Music fans have helped protect a significant footprint of the Amazonian rainforest thanks to a partnership between festival coach travel specialists Big Green Coach and environmental charity Cool Earth. The travel provider has confirmed that over 800,000 square feet of rainforest is now protected for 10 years as a result of their customers.
In 2013 and 2014, Big Green Coach helped take 160,000 fans to their favourite music events and for each customer the company sponsored five square feet of rainforest in Ashaninka, Peru. This means that 800,000 square feet – equivalent to 18 acres (or an area the size of 10 x Wembley Stadium pitches) – of rainforest is now protected for 10 years.
In addition to the area itself, Big Green Coach’s customers have helped protect 4,320 trees and shelter over 16,300 animals, of which 38 are Endangered Species. The money contributed to Cool Earth will support 4,300 people working out in Peru, as well as produce 684,000 litres of water every year. This comes in addition to ensuring that over 4,600 tonnes of CO2 is stored.
Danny Newby, founding Director of Big Green Coach said:
“This is huge news for us – Big Green Coach was born from the desire to provide environmentally friendly travel to events and reaching this milestone with Cool Earth is what it’s all about. Audience travel emissions to music venues are the single biggest contributor to the music industry’s environmental impact, accounting for a huge 68% of the festival sector’s total emissions.
“This is why we set up Big Green Coach; we have made a commitment to make a positive impact on the environment, and for every customer who books travel with Big Green Coach we sponsor and protect five square feet of Amazonian Rainforest for 10 years. In the past two years alone we’ve been able to protect 800,000 square feet and I’m confident that we can reach our overall target of three million square feet over the next five years,” he continued.
Cool Earth is a charity that works alongside indigenous villages to halt rainforest destruction. The charity saves ‘at risk’ areas and shields neighbouring forest; in total they have saved over 500,000 acres of Rainforest around the world. Their focus is on putting local people back in control and giving them the resources they need to keep their forest intact for years to come.
The environment sits at the foundations of Big Green Coach; it was one of the founding principles of the business and, since its inception in 2009, the company has worked hard to make a positive impact on the environment.
“Those 160,000 people who have travelled to events by coach may have chosen a less environmentally friendly way to travel had Big Green Coach not been founded. Coach travel is between four and six times more environmentally friendly than taking a car to a festival so we’re directly helping to not only improve our own environment but, by working with Cool Earth, environments around the world,” Danny concluded.
Since 2009, Big Green Coach has also planted hundreds of trees in the UK after committing to donate a tree for every full coach taken to a music festival. This has ensured that our customers are reducing the carbon footprint of festival travel and helping to reduce overall carbon levels in the atmosphere.
Big Green Coach is the largest events travel company in the UK, working with more festivals and gigs than any other provider, getting fans straight to the action. Offering return Travel and Ticket+Travel packages, and serving as Official provider to many festivals, Big Green Coach picks up from over 100 locations across the UK. Even better, all coaches are timetabled to arrive before the music begins and to depart once the music has finished so you won’t miss any of the action.
To find out more about Big Green Coach’s current festivals – which include Bestival, Creamfields, Download, Isle of Wight Festival, New Look Wireless Festival, Parklife, Secret Garden Party, V Festival and many more, visit www.biggreencoach.co.uk.