GREENING THE GIG
An Entertainment Venue Sustainability Toolkit
What is this toolkit, why did we make it, and who is it for?
This toolkit is designed as a broad, adaptable guide for entertainment venues looking to integrate sustainability into their operations, culture, and brand identity. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, it provides a framework for venues to explore what “going green” looks like in their own context, whether that means reducing waste, cutting energy use, improving fan engagement, or aligning staff and artists around shared values.
We created this toolkit because music sits at the heart of culture. Venues aren’t just places where people gather, but they’re also where ideas and movements take root. By leading with sustainability, venues have the power to set trends, influence audiences, and make environmental stewardship feel exciting and accessible.
At the same time, sustainable operations are simply smart business: they lower long-term costs, strengthen community relationships, and future-proof organizations in a changing policy world. This toolkit aims to provide actionable steps for venues as they embark on their sustainability journey.
Facilities
This section highlights strategies to improve energy efficiency at music venues. Recommended measures include a mix of system upgrades and building improvements that can reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. While exact savings vary by venue, these upgrades can deliver significant reductions in energy use and environmental impact over time. Some measures, such as LED lighting retrofits, depend on existing conditions and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Areas of Focus
Operations
awserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjkawserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjkawserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjkawserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjkawserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjkawserfdcxftgvghuhbjikjmjkkjnbjuhgbvgtfdsesedfrtgfvghbghjk
Communications
Communication is the wind in which the seeds of change can spread. Approaches range from the team behind the scenes, to the fans in the crowd, to the artists on stage. But one consistent theme is that strong communication keeps everyone aligned and ensures that sustainability isn’t just an initiative or a box to check. No, but rather a story lived and told, inspiring change across all levels of the community. Whether it’s internal teamwork, external storytelling, or client and artist engagement, clear and consistent communication turns values into visible action and culture into community.
Funding
Making the transition towards sustainability is one that requires a significant amount of capital. Luckily, there are many government and non-profit-backed incentives available to businesses to help ease that financial burden. This piece of the toolkit gives an overview of key funding-related terms and provides examples of opportunities that are available and how to best search for them. The goal of this section is to provide confidence to those business owners who feel they are ready to embark on a journey towards a more sustainable future.
Methodologies
Our approaches included:
Six waste audits at two Boulder, CO venues
Two water audit at two Boulder, CO venues
Researching industry best practices in venue sustainability
GHG benchmarking
Financial modeling
Interviews with city officials, industry experts, and staff
Fan survey
Visits to other sustainable venues
These methods combined technical assessments with community-informed insights to build a realistic and actionable foundation for this toolkit.
Background Context
CU Boulder MENV
The Masters of the Environment (MENV) program at the University of Colorado Boulder is an interdisciplinary, practice-based graduate program that prepares students to address complex environmental challenges through leadership, innovation, and collaboration. The program connects students with diverse types of industry partners, equipping them with the technical knowledge, strategic thinking, and hands-on experience needed to drive meaningful sustainability solutions across interdisciplinary sectors.
Capstone Projects
The Capstone Project is the culminating experience of CU Boulder’s Masters of the Environment (MENV) program, providing students with the opportunity to apply their academic training to real-world environmental challenges. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students partner with external organizations ranging from nonprofits and businesses to government agencies to develop actionable sustainability strategies and create professional deliverables and recommendations that create measurable impact.