If you live anywhere near Vancouver, Seattle or Portland and love independent music – the end of May might provide the perfect recipe for a weekend of bliss. Better still due to an extensive commitment to green initiatives this years Sasquatch festival is the greenest I can find also.

Lets start with the event and the music first if we can. Sasquatch 2010 takes place in a scenic setting in the mountains three hours to the East of Seattle. Specifically located at ‘The Gorge’ the amphitheatre location can’t help but make you more aware of nature. The three day festival runs from May 29-31 and features more than 100 indie/alternative (or choose your newer hipper phrase) artists. The lineup borders on the remarkable as established acts such as Vampire Weekend, Pavement, My Morning Jacket, Massive Attack and Ween take to the stage. Add to that a fantastic diverse selection including The Hold Steady, Public Enemy, They Might Be Giants, Minus The Bear, Camera Obscura and others means there should be something for everyone. If you refer to Pitchfork for your musical guidance (or stole my CD collection by choice) this would be a festival to make your year.

The festival is now in its eighth year and holds quite the pedigree. Previous lineups have spanned a broad range of genres from rock to hip-hop, electronic to singer-songwriters; past performers include R.E.M. Coldplay, Kanye West, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, The Cure, Björk, and M.I.A.

So what makes it green other than the link on their official site? A display of improving commitments to making this large gathering as eco-friendly as possible. Some ideas are quite novel, for example if you demonstrate that you car-pooled to the event you’ll be entered into a competition for a variety of prizes. However the green commitment runs much deeper than that. The entire festival will be 100% wind powered and Carbon Harmony will  offset 125% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced during the festival.  By offsetting more GHG emissions than the festival produces, the result is a net reduction in the amount of GHG in the atmosphere which provides a positive effect on our climate.

As for Sasquatch, the official page on their site is packed with great information but this is the focal point, such a large gathering of people suggests inherent energy waste but the opposite is true – just check this:

Carbon Harmony will be achieved by funding projects that reduce GHG on dairy farms in the Pacific Northwest. The methane collection and combustion projects convert methane gas from animal waste into clean electricity. This internationally recognized process offers two benefits, GHG reduction and renewable energy generation. Chicago Climate Exchange verifies and approves the procedures so that they comply with international protocols.

The Sasquatch Music Festival is raising the bar on carbon neutrality and is going to compensate for all direct and indirect GHG emissions generated by this event. Offsets will be purchased to compensate for the GHG emissions generated by:

• All Sasquatch attendees fuel consumption
• All energy used in the at The Gorge Amphitheatre
• All artists fuel consumption
• All staff vehicles and delivery trucks fuel consumption

In addition the entire festival will be promoting an intense recycling program with goals that are lofty but achievable based on last years results. There is another value that can’t be counted by numbers but in awareness, with the environment being such a key feature of the festival the education and awareness being passed on to the tens of thousands of concert goers is really priceless.

Sasquatch should be the blueprint (greenprint?) for all large music festivals. If its possible here surely it should be replicated elsewhere? On that optimistic note please enjoy ‘Shady Lane’ by Pavement – one of my favourite acts at the festival this year.

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