Verum, Scorch and Felix were staring at Orak with quizzical expressions. Their friend hadn’t uttered a single word in over three hours. ‘The Book of Everything’ lay open in his lap as Orak’s eyes slid across words, sentences, paragraphs, and worlds.
Scorch called out, “Oi, Orak!”
Orak didn’t respond. That’s when mischievous Felix got an idea. He grabbed some paper and folded it into paper planes. Felix giggled as he launched his fleet of paper planes on Orak. To an exceptionally observant eye, traces of a smile could be seen at the edges of Orak’s mouth. But he did not react.
Felix walked away in a huff. That’s when Verum’s crystal ball started spinning and humming.
Curiosity got the better of Orak and he finally looked up, “What’s the news, Verum?”
“Oh-oh, Orak has finally landed in MysticLand,” chuckled Verum, “Today’s news is about how the music industry can go green!”
“How interesting!” said Scorch, “Please go on, Verum.”
“Well, it all begins with global warming. Right now, it’s super important for everyone to limit the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere to 1.5C. The global music industry, too, has a role to play in this,” said Verum, “Scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research of the University of Manchester have been working on this. They studied the data from the last tour of a band called ‘Massive Attack’,”
“Did they find ways in which the music industry can cut down on carbon emissions?” said Felix.
“Yes, they did!” said Verum, “To start with, the music artists and bands should swap private jets for trains. Private jets release a lot of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps the sun’s heat into the atmosphere.”
“The venues where live music is performed should switch to renewable sources of energy such as solar panels,” added Verum, “Wherever possible, electric vehicles should be used to travel. The lighting and sound equipment used should use energy efficiently. And finally, travel by public transport should be included in people’s concert ticket price.”
“These all seem doable!” said Orak.
“The study also suggested a central independent body should be put in place. This body will monitor the progress made by the industry in achieving these targets,” said Verum.