The Drop: DJs For Climate Action Is Raising Awareness About Lowering Carbon Emissions
It’s no secret that DJs take a lot of flights. Like, hundreds of thousands of miles worth of flights each year. It’s also not a secret that flying, like so many things we humans do, emits greenhouse gasses into the air. These greenhouse gasses are responsible for climate change, which is a hella scary and often insurmountable seeming issue.
There are, however, things that each of us can do to be responsible for our own carbon emissions, and to be responsible for taking care of the environment in general. (Indeed, the dance music community tenet of peace, love, unity and respect should surely include mother Earth.) This is why Brooklyn-based producer Sammy Bananas, a long-standing member of the Fool’s Gold crew, founded DJs For Climate Action. Since 2008, the group has worked to promote environmental awareness and responsibility in the DJ community and with the fans beyond. DJs For Climate Action hosted its first live show this past March during SXSW, and today, Earth Day, they begin their #ClimateChangeIsReal social media campaign.
We spoke with Sammy Bananas about the project.
What inspired you to start DJs For Climate Action?
When I started traveling a lot more as a DJ in 2008, I was conflicted about how many flights I was taking and its impact on the environment, especially as a person who’s otherwise pretty environmentally and socially conscious. I wanted to figure out a way to reconcile my increased carbon footprint. Basically, if I was flying 100,000 miles a year, that was going to put me way above average than what I thought was responsible, so what I came up with is this idea of balancing off that negative with the positive good.
Artists really do listen to their fans, and if the environment is something you care about, tell them.
And how do you do that?
There are these things called carbon offsets. That balancing of net carbon dioxide emissions, which is the greenhouse gas that causes climate change, that balancing is really what carbon offset is. You calculate, in this example, how much greenhouse emissions your airplane travel is producing and try to balance that off with a project that either removes of prevents greenhouse gasses going into the atmosphere.
A project like planting trees?
Planting trees is a complicated one, because it’s not necessarily the best method. There’s something called carbon sequestration that sort of catches greenhouse gasses before they’re released into the atmosphere, and there are various other ways of just introducing energy efficiency. The money we raised this year was donated to My Climate, and one of their projects is funding energy-efficient stoves in Kenya. The idea is having this money go to a community in the developing world that’s already in need, and the way that you create assistance is by giving them a situation that is more sustainable for them in a very small way. It kind of has the double impact of directing donations to a community in need and also being climate conscious.
What’s the goal of DJs For Climate Action?
The general mission statement of what we’re doing is connecting DJs and music fans with climate conscious projects that help the planet and people in need while also creating awareness about climate change.
What has the response been like in your community of DJs?
The response has been really good. I knew there’d be people in the DJ community who were also environmentally-minded who would be open to this idea. In our total existence of six or seven years, over 60 DJs have become involved in the program, and we’ve offset two million pounds of carbon dioxide. That sounds like a lot; to be perfectly honest it’s really a drop in the bucket, but it’s something.
Soul Clap has been involved, A-Trak has been involved. Rising stars like Anna Lunoe, Grandtheft, and Gigamesh have all been involved and are all vocal about it. I think their support in being vocal, visible members of the community and music scene carries a lot of weight, because DJs now more than ever have a cultural voice. The idea of having DJs take responsibility for their airplane travel and have them raise money is just a tool to get people to talk about it and to raise awareness. DJs are selectors; they’re selecting music, but people have now started asking them to select other things, and their fans and followers listen. They are ready and receptive to things that DJs say.
What can electronic music fans do to be more Earth-conscious?
There are plenty of ways to be environmentally conscious. Carpooling is one. If you’re traveling by car to the festival, try to fill your entire vehicle with friends. It saves gas and reduces carbon emissions. Also, bring your own reusable water bottles to festivals and fill it instead of buying disposable water bottles.
On social media, you can engage with your favorite DJs about the environment. Artists really do listen to their fans, and if the environment is something you care about, tell them. Encourage them to address their own impact, and refer them to DJs For Climate Action so we can help balance off their negative effects!
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