TL;DR

We sat down with BLOND:ISH and Camille Guitteau to explore their journey into Web3, blockchain, and NFTs, and how they have integrated these into their non-profit organization, Bye Bye Plastic.

• They reflect on the challenges and triumphs faced during their journey, navigating the technological revolution within the music industry, and their vision of using emerging technologies for substantial environmental change.
• The conversation showcases their dedication to creating a plastic-free vinyl and their active involvement in Web3 technology, seeking to inspire other artists to adopt sustainable practices.
• Their goal is to achieve mass adoption of sustainable practices rather than just creating novelty souvenirs, and they emphasize the importance of community-building through Web3 to accelerate movements towards a better future.

In an inspiring conversation, we sat down with BLOND:ISH and Camille Guitteau, two sustainability advocates and music enthusiasts, to explore their journey in harnessing the power of Web3 technology to drive the music industry towards a more environmentally friendly future. As co-founders of Bye Bye Plastic, a non-profit organization focused on eliminating plastic waste from the music scene, they shared their passion for music, the environment, and the transformative potential of blockchain and NFTs in creating a better and more sustainable world. Through their innovative work in developing a plastic-free vinyl and leveraging Web3, BLOND:ISH and Camille inspire us with their dedication to collaborative efforts and community-building in the pursuit of positive change.

BLOND:ISH and Camille are self-confessed nerds. The two first connected through their love of, and careers in, the music space. However, their shared passion for sustainability drove them to reach for other goals, and so their attention turned to environmental issues. Specifically, the fight for sustainability in the music space. Now, they ‘nerd out’ over Web3, and all of the opportunities that this space brings. Together they have combined all of their interests and passions into one to help accelerate the goals that they are trying to achieve — eliminate plastic waste in the music industry.

“We've combined all of our nerdiness into one basically, to help accelerate the goals we want to achieve. It was just a dream, or an idea, or even simply a question that we put in the air. We never actually thought it might be possible!” says BLOND:ISH

Camille adds to this, saying, “We have strong wills and ideas, and that is when manifesting can happen and the planets align.”

Together, the pair spearhead Bye Bye Plastic. Bye Bye Plastic frames itself as "a team of 8 eco-warriors on track to wipe out single-use plastic in the music industry."  Bye Bye Plastic tackles every single stakeholder of the music ecosystem. They began by reaching out to influential artists so that these artists could use their influence to change how they run their events, and trickle down sustainability from the artist, to the venue, down to the fans.

The organization guides each of their stakeholders by providing small, actionable steps tailored to their specific needs. This could look like organizing plastic clean-ups with the community, providing plastic-free advocacy tools to the artists, or even working with organizations and industry professionals to offer guidance on the most effective plastic-free solutions. Essentially, Bye Bye Plastic shares its knowledge and passion with others, triggering change on a larger scale. 

There are thousands of DJs and event producers who have joined the #PlasticFreeParty movement since 2019. Musicians and event producers have worked with Bye Bye Plastic to remove plastics from their events, but Camille and BLOND:ISH had bigger ideas. They wanted to overhaul something at the heart of the music industry: the PVC vinyl.

So, the duo found themselves connecting with the right people, at the right time. Whether by manifestation, the alignment of the planets, or the messages they put out into the music community, BLOND:ISH and Camille were introduced by Eli (from DJs for Climate Action) to Evolution Music’s Founder, Marc Carey. From there, they found Evolution Music, a team of researchers and developers studying how to guide the music industry towards a more sustainable future.

Traditionally, vinyl records are PVC. They are one of the least environmentally friendly products on the market. The name vinyl comes from Polyvinyl Chloride, and it is as toxic as it sounds, derived from crude oil. Plus, chlorine-based toxins are an ongoing issue. In one report, Greenpeace had this to say about PVC:  “Over the past few decades, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic, commonly known as "vinyl," has become one of the most widely-used types of plastics. We find it all around us: in packaging, home furnishings, children's toys, automobile parts, building materials, hospital supplies, and hundreds of other products. Its advantages are that it is highly versatile and relatively inexpensive. But the price we pay for a low-cost and seemingly harmless piece of PVC pipe or soft vinyl toy is far steeper than it may at first appear.” 

There has to be a better way, right? BLOND:ISH and Camille are not the first people to consider this, but they outlined why we have not seen non-plastic alternatives take off.

Polylactic acid, or PLA, is a type of biodegradable plastic made from renewable resources like corn starch or sugarcane. It has become a material for manufacturing vinyl records. Because PLA is biodegradable, it is a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional materials used in vinyl record manufacturing.

BLOND:ISH explains “We're always thinking about how we use plastic in our music, because plastic and PVC don't fit in with the circular loop of nature, and we're always trying to go back to that circularity. So, another artist released a PLA vinyl which is a bioplastic. This biodegradable plastic (Polylactic acid) is made from corn starch or sugarcane. So, it is more environmentally friendly than traditional materials. But, despite being described as biodegradable, it is only biodegradable under strict industrial composting conditions. So we began to wonder, what happens if we are not here anymore? Who is going to break down the plastic? And that’s where the bacteria of PHA came in.”


Camille adds, “We are always taking circularity as our compass, and designing how we can eliminate waste. There are some innovations at the moment that are better than PVC as they do not use fossil fuels, but still they cannot be digested by the Earth. This means that humans have to monitor the breakdown of it, and really manipulate the breakdown. Basically, no one is doing this at the moment. We spoke to Evolution Music and said that we knew about PLA, but did they know what the next stage in bioplastic production was? And they did.”

“It was a match made in Heaven partnership,” says BLOND:ISH.

Now, Camille, BLOND:ISH, Bye Bye Plastic, and Evolution Music are raising awareness, to prepare for mass adoption. They do not want this to be a novelty souvenir, but the future of music record production. One exciting aspect of their work is that PHA vinyls can be pressed in the same way as traditional vinyls. The material is a plastic replication that is entirely bio-based, and biodegradable in any environment, including the ocean. They simply come as the previous fossil fuel pellets did, and are pressed by the machine. 

They are not reinventing the wheel, but adapting it, with #PlasticFreeParty.

So we’ve covered the need for an alternative to PVC vinyls, but how does Web3 tie in? To put it simply, Web3 technology allows for the alignment of communities and the acceleration of movements. In short, it is an essential tool for positive change. BLOND:ISH outlined their vision and Web3 integration with great passion. 

“How do we make this mass-produced? How can we reach mass adoption? We want to be a piece of history! Not having to change the pressing machines plays a big part in this, because that's how we can actually get mass adoption and make this thing work. Anyone can produce a PHA vinyl. Then, with Web3,  we can build a social graph together and start a movement. Using NFTs or tokens we can track who is buying the vinyl, who is using PHA. NFTs help these movements accelerate a lot quicker.”

You don’t have to look far to see how the decentralized nature of Web3 allows for creators to build micro-communities. NFTs connect people who have shared goals, interests, and passions.

BLOND:ISH is an icon in the Web3 music space, known for her social token $ISH, her metaverse performances, and her dedication to the space as an entrepreneur. So, it was only natural that BLOND:ISH released her 'Life Is' track from the #PlasticFreeParty album as an NFT. The album curates 15 tracks each from a different Eco-Warrior artist, of which her track opens this first-of-its-kind bio vinyl compilation available on Bonfire. By selling this track as an NFT, BLOND:ISH was able to offer up extra perks for her supporters. For example, the first 69 people to mint the NFT receive a hand-signed copy of the record. Also, the team hid 500 $ISH tokens & 500 $BYEBYE tokens in the Golden Egg of the collection. $ISH is the social token of BLOND:ISH, powering her entire ecosystem as a currency. $BYEBYE is the token powering the Bye Bye Plastic ecosystem.

“I think the power of blockchain technologies lies within the decentralized community and creating this new ruling system. It is outside of social norms and the control that the current systems we live in have. Not just political systems, but also the social systems that any artist has to abide by or to go through to get their career and profile raised. The blockchain is outside of that. It can actually be powerful in that sense, and a completely different ecosystem.”

The future looks plastic-free. 

BLOND:ISH has been implementing plastic-free initiatives since 2018. Pre-pandemic, Bye Bye Plastic helped events to go plastic-free by not using single-use plastics. Then came Covid. There were no events. When the world eventually opened up again, sustainability was no longer a priority. 

“All they cared about was their bottom line. They had to get back up and start making profit again. So, sustainability was pushed to the side,” states BLOND:ISH.

Still, the creative saw this as an opportunity. BLOND:ISH believes that plastic-free events do not have to mean traditional events with plastic alternatives. Instead, she sees a future of online-only conferences. There has been an increase in events in metaverse spaces in recent years. Just think about DJs like Steve Aoki performing sets in Decentraland, and even BLOND:ISH herself guest DJing at Club XYZ in The Sandbox. The metaverse is not only for partying — there are some big brands taking part in virtual conferences and events. Brands like NYX, YSL, Coach, and even Gucci have taken part in decentralized activations. Online conferences and music events could be the future of festivals!

For those who are not yet ready to jump fully into Web3, Bye Bye Plastic sees an opportunity with NFT ticketing. Bonfire can support artists like BLOND:ISH, and organizations like Bye Bye Platic, to sell music NFT drops as well as NFT tickets. For holders, the NFT tickets serve as a memory of the music, the song, the festival, and through that experience you can connect with others who were there with you at that moment. For creators, the NFTs help you to build a social graph of your fans. Through NFT ticketing, artists and businesses can better understand their fans, their wallets, and essentially what and who they like to interact with.

To sum up, BLOND:ISH and Camille's passion for music and the environment shone through our conversation. Their enthusiasm for exploring the possibilities of Web3 technology, while emphasizing the power of NFTs in driving positive change, is an inspiration to anyone looking to follow their own passion. If there is one thing to take away from BLOND:ISH and Camille, it is the importance of collaboration, community-building, and leveraging NFTs to create a better, more sustainable future.

You can donate to a more sustainable future with Bye Bye Plastic using crypto and fiat on their website here, or crypto only here.