Coldplay’s been touring the world with their Music of the Spheres World Tour, and they’re not just about the tunes – they’re big on saving the planet too.
They’ve got these cool LED wristbands they give out at concerts, made from plant stuff and totally compostable.
The idea? You rock out with them during the show, then give them back so they can be used again. Pretty neat, right?
However, at their Kuala Lumpur show, which attracted a whopping 75,000 attendees, the band faced a bit of a hiccup with their green initiative.
Despite the high turnout and the enthusiasm of the fans, the return rate for these wristbands was surprisingly low.
90% KL concertgoers returned it
A “Wristband Recycling Leaderboard” displayed at subsequent concerts revealed that Kuala Lumpur had one of the lowest return rates at 90%, a stark contrast to the higher rates seen in cities like Tokyo and Copenhagen, which boasted return rates of 97% and 96%, respectively.
This discrepancy was highlighted again at a concert in Bangkok, where Kuala Lumpur’s return rate was slightly better at 91%, but still not up to par with other locations.
สถิติการคืน LED WRISTBAND นะคะ วันนี้อย่าลืมคืนกันด้วยน้าาา ~ #ColdplayinBangkok #ColdplayBangkok #MOTSWTTH #MOTSWTBKK pic.twitter.com/kEBWQgkY8S
— Coldplay Thailand 👽📻💜 (@Coldplayer_TH) February 4, 2024
This indicates that a significant number of wristbands, estimated to be between 6,750 and 7,500, were not returned in Kuala Lumpur, pointing to a gap in the effectiveness of the sustainability message among concertgoers there.
