By: Deborah Johnson Wood
This July, the inaugural Rothbury Festival will not only put West Michigan in the national music spotlight with performers like the Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer, it will focus national attention on ‘green’ and sustainable issues with its Think Tank initiative, discounted bus and train fares to and from the festival, and ‘green’ ticket prices so attendees can offset their travel carbon footprint and donate toward a solar power system for a nearby school.
To keep the ‘green’ close to home, the festival selected Shelby High School as recipient of a minimum $50,000 gift to install at least six kilowatts of solar power—an amount large enough to power a home. Through a partnership with nonprofit Black Rock Solar, installation costs less and provides the school with a larger system that promises to save a minimum of $40,000 in energy costs over the next 30 years.
If green ticket purchases are high enough, the festival could provide enough solar power to save the school $7,000 a year, some $210,000 over 30 years.
The contract with the school stipulates that energy costs savings be reinvested in Shelby High School’s operating budget.
In addition, travelers who purchase ‘green’ tickets—at an additional $3 per person—will enable the festival to donate to the development of wind farms and to donate toward planting trees.
Other festival initiatives include running a near-zero waste festival, eliminating trash, composting, and even providing attendees who smoke with personal pocket-sized ashtrays made from recycled materials to eliminate the need to clean up cigarette butts.
The festival is July 3 through 6 at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury.
Source: Rothbury Festival
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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