Coachella brings adrenaline-fueled sets to hundreds of thousands of festival-goers who gather in the California desert — and it also leaves behind a lot of waste.
Beyond the plastic cups and water bottles strewn about each day, there's also the immense energy use of floodlights and earsplitting speakers.
Coachella is far from alone: music festivals across the United States and beyond are big business, and for all the talk of sustainability, the bottom line usually wins out.
The carbon footprint of throngs of people, along with artists and their entourages, travelling to attend such festivals should not be underestimated, says Kim Nicholas, a climate scholar at Sweden's Lund University.
"That's way bigger than the energy and waste use in production at the festival itself," she said.
"I think by far the most important step to make festivals truly low carbon and sustainable is to reduce the distance and the carbon intensity of travel."
That's not happening at Coachella, which is some three hours east of Los Angeles.
The festival does have a carpooling initiative rewarding those who arrive in groups by car.
Still, the fields surrounding the grounds are transformed into gargantuan parking lots with gridlocked traffic that lasts for days.
And the rare snowcaps on the San Jacinto Mountains that tower over the festival are an eerie reminder of California's abnormal winter, which in the past months saw atmospheric rivers, near-record snow, flooding and fatalities.
Nicholas emphasizes that festivals should be located in areas easily reachable by public transportation; New York City's Governor's Ball, for example, was recently moved to Citi Field in Queens from a more remote island location.
The move was originally done to allow for more distancing in the era of Covid-19, but it stuck, not least due to easy subway access.
For Nicholas, artists should also take the initiative.
Musicians should make moves towards "promoting local tours, and making low-carbon travel desirable", she said. "It's kind of the reverse of flying by private jet, and seeing that as a past social goal or aspiration."
Turkish-born DJ Omer Mesci, who lives in LA and played a set at the festival, agrees: "As artists we have an audience and we have a voice, and people tend to listen to us."
Some acts have made moves: Coldplay at one point halted touring for environmental reasons — though they restarted recently — and Massive Attack called for "an urgent and significant reassembly" of the industry after commissioning a study into live music's climate impact.
A recent report from the town of Indio, where the festival is held, said just 20 per cent of total waste is recycled at Coachella as well as organiser Goldenvoice's other festivals including Stagecoach.
Much of the Coachella festival's efforts are centred on selling beverages in aluminium rather than plastic, and offering water refill stations throughout the grounds.
It's relatively routine however for staff to hand out plastic water bottles to fans at the very front of stages to avoid dehydration under the blazing sun, and many drinks are sold in plastic cups.
Organisers also say they require vendors to use compostable plates and utensils, and created an initiative in 2018 they say resulted in diverting 141 tonnes of mixed recycling and 86 tonnes of compost during 2022's Coachella and Stagecoach festivals combined.
Conor McCauly, 23, was among the staff during Coachella's first weekend with the environmental non-profit Global Inheritance, which partners with a variety of festivals to incentivise recycling.
The program encourages revellers to drop off recyclables in exchange for merch and other prizes.
"We're out here listening to great music," McCauly said. "But it's still important to take care of the environment and make sure we're minimising our footprint — even if we're in a more debaucherous space.
"People tend to be really open out here, I think it's a great place to promote the message and do our best to make a difference."
Nicholas agrees that any step towards protecting the environment is positive, but that ultimately waste is a smaller issue relative to emissions, and the majority of time and money should be spent addressing that.
She did point to reducing meat consumption as a "high-impact action" for individuals.
"The most important and most effective steps that individuals can take to reduce personal carbon footprints that we've identified in our research are to go flight, car and meat-free," Nicholas said.
But can a music festival ever actually be climate-friendly?
We'll have to find a way, says Dogan Gursoy, who studies the crossroads of hospitality and sustainability, because neither humans nor capitalism will probably ever let such events go.
"There has to be activities, that's human nature," the Washington State University academic said.
"We are social animals."
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Sugary teas and iced coffees
The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.
For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Cold coffee brands are likely to be hit too. Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
