Over the past week, the Furman Greenbelt began a project called the Lifestyle Project. We have each been challenged to select three categories in which to be aware of our behaviors and habits in relation to sustainability. For example, my three chosen categories are reducing my water and electricity usage by half, eating vegetarian a few days a week, and to produce no waste that would end up in a landfill. As I have worked on these 3 categories (though I have slipped up several times), I have become much more aware of my everyday habits in and outside of my selected categories. I have found myself thinking about sustainability throughout the day and asking myself questions about the consequences my actions have on the environment and our resources. As a former music major and a student still heavily involved in the music department, I have found myself thinking a lot about the high percentages of paper usage in the music world due to sheet music, drill sheets in the marching band, etc.
Due to strict copyright laws on musical scores, I often find myself having to purchase an entire book of music just to be able to access a single piece. As we are learning new pieces of music, we typically have to make copies to give to our lesson teachers and accompanists. In large ensembles, single pieces or books of music must be purchased in large numbers or copied in large numbers so that everyone in the ensemble has music. In addition to the large amounts of paper it takes to make musical scores, students and faculty typically make sheet music orders online, which means we also use up resources in packaging and shipping.
Not only do we go through lots of paper learning our music, we also use a lot in advertising for performances. Despite how much advertising is done online these days through email, social media, etc., it is typical to see lots of paper flyers hanging in various places on campus and around town. When attending performances, audience members receive paper tickets and paper programs. These examples are just a few out of many instances in which lots of paper is used in the music world both in and outside of Furman.
So what can we do?! One year ago, Florida State University’s marching band implemented a program in which the 400 or so band members learn their marching drills through an app on their smart phones instead of sheets of paper. Before this new system, they were said to use around 200,000 sheets of paper each year. Learning drills through the app on their phones is estimated to save save eighty five to ninety percent of their paper usage. Another way to reduce paper usage for musicians is through iPads. Many musicians are beginning to purchase iPads in which they can upload all their music and place on their stands instead of paper music. This not only saves paper, but money as well. Most pieces of music can be found or purchased in PDF format online and downloaded directly into your app of choice for reading music. The use of the iPad saves money, paper, and is much easier to transport than regular sheet music. While there are more ways to cut down on paper usage in music to be discovered, these two are a great start. In the future, I hope that musicians around Furman will begin to consider the amount of paper they use on a daily basis and challenge themselves to find ways to reduce it.
-Katie Crockford
Sources:
https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/09/27/florida-state-marching-band-paperless-music-green