Michael Stipe to Release New Eco-Friendly Bioplastic Charity Vinyl

The world's first commercially available bioplastic 12-inch record will support Brian Eno's climate emergency charity EarthPercent

By Megan LaPierre

Published Aug 31, 2022

Everybody hurts sometimes; including our planet.

Former R.E.M. bandleader Michael Stipe has announced a special split single with Beatie Wolfe in aid of Brian Eno-founded climate emergency charity EarthPercent.

Stipe's debut solo track, 2018's "Future Is Future," will be released on the world's first commercially available bioplastic 12-inch record alongside Wolfe's "Oh My Heart." Limited to 500 copies, the vinyl will be available to preorder this Friday (September 2).

"I'm thrilled to be working with EarthPercent and Evolution Music on this release, imagining positive innovation through action," Stipe said in a statement. "Simply showing that this type of solution-based project is possible opens pathways to a brighter future."

EarthPercent is an initiative dedicated to offering "simple and innovative ways for businesses and artists to donate to the most impactful organizations addressing the climate emergency."

The organization celebrated Earth Day back in April with the release of numerous exclusive tracks from artists like Stipe and Eno, Coldplay, Jarvis Cocker's JARV IS..., Anna Calvi and more. Bandcamp sales of those songs benefitted EarthPercent's five core areas of work: "greening music, energy transition, climate justice, legal and policy change, and protecting nature."

Earlier this month, Dutch vinyl company Green Vinyl Records shared news of their novel pressing technology, which uses just 10 percent of the energy required by the standard technique and foregoes polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — which has been identified as the most environmentally damaging of plastics — for polyethylene terephthalate (Pet), a less-harmful material that is equally durable and easily recyclable, suggesting that vinyl could go green by losing its namesake.

Evolution Music CEO Marc Carey has a similar theory: he's spent the last four years working on an eco-friendly secret recipe (including sugars and starches) to make vinyl out of bioplastic, which doesn't create any toxic waste [via CBS News].

Producer Rob Cass told the news outlet that the quality of the bioplastic records Carey's company is creating was comparable to the industry standard: "We believe the quality is extremely high, just about as high as vinyl," he said. "Maybe 95 percent."

That's one imitation of life we could definitely stand to implement at the combination vinyl boom-climate emergency.