal waste in their vehicles, pockets or bags and dispose of it properly at home. Help Monolith and Red Rock stay GREEN. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock On!
+ Trash Blaster: The Game - Monolith and Esurance have teamed up to be pioneers in the education of climate change through our exclusive online video game. We are only days away from the launch of Trash Blaster, and already interest in swooning. Players will be able to fly our, now green, Monolith Rocketship over the landscape of Red Rocks Amphitheatre. As you fly, you are bombarded with compostable food items, recyclables, and eerie clouds of gasses. Recycle the good stuff, eliminate the bad. We are only days away from the launch. Keep checking back to trash blaster rocket page to play!
+ Reforestation Program - Through a partnership with Esurance, Friends of Red Rocks and Denver Diggs Trees MONOLITH Festival is pleased to plant seven native Rocky Mountain Juniper Trees throughout Red Rocks Amphitheatre. This is an important aspect of our greening programs not only to preserve and add to the natural elements of Red Rocks, but to provide a viable source of carbon reduction in the air. The tree planting will take place from 11 am – 2pm on Wednesday September 12. View the press release for more information.
***A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
***Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.
+ Monolith Recylced Rocketship - Look for our hand-crafted Monolith Recycled Rocketship positioned in the upper terrace (middle of the vendor village) during the festival. We have commissioned the work of Jimmy Descant. After losing everything in hurricane Katrina, this full time artist/recycled rocket builder set up shop in Salida, CO. We don’t want to spoil the surprise, but let’s just say this may be one of this bigger installments. This ship will be made entirely of recycled materials and items found a rummage sales, thrift stores, and landfills. View some of his work here
+ Sustainable Printing - As a part of our greening mission, we have partnered with one of the finest sustainable printers in all the land. This year Jakprints.com has printed 95% of all festival materials including, VIP passes, postcards, posters, festival guide, and more. Jakprints.com positions itself as being a pioneering environmental force. They address that responsibility in all aspects of their daily production. Through technology and creative innovation Jakprints.com improved their efficiency to produce top-of-the-line custom printed products using recycled paper, soy and vegetable-based inks and eco-friendly apparel. Take a look at some of their in-house methods, listed below. You can check them out at Jakprints.com.
+ All house stocked paper is 30% recycled or FSC certified
+ No chlorine or bleach is used in the whiting of our paper
+ Chose to work with sustainable paper mills who responsibly manage forests
+ Our offset products are all proudly printed with soy and vegetable based inks that are pumped from 55 gallon drums to reduce waste generated from individually sealed containers
+ Using only water-based coatings make all our paper products 100% bio-degradable
+ Our internal environmental program insures glass, plastic, aluminum, paper and cardboard are all collected for recycling.
+Awareness - Stop by the Vendor Village, located on the Upper Terrace, for valuable information on how you can make a difference. Many of our partners will be on hand to educate you on the effects of your day-to-day decisions. By making a few small changes, not only can you do your part to help our environment, you can save green, as well.
The Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education is proud to present the second annual Colorado Environmental Film Festival. The festival will be held November 1-3 at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden. The Colorado Environmental Film Festival is an exciting and dynamic event that focuses on the power of film to inspire, educate, and create change. This event will offer thought-provoking and entertaining local, national, and international films for all ages, a forum on environmental filmmaking, an evening reception, and an Expo Hall. Throughout the event, informative and entertaining films will explore interconnected ecological, social, and economic themes, and engaging audience discussion with filmmakers, producers, and experts on the films’ topics will enrich the experience. For more information on films, speakers, exhibitors, and tickets, please visit http://www.ceff.net or call 303-273-9527. The Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education will be set up during the festival. Stop by their booth in the Vendor Village for more information.
New Belgium will be signing up Monolith fans for Team Wonderbike. We encourage everyone to do this. It’s free, and it’s about time you pulled that old bike out and started using it again. You can also test out the infamous Mister Bike for a quick cool down. The Colorado Environmental Film Festival/Esurance.com booths will have a wealth of information on the environment. You can find out about new, eco-centric films, pick up a free recycled sport water bottle, and your very own Esurance bean to take home and plant.
National Resources:
Grist.org: Daily
News, Advice, and Humor
NRDC: Natural Resource Defense
Council
Cleanvibes.com:
Dedicated to recycling management at outdoor festivals
Stopglobalwarming.org:
Outlines Global Warming impact on a variety of areas
Treehugger.com:
Daily greening news and resources
Colorado Resources:
Denver Recycles: Learn more about Denver Recycles
Greenprint
Denver: Mayor Hickenlooper's initiative to Green the City of Denver
The Park People:
Advocacy and action for the forestation in Colorado
Team Wonderbike: Join Team Wonderbike!
Friends of
Red Rocks: Local organization dedicated to preserving Red Rocks