TOURING PLASTIC-FREE

Laura Risk, interviewer / Liz Knowles, takeaways

Singer and fiddler Laura Cortese tours year-round with her band, The Dance Cards, and since 2017, they have toured plastic-free. Laura got a chance to sit down and chat this summer with STAC about this choice, how it came about and some of her thoughts and suggestions for artists who also want to tour plastic-free. Read the full interview on the blog.

Don’t try to be perfect. Just try something.

  • Guilt doesn’t help.

  • Feeling guilty accomplishes less.

  • Plan as best you can and start over again tomorrow.

Planning ahead is key.

  • Look at your schedule and build in time for stops that will allow you to make the kinds of choices that align with your goal of a plastic-free tour.

  • Be willing to let go of some choices in favor of a plastic-free tour.

  • Think leftovers. Take food away from the breakfast bar in a hotel or from the extras on the rider.

Making a habit.

  • Attention means focus and it is the first step to forming a habit.

  • Give yourself a month to try and attend to some new behavior on the road.

Enjoy the world of design!

  • Pick utensils and reusable cups, containers and mugs that match your personal preferences (Are you a hot coffee or iced coffee drinker? What size of water bottle will you need? Are chopsticks going to work for your food preferences?), mode of travel (Do you travel by car or by plane, or both?), and tour locations (Will you want oatmeal for breakfast in hot locales? Is there a particular cuisine there that will dictate your utensil needs?).

  • It’s fun and exciting to have your own personal travel kit, perfectly tailored to you, the locales and local cuisine on your tour!

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Things to bring:

  • Japanese utensil kit or kit for camping from a sporting goods store

  • Collapsible bowl

  • Hot drink mug or bottle

  • Cold drink mug or bottle

  • Beeswax wraps for leftovers

Tailor your rider. 

  • Specify sizes on riders to avoid individual packaging.

  • Think outside of the box. Asking for oatmeal on the rider might provide the next day’s breakfast instead of dinner tonight. Be realistic in your expectations in terms of what a venue can provide but plan ahead and think about the big picture of your tour schedule and what would best suit your eating needs.

 
Laura Cortese Rider .jpg
 

The power of asking. 

  • Say it out loud that you want to avoid plastic.

  • Talk to other artists and ask what they are doing.

So many questions and comments for the airlines!

  • The service methods on planes make it difficult to say no to single-use plastics.

  • Are there airlines that use less plastic in food service?

  • Do any of them make this information public?

  • If you refuse the dinner service, does that meal get disposed of or reused?

  • Budget airlines might be the most environmental! They bring food onboard only when people purchase it. Should this be adopted by all airlines? Or is there a better way?

  • Can we effect change by asking the airlines to use compostables and change their food packaging and serving methods?

Actions speak volumes. 

  • We as artists are visible. Our actions on stage send a message. Four people can sit down on stage with plastic water bottles or four people can sit down with reusable bottles. It is our choice but it is a visible one too and we have to own up to that responsibility.

  • Be visible but be vocal too. As an artist, you also have a choice to be even more vocal in various ways by simply saying something on stage or posting on social media sites. Decide to be vocal in focused ways. Laura’s band publicizes their efforts to go plastic-free in July but the conversations with their audience happen all year round, after gigs and around the merch table.

Sometimes all it takes is one voice. 


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