From the UK: Clubbing To Help the Environment

Over the past 2 years, I have noticed that many artists and summer festivals have been trying to go greener by recycling, using alternative power and cutting back on the amount of energy used. V Festival, Glastonbury, The Electric Picnic, Virgin Festival, Radiohead, iTunes, Napster and others have all attempted to make music a much greener industry. Even yesterday, Dan highlighted Apple's commitment to the environment by having their new Nano's use arsenic-free glass and are made free of BFR, mercury and PVC. While I was reading Dan's post and checking out the new Apples, I remembered something I had overheard in a pub a few weeks ago. A nightclub in London that uses clubbing to reduce its carbon emissions, ensuring that the power consumption is 40-60 percent less than a regular nightclub. Dance To Save The World — hedonism and environmental awareness/action hand-in-hand. Now I have every excuse to look very silly on the dance floor (and believe me I do).

I can only guess (but would imagine) that most nightclubs use a huge amount of energy for lighting and especially to power the speaker systems they have installed. Ever noticed how quickly your portable iPod speakers run the batteries flat ? Club 4 Climate is based in Bar Surya, and located in the centre of London's night life near King's Cross and uses crystal blocks made with piezoelectric material within the dance floor to create energy. Dr. Earth (I know it’s a daft name) the club owner says that by using this system to produce energy the club, he can power the air con completely and it helps with the lighting. He shares any leftover power from the club with locals in the neighbourhood.

Now, this technology has been talked about before with ideas for loading busy pedestrian sidewalks and pavements to capture power in urban areas. There does need to be some catalyst mechanism to allow this technology to work properly, so using nightclubs is the first step. It would be far-out if shopping malls, busy department stores, gyms and airports became self sufficient and helped power our lives in the future. In addition to generating dance floor power, Club 4 Climate uses solar to generate power in addition to recycling as much as possible. Apparently, the tables are made of magazines and the walls are made from old mobile phones. I presume these are divider walls and not main walls holding up the ceiling, lights and solar panels. Even when clubbers are resting and take a break from the dance floor, they can sit in old bath tubs made into sofas which are located around the venue. Waterless urinals save a large amount of water, and what water is used is gathered from rainwater collectors and reused. The wine is also fair-trade and organic. Seeing as it’s Thursday and this was always the best night for clubbing in Dublin when I was growing up, I now have every reason to go and be silly, sweaty and do my bit for our environment.