32 things I wish I'd said...
Posted: April 20th, 2009
ok, maybe not 32, but several. we did a bunch of press stuff after our set yesterday @ green apple. on the way home, all of these great ideas came to mind. if only I had that flux capacitor...
- it costs a lot to be green. sometimes too much. I own & drive a hybrid - but I also own & drive an SUV. I happen to live in a snow driven area that demands that I have 4 wheel drive (& enough cargo space to fit a marshall 1/2 stack or a drumkit). we live in what used to be a cutting edge country. we put people in space. outer freaking space! why can't we make a fuel efficient vehicle that produces little or no pollution. even if it is rocket science - we know that, right? is it really that difficult to make a 4 wheel drive vehicle that is also green? I know some exist, but they're kind of lame. I'm talking about a 50mpg + real hybrid or hydro fuel cell powered vehicle w. a serious payload that can get up my driveway in the winter.
- we strive, as a band to take steps to make our tours a bit greener. last yr. we stopped requesting bottled water & switched to stainless canteens (eliminating 3-4 cases of water bottles per day on the road). I forgot to mention that this year's moe.down will be our greenest yet. we are making efforts to go w. fully recycled &/or compostable/biodegradable paper products throughout the festival this year - from all vendors. it is going to cost us a lot of money. it is going to cost some of our sponsors & our promoter extra $. BUT - everyone is up for it. it's def. a sign of better things to come when folks are willing to sacrifice the bottom line in favor of the greater good.
- I am NOT developing a line of green amps or speaker cabinets to be marketed commercially. I AM working closely w. 2 great companies (Oldfield & Hard Truckers) to make MY rig out of sustainable materials. the availability to the public in the future will depend largely on their ingenuity.
I'm just the squeaky wheel. fwiw, the HT cab I had out for the last run is a "fatty" made out of hemp ply & bamboo veneer - unfortunately, the hemp ply is not avail. in the US & must be imported (& is very hard to come by). paul (gussler, from oldfield amps & glenn, from HT) are working on a ply-boo (bamboo) head cab for my Oldfield amp at this time.
- obama has just proposed an initiative for further dev. of high speed rail system. this is a great move & should be developed nation wide. the infrastructure is there. the amount of fuel used to move people & cargo by rail is a fraction of what it takes to move them thru the air.
- matthew modine is a funny guy. we joked about the name of the band...
MM: "I loved you guys!. great name too. moe. as in, moe-dine..."
- I got to meet steve thomas yesterday! if you haven't seen renovation nation on planet green (& you own a home), you should watch this. great show on renovating your home in ways you may have never considered (ie. recycled glass/concrete counters, geothermal heating, "living" roof, etc). totally made my day...