Well if Tescos, Marks & Spencer and even Walkers Crisps can publicly announce they are ‘reducing their carbon footprint’, then you know companies are taking the green issue very seriously.

And now techno hero Richie Hawtin has announced that he’s aiming to make his Minus Records a carbon neutral company by taking action like offsetting air travel, using sustainable CD and vinyl packaging and promoting more mp3 downloads (the greenest option of the lot!)

I’ve often thought about the huge environmental tab that DJs must ring up with the thousands of miles they fly, often just to play a single gig.

There hasn’t been much talk of green issues in clubland (Above & Beyond also announced they are offsetting their flights a while back but that’s about all I can remember) and this is something that really should be changing.

Even then, offsetting carbon but then flying every weekend still isn’t exactly a very green option, but at least a visiting DJ isn’t a whole band, and these days they aren’t carrying a ton of vinyl with them either.

Richie’s statement says “I hope that our efforts will both encourage and inspire other musicians, DJs and entertainment related companies/individuals to find their own ways to limit their impact on global climate change.”

What do you think about all this? Is Richie’s policy just a token gesture from someone whose lifetime air travel already off the scale? Should DJs be preaching about saving the planet at all? Should they be doing more to make an effort?
And are you feel guilty about even thinking of leaving this computer on standby when you’ve finished reading this?!