BLOND:ISH Gigwell Launch Eco-Rider 2.0 to Supercharge Sustainable Touring

DJ-producer BLOND:ISH and her nonprofit, the Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, are taking sustainable touring to the next level with the launch of Eco-Rider 2.0, in partnership with booking platform Gigwell. The initiative aims to provide artist-friendly tools to minimize single-use plastics and embed greener hospitality standards across live music.

Since its original version in 2019, the Eco-Rider toolkit has already been adopted by over 1,500 performers and is credited with preventing more than 325,000 single-use plastic bottles from entering landfills. With version 2.0, the reach expands: Gigwell’s network of 100,000+ artists, managers and booking agents will now have direct access, enabling venues and touring crews around the world to plug into sustainable practices more easily.

Key components of the Eco-Rider 2.0 include:

A streamlined rider template that artists can include in contracts to enforce plastic-free hospitality.
Educational resources and networking hubs for artists, agencies and promoters.
Data and reporting features via gig and tour platforms to track sustainability metrics.
Support from major agencies and labels such as EMPIRE, Dirtybird and Protocol, all helping to roll out the system at scale.

For BLOND:ISH, the effort is deeply personal. “When I started using the Eco-Rider, 100 % of my events were using plastic. Now I’m down to 20 %,” she says, pointing to how quickly the change can happen when the right tools are in place.

In a live-music industry that’s increasingly examined for its environmental impact—from travel carbon emissions to backstage waste—the Eco-Rider 2.0 signals a shift: touring artists are no longer just performers; they can also be agents of change. With this rollout, the push for a more sustainable dance-floor may finally be building the infrastructure to match the ambition.