Thousands of Canadians will be taking to the streets Friday as part of this month’s second Global Climate Strike, events intended to pressure world leaders to take urgent action on climate change.
Retailer MEC will close its 22 stores until 5 p.m. so employees can participate in the protests and all Lush stores will remain closed all day. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will join demonstrations in Montreal.
Some school boards across Canada are allowing students with parental consent to miss class to attend the strikes (in Montreal, one school board is closing its schools) and the University of British Columbia is allowing faculty members to cancel classes.
The Global Climate Strike is a good day to look at what six rock music acts have done to help the environment:
The band has long taken steps to reduce their environmental footprint on tours – from shipping gear via water instead of air and using flasks instead of disposable cups to urgings fans to take public transit to their shows. A decade ago, frontman Thom Yorke attended the UN conference for climate change in Copenhagen.
Dave Matthews has used biodiesel-fuelled buses on tour and has taken steps to reduce waste and eat locally. The musician also launched a green division of his charitable foundation.
Early on, Green Day campaigned against American dependency on oil and motivated fans to demand clean energy solutions.
The band has allocated part of its tour profits to environmental projects in order to mitigate its footprint. Pearl Jam has also donated to organizations working on combatting climate change and coming up with renewable energy solutions.
An outspoken opponent to the oil sands in his native Canada, Neil Young was one of the first artists to use biodiesel fuel in his tour vehicles.
The band has done more than sing about environmental issues like urban sprawl – it has implemented practices to reduce its environmental footprint on tours.