The Roots

Green Music Group was created earlier this year to set green guidelines and create widespread environmental change within the music industry.

GMG is a coalition of musicians, music industry representatives and fans that was the brainchild of Andrew Gardner, singer-guitarist with American band Guster. It’s a project of the non-profit organization Reverb that aims to facilitate large-scale greening of the music community through touring, venue and label standards, resource development, green grants, mentoring, viral videos and public service campaigns.

GMG launched with a Jan. 30 cocktail party that featured performances by members of Maroon 5, Dave Matthews Band, The Roots and Guster. Those groups were founding members of GMG along with Linkin Park, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Canada’s Barenaked Ladies.

“Their goal is to green the rock and roll touring industry,” Barenaked Ladies singer/guitarist Ed Robertson, who’s a friend of Gardner, says of GMG. “I’m generalizing here, but you have a bunch of left-leaning people who are socially conscious and want to have less of a footprint on the planet that we live on.