Creating Zero-Waste Events
Can concerts and festivals truly achieve zero-waste? Join us online in "The Green Room" for a discussion with innovators leading the way.
The mountains of trash produced at concerts and festivals have long been a sore spot for the industry. Whose responsibility is it to make the changes needed? Solutions are out there and becoming increasingly cost-competitive, creating new opportunities for artists, venues and promoters to reduce or eliminate waste while engaging and educating fans. Making these changes isn’t easy, and can require new vendors, contractual arrangements and training of both staff and fans. Can festivals truly achieve zero waste? Who’s showing the way? Join us for a conversation with leaders in the field.
About the Speakers
Crystal Dreisbach - CEO, Upstream
Crystal Dreisbach is a reuse pioneer whose life goal is to disrupt the status quo of our throw-away economy. Prior to leading Upstream, she founded Don't Waste Durham (est. 2013) which led local and state policy changes to reduce single-use plastics and built infrastructure (logistics, wash, staffing) that make reuse possible. She believes reuse must be our societal norm, not the exception.
Jonah Geschwind - CEO, Green Disco
Jonah is the founder and CEO of Green Disco, a public benefit corporation that builds impactful and interactive environmental programs for live events. With a deep-rooted love for music and sustainability, he has led initiatives that have significantly decreased carbon emissions and improved waste management at many types of events. Jonah also works across the industry and consults with multiple projects on strategy, execution, and relevancy.
Mary McCarthy - VP Sustainability, Levy Restaurants
Mary joined Levy in February 2023 and is responsible for sustainability across Levy’s Sport & Entertainment, Convention Center, Cultural Attraction, and Restaurant locations around the country. Mary works with food and beverage operations teams to reduce food waste, source sustainably, and design innovative menus to address the world's multiple environmental issues.
Meghan Tierney - Senior Manager, Live Events Sustainability, AEG
Meghan Tierney is a Senior Sustainability Manager, specializing in creating and executing comprehensive sustainability strategies for large-scale music events. Her expertise in remote production operations and waste diversion optimization has driven successful sustainability initiatives for notable events such as Coachella, Stagecoach, Goldenvoice Festivals, Under the Big Sky Festival, and the College Football Playoffs.
Joel Makower - Co-founder, Trellis Group & Strategy Director, Music Sustainability Alliance
In addition to his role at MSA, Joel is chairman and co-founder of Trellis Group, a media and events company focusing at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability.
For more than 30 years, through his writing, speaking and leadership, he has helped companies align environmental and social issues with business success. The Associated Press has called him “The guru of green business practices.”