Artists Going Green

Jack Johnson

One of the most fervent green activists of our time has continued his green initiatives in his latest album that just came out on September 7th, "All The Light Above It Too." He wrote most of the album's songs while camping or boating, usually bringing just a backpack, ukulele, and an acoustic guitar on these trips. About writing the album, he said, "I wrote these songs when I was out of reception and phones can't ring, there's not a lot else to do, so we play a lot of guitar." The album's cover was shot on a beach on the Hawaiian Islands where North Pacific Gyre carries a lot of plastic onto the beach. The crew only had to explore a 90-meter radius to find all of the dumped plastic featured on the cover art.

An avid surfer, Johnson has been supporting ocean conservation efforts for over a decade. In 2008, he directed 100% of his tour profits to establish the Johnson Ohana Foundation. Johnson and his wife started the foundation to support organizations that work with the environment, art, and music education. For his To The Sea tour, he partnered with over 220 non-profits to educate fans at every concert about plastic free initiatives and other environmental concerns.

Green Day

These rock stars are already green, but they have decided to go even further. This legendary punk rock band is known for their steadfast political stances, and recently partnered with the Natural Resources Defense Council's "Move America Beyond Oil" campaign. They also released a video with the NRDC to promote solutions for U.S. oil independence.

Justin Timberlake

This pop star opened his wallet, spending $16 million to help open the U.S.'s first eco-friendly golf course, the Mirimichi Golf Course. For all of his efforts, he was honored with the Futures Award at the 2011 Environmental Media Association Awards. In his acceptance speech, he joked "I like a lot of green things like nature and money and things like Kermit the Frog, golf greens, Al Green, hell - I even love Seth Green. I like all sorts of green herbs, some of which I take with medical prescription. It's legal! Uh, green tea. That's what I was referring to. Green tea."

Jason Mraz

This blue eyed soul singer supports many of the same causes that Jack Johnson does. In 2012, he launched a summer tour with Reverb: "Tree is a Four Letter Word." The name was a play on the title of his fourth studio album Love is a Four letter Word. In the tour, he featured Eco-Villages at every stop to educate fans about local green nonprofits. Like Green Day, he has worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council, performing at the celebration they hosted for World Oceans Day in 2011. He also founded the Jason Mraz Foundation which supports environment protection programs like Surfrider.

Pearl Jam

In 2006, these Seattle rockers donated $100,000 to organizations working with climate change and renewable energy efforts. They also donated $50,000 to preserve a Madagascan rainforest that would have been cut down otherwise. For all of their efforts, they were award the 2011 Planet Defender Award from Rock the Earth, a Colorado-based environmental organization.

Lead singer Eddie Vedder works with Jack Johnson's Kokua Hawaii Foundation and supports the Surfrider Foundation, just like Jason Mraz does.

The band is hoping to become 0 percent net emissions for all their tours and band businesses in the future using the Carbon Portfolio Strategy they created. Already they have researched where their band CDs are manufactured to make sure that harmful chemicals were not used in their production.

Dave Matthews Band

These talented instrumentalists founded the BAMA Works Fund, through which they have donated $8.5 million internationally to support local environmental efforts. They have even established a subset foundation devoted to environmental activism, the Bama Green Project, which seeks to educate fans about environmental issues and make the band's tours and lifestyles more eco-friendly. Through this project they gave free tickets to fans who set up recycling, water, and environment information stations at their 2009 shows.

Sheryl Crow

Just like Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, and Dave Matthews Band, the "If It Makes You Happy" singer featured over 50 environmental groups at the Eco-Villages she set up at her 2010 concerts. She also saved the equivalent of 81 homes' annual electricity usage by using biodegradable and compostable catering, biodiesel fuel and reusable water bottles on that tour. She also partnered with ZimRide to encourage carpooling to concerts.