The Co-op Live arena, with Billie Eilish, has marked a turning point in terms of sustainability at concerts. During the four shows of the Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, a 100% vegan menu was implemented, reducing emissions from food procurement by 47%—the equivalent of 45 Manchester-Dublin flights—and saving 3.5 million liters of water, enough for 70,000 washing machine cycles. The result was overwhelming: sales of these menus increased by 13% compared to previous events, reducing the carbon footprint associated with their consumption by up to 65%.
The initiative wasn’t just about food. Co-op Live is the UK’s first all-electric stadium, featuring solar panels covering an area the size of a football pitch, heat pump heating and cooling, and rainwater harvesting for restrooms, among other structural measures. This model, implemented with the support of GOAL (Green Operations & Advanced Leadership), has been recognized as a global benchmark in green event management. Co-op Live even hosted a Sustainability Leaders Forum, facilitating dialogue between activists, managers, and artists like Maggie Baird (founder of Support+Feed and the artist’s mother), seeking to scale these practices to other venues and tours.
Source: Co-Op Live and Pollstar