Airtravel is responsible for between 4-9% of humanity's impact on climate change
Take action against Climate Change:
DJs Against Climate Change is entering it's 6th year of helping our community offset the environmentally damaging carbon emissions produced from airplane travel. With the rise in popularity of Electronic Dance Music, more artists than ever are traversing the globe in order to play for live audiences. These flights contribute millions of tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, but are unavoidable in order for DJs to perform. As participants in DJACC, we recognize this negative aspect in our line of work and use our cultural influence to show how everyone can take responsibility for their impact on Climate Change.
Last year we banded together to offset 150 Tons of CO2, equivalent to over one million miles worth of air travel.
Where the Money goes:
In past years we've banded together to raise money for wind farms through Terrapass, energy efficitent stoves in Kenya in participation with myclimate. This year, we will be donating our funds towards releif for Phillipinos affected by Super-Typhoon Haiyan. Although not a "proven" fact, most signs point to Climate Change as the fuel for the severity of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest such storms ever recorded, which devastated the country 3 weeks ago. We can't ignore the need of the people struggling to survive this destruction, especially when we factor in our own responsibility into the equation.
Carbon offsets help balance the global equation of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere
As a touring DJ, I spend a lot of my life floating above the ground at high speeds, flying between different cities, countries and continents. During one of these moments, I started thinking about the total amount of CO2 I spew out every year at 30,000 feet. Then I multiplied this number by every other DJ I know doing the same thing, and knew I had to act.
Four years ago I started DJs Against Climate Change (DJACC), an initiative which helps fellow DJs offset their carbon emissions from airplane travel. We do this by reconstructing an artits’ flying itinerary from their tour dates for the year, calculating their total emissions based on those flights, and assisting with an outlet to offset those emissions through contributions to projects that remove or prevent greenhouse gas emissions.
2011’s end-of-the-year drive was our biggest yet, collectively offsetting 457,000 lbs of CO2 from over one million miles worth of air travel. 17 DJs participated, including A-Trak, co-head of Fool’s Gold Records, the label where I release my music.
Compared to the 20 million tons of CO2 that a large power plant emits annually, our number is a drop in the bucket, but that doesn’t discourage me. The point of this project is to encourage my colleagues to take responsibility for their individual impact on the environment. When you acknowledge something as your problem, not just someone else’s, it can fundamentally change the way you see things.
My DJ colleagues and I can’t stop flying, it would end most of our careers, but by making these offset contributions a part of our job, we can change our own carbon equations and maybe a whole lot more. Most people have one or more aspects of their lives that fall outside of acceptable emission levels. The more we recognize this issue, the easier it will be to force larger change. If you stop waiting for governments to pass environmental regulations and start taking charge of how you as an individual impact climate change, the pressure will begin to build from the bottom up.
Even though it sometimes feels like an unstoppable tsunami, I have to believe that a sea of responsible individuals can turn the tide of climate change, and that is what DJACC is really about.
- Sammy Bananas (from Origin Magazine , May/June 2012.
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