Sustainability

You've probably already seen our #ArtistsOnWheels bike concerts, where we pull musicians on bike trailers. But that's not why we've invested in cargo bikes and trailers. We try to use cargo bikes and trailers wherever possible for the transportation and logistics of all our events. This means that all the sound equipment, lighting, decorations, stage, catering and everything else you see at our events has been transported on our bikes, with a few exceptions. 

We are very happy to be able to work with Jackery to power all or part of our events with solar power. We currently have 5 different solar generators (3 different sizes) to power everything from our sound and lighting equipment to charging our electric bikes, running backstage fridges and our pizza oven for artist catering! Of course, depending on the weather, we are not yet 100% self-sufficient at all events, but we are already able to run at least some events completely off-grid, including our annual 2-day Silent Stage at the Blankit Festival. 

We pride ourselves on the small details. In many cases, this means that we design the stages and decorations ourselves and give all our events that special "silent.move touch". However, we need material for this. We refuse to fall into the commercial trap though. Almost everything we use for our decoration or construction projects has been recycled, refurbished or reused. We buy from suppliers like Material Mafia, source our decorations and props from old movie sets or scour eBay classifieds for things we might still be able to use. Even our old decorations can be dismantled and turned into something new. 

Many of our events take place in gardens, parks or even nature reserves. We are well aware of the impact this can have. For this reason, we use headphones in these areas to minimise noise pollution, consult with park operators when developing lighting plans to minimise the impact on wildlife and use raised stage platforms in sensitive natural areas to minimise the physical impact. However, we also recognise the benefits this brings. Wherever possible, we try to educate our audiences about the spaces they are in. For example, the first 7 minutes of our #ArtistsOnWheels concert series is a soundfile explaining the history of the area and the environmental goals of the current redevelopment. We develop unique event concepts that invite the audience to explore these natural spaces and interact with them in a new way. The natural world is not only our backdrop, but also the host for our events, and we have a responsibility to respect this.

In August 2020, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection published the "Guidelines for the sustainable organisation of events". This document outlines various phases of the event organisation process and the environmental impact it can have. This and similar documents are used as a reference in developing our own environmental standards. For example, the document states that "Die Reisetätigkeit der Teilnehmenden verursacht in der Regel die stärkste Umweltbelastung im Kontext der Veranstaltungsorganisation". For this reason we are implementing direct google maps links for all our events so that participants can easily calculate their route via bike, foot or public transport. This is one of many seamingly insignificant touchpoints that together can make a difference.