By Ray Waddell

Long before Live Earth, festivals were at the forefront of the eco-conscious live movement, with European events like Glastonbury and Roskilde pioneering many of the initiatives now taken for granted.

Nowadays, Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn., is a true green leader, taking a three-pronged approach incorporating their own green efforts, interfacing with artists, and educating fans. Bonnaroo burns about 40,000 gallons in biodiesel each year, according to Rich Goodstone, partner in festival co-producer Superfly Productions.

"All of our non-stage generators are run on biodiesel," says Goodstone. "For all of our food vendors we provide all the plates and cutlery and all of it is compostable and biodegradable. Cups for beer, all the different Bud bottles, Coke bottles, all recyclable."

The results are impressive. "We have over 500 tons of garbage and we were able to recycle and avoid landfills with over 250 tons," says Goodstone.

For fans, the Planet Roo tent focuses on educating the audience, while backstage, Bonnaroo works with Stop Global Warming and Rock the Earth to educate artists on what they can do to make their own tours greener and utilize their fanbases.

All of this, of course, has an expense. "It's probably $25,000 to $50,000 extra that we spend to try and utilize the different things that we do," says Goodstone.

Bonnaroo is not a lone voice in the fest forest in trying to reduce their environmental footprint, with major festivals like Lollapalooza, the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Coachella and others laser focused on going green. In Europe, Denmark's massive Roskilde Festival introduced an environment policy as far back as 1994. Five years ago it pioneered deposits on beverage cups. "We use more than 1.3 million cups," says festival director Esben Danielsen, "And around 95% come back to refund stalls for recycling."

The U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival, with its roots in the 1970s counter-culture, has been similarly innovative over the years. The last time the festival was held in 2005, 50% of its waste was recycled. The festival's main beneficiaries, Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid host a range of environmental initiatives at this year's event, and there's also a political dimension, with festival organiser Michael Eavis hoping to sign 100,000 festival goers up to the Stop Climate Chaos coalition's "I Count" campaign.

Additional reporting by Charles Ferro and Mark Sutherland.