Sustainable ‘Die Ärzte’ concerts: Mathis Tommek as C2C ambassador

On the weekend of 23 August to 25 August 2024, a pioneering project took place on the former Tempelhof Airport site in Berlin with three concerts by the German band ‘Die Ärzte’ that were as sustainable as possible. Mathis Tommek, working student at corsus, supported the sustainable event realisation as an ambassador. With around 50,000 visitors per day, concerts have so far caused large amounts of waste and CO2 emissions.

For 2024, ‘Die Ärzte’ provided three concerts for the so-called ‘Tempelhof Laboratory’, in which their project team implemented and tested as many climate- and resource-positive products, processes and innovations as possible. The concerts were framed by an information concept about Cradle to Cradle (C2C), recyclability and sustainability. The results and the carbon footprint of the concerts will be analysed and published as a digital guidebook to serve as a role model and find further opportunities for improvement in the future. The success of the project will be honoured in November: the ‘Tempelhof Laboratory’ receives a special prize at the German Sustainability Award at the end of November for its pioneering role in the implementation of environmentally friendly and resource-positive events.

Mathis, how did you come to work as a volunteer at the concerts?

I found out about the project last year through the concert announcement and via social media and found the approach very interesting! A few weeks before the concerts, I read a call from the organisation ‘Cradle to Cradle NGO’, which was looking for volunteers, so-called C2C ambassadors. I had already heard the term Cradle to Cradle, but was not yet familiar with the organisation. Through my work at corsus, where we develop sustainability strategies for companies and local authorities, I was very interested in finding out what this could look like at large temporary events.

What exactly were your tasks on site?

In an online seminar before the concert, we were introduced to the concept and work of C2C. Divided into small groups, our task on site was to stand at the so-called ‘nutrient islands’ and help visitors to sort their reusable crockery correctly and throw their rubbish into the bins provided. As there was only reusable crockery, returnable cups and no disposable plastic on the site, there was fortunately very little residual waste. The leftover food and compostable forks made from fries were collected in the organic waste and recycled. We also engaged in dialogue with visitors at the ‘nutrient islands’ and informed them about the sustainability concept. It was exciting to talk to many interested visitors, most of whom were very enthusiastic about the project.

What did the sustainability concept look like?

Only green electricity was used for the event, and all vehicles on the site were electric. There was only vegetarian/vegan food, no meat. The toilets were provided by Finizio, which collected the liquid and solid waste and processed it into fertiliser. As already mentioned, there was only reusable crockery and reusable deposit cups. Visitors were encouraged to travel by train, there were no car parking spaces near the site, but large bicycle parking spaces were available. New innovations such as the Phantor, a device that can extract up to 10,000 litres of drinking water per day from the ambient air, were also on display.

A lot was also done in the social area, with free drinking water stations for everyone, as well as accessibility and additional stands for people with disabilities. People on low incomes were able to purchase a low-cost social ticket.

What’s your verdict?

It was a great weekend with lots of like-minded people who are committed to sustainability, exciting impressions and good music. Every visitor realised that it wasn’t a ‘classic’ concert, even ‘Die Ärzte’ drew people’s attention to the sustainable approach from the stage. Even if there is still potential for optimisation in some areas, it is an ambitious project that we hope many people will learn from.

Sustainable events in Hamburg

Hamburg also looked at sustainable events in the city in a participatory process in 2019 and got the ball rolling. Green Events used the results to develop a handout with a checklist entitled ‘Organising the future’ with the support of corsus, and more and more events in Hamburg are now being organised sustainably. The green events database invites you to browse and find inspiration.