Image via Green Music Group

Green Music Group (GMG) – a new initiative introduced by Reverb earlier this year – is on a mission. By building and mobilizing a coalition of musicians, industry leaders, and fans, GMG aims to green the music business and beyond. As you may recall, Reverb is a nonprofit organization, founded by Guster guitarist Adam Gardner and his wife Lauren Sullivan, that’s been helping to green concert tours since 2004.

They’re already off to a great start with a noteworthy list of founding members and partners. Now they need us! They’ve launched an online community, and as an incentive to sign up and take some green actions, they’re giving away some fabulous prizes. (As if we need a reason to socialize with like-minded green music folks? Okay…the lure of prizes is pretty enticing, especially since rumor has it that VIP tickets and a coveted Apple iPad may be amongst the offerings.)

Every two weeks, a GMG artist like Willie Nelson, the Roots, or Sheryl Crow will kick off a new challenge to make an eco-friendly change in your life. All you have to do is upload a picture to the GMG website as proof you’ve done the deed and you’ll be entered to win that challenge’s prizes as well as the grand prize – a 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid LX! They’ll be nine challenges total.

Challenge number one comes from the Dave Matthews Band’s Stefan Lessard. We’re tasked with getting involved in our community by volunteering. If you need some ideas, head over to GMG’s partner, Do Something, to search for volunteer opportunities in your area. The prize for this challenge is a Specialized Bike and a Rossignol Dave Matthews Band Limited Edition Stefan Lessard Signature Snowboard. You have until noon EDT on Friday, April 23 to complete the first challenge, so get going!

And this is just the beginning. GMG also plans on facilitating large-scale changes in the music industry by creating standards for tours, venues, and labels; offering a Green Grants program for emerging artists; and creating a green music guild to support artists in green efforts.

Sign me up.

Image via Green Notes

You don’t have to be a rock climber or a mountain biker to enjoy the great outdoors. Musicians and fans love to play outside just as much as anyone else.

Think about it. How many major outdoor music festivals – not to mention outdoor venues on the regular touring circuit – are there? A lot. And it seems they grow in number and popularity every year.

All that music-related outdoor fun takes a toll on the environment. Clif Bar – the makers of those tasty, organic energy bars – gets it. Their Green Notes program helps resource-strapped emerging artists and sustainably-minded music festivals reduce their environmental impacts.

By downloading their Protect the Places We Play compilation, featuring artists like Michael Franti, Brett Dennen, and Missy Higgins, we can help too.  All proceeds from the album benefit Leave No Trace, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, and the National Environmental Education Foundation, organizations working to preserve our natural playgrounds.

Looking for more ways to go green? If you’re a musician, check out Green Notes’ green touring tips. Better yet, apply for some one-on-one assistance.

If you’re a music lover, support Green Notes’ roster of artists, which this year includes Ingrid Michaelson, Josh Ritter, and the Sam Roberts Band. You can also take their Pledge to the Planet and calculate the CO2 emissions eliminated from making simple changes like eating organic or riding your bike.

Logo via Reverb

There’s much to think about when planning a tour: booking gigs, transportation, lodging, advertising, whether or not including a cover of Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” on the set list is really a good idea… How do you make a tour environmentally friendly on top of all that? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a green fairy that could wave her eco wand and take care of it all for you?

Enter Reverb, a Portland, Maine-based organization that does just that. Reverb offers a menu of greening services for artists and their managers including providing biodiesel for buses, sourcing eco-friendly merchandise like organic t-shirts and reusable water bottles, and coordinating local, organic catering.

Reverb was founded by environmental activist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband Adam Gardner, guitarist and vocalist for Guster. They’ve worked with an impressive roster of artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Stars, Phish, Andrew Bird, and Kelly Clarkson. So far they’ve greened 70 tours and 1,120 events, reducing 62,608 tons of CO2 in the process. Not too shabby.

And they haven’t forgot about the fans, whose commute comprises over 80% of a concert’s carbon footprint (!). Reverb has made it easy for folks to reduce the environmental impact of their travel by partnering with the online ridesharing system PickupPal and selling carbon offset credits at shows.

Reverb also promotes environmental awareness at concerts, highlighting green causes, technologies, and businesses. They’re always looking for volunteers to help out with this, especially at festivalas and larger events where they set up an entire “Eco Village.” And volunteering wil get you a free pass. Not a bad deal, if you ask me. Just remember to carpool. And show some love for the Loverboy cover.