Billie Eilish is perhaps the most talented artist of our generation…and I don’t throw that around lightly. At only 13, Eilish wrote “Ocean Eyes” alongside her brother Finneas and launched her prolific career. And at the fair age of 22, Eilish has 24 GRAMMY Award nominations and nine wins, two Oscars, two Golden Globes, and countless other accolades.
Beyond that, she recently announced her third album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, to be released May 17, 2024. She spent the days leading up to the announcement building excitement by adding all of her Instagram followers to her “Close Friends” list. Eilish had the most Instagram followers in 48 hours…with her count increasing by 7 million followers total.
While her debut album, when we all fall asleep…where do we go?, was a chart-topper in its own right, it landed Billie every GRAMMY it was nominated for at the ripe age of 18…Eilish has solidified herself as one of the most revered and sought-after popstars in the world.
Eilish recently caught media attention for quietly revealing her sexuality. In an interview with Variety, she states that she’s always liked girls…and assumed people always knew that. In a viral snippet from her new song, LUNCH, she details a love affair with a girl.
But people don’t only adore Billie for her catchy tracks that consistently top the charts. It’s not just her songwriting ability and unique vocals that keep us hooked. People love her because she’s unafraid to speak her mind.
Whether it be complaining about too many influencers being at an awards show, or calling out other artists for using unsustainable practices…Billie does not hold back.
Billie Eilish On Sustainability
Eilish home
rethinkingthefuture.com
The Eilish home is iconic for many reasons: it’s where Billie and Finneas recorded her debut album, countless other songs, and EPs, in an effort to conserve water there’s no grass, and the roof is covered in solar panels. And being environmentally conscious extends beyond the four walls of their home.
When the hottest young talent is discovered at such an early age like Eilish, record labels are chomping at the bit to sign them. It’s like when a D1 athlete is ready to commit to college…you have your pick.
But what Eilish and her mom, Maggie Baird, were looking for wasn’t about money or label-perks…they were seeking a solid sustainability program. And while that may seem like standard practice, most labels didn’t bring up environmental policies during these meetings at all.
After signing to The Darkroom via Interscope Records, the struggle didn’t stop there. Billie Eilish and her family have been consistent contributors to the fight against climate change.
Maggie Baird has since started Support + Feed, which focuses on the climate crisis and food insecurity. Support + Feed helped Eilish’s 2022 Happier Than Ever tour save 8.8 million gallons of water through plant-based meal service for the artist and crew members.
During Billie’s 2023 Lollapalooza performance, she aided the launch and funding of REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project – which guaranteed all battery systems used during her set were solar powered. The MCD’s overall mission is to lower – and eventually eliminate –the music industry’s carbon emissions.
But more recently, Billie Eilish called out other artists for releasing multiple versions of vinyls in order to boost vinyl sales. In an interview with Billboard, she says,
“We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging … which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money and gets them more…”
Artists convince fans to buy different versions of their albums by offering exclusive features on each vinyl. Take Taylor Swift, for example, who released five separate vinyl versions of Midnights, each with a different deluxe “Vault” track.
While Billie may not have been trying to shade one artist in particular, the point is that she’s fed up. After being the rare artist in the industry who go out of their way to remain environmentally conscious, Eilish sets the bar high.
How Eilish’s New Album Is Sustainable
Billie for "Hit Me Hard and Soft"
William Drumm
Social media users were quick to claim Eilish was hypocritical by announcing that HIT ME HARD AND SOFT will have eight vinyl variations. However, each vinyl is made from recycled materials – either 100% recycled black vinyl or BioVinyl, which replaces petroleum used during manufacturing with recycled cooking oil.
This just illustrates that Eilish wasn’t directing criticism towards other artists for using vinyl variants to gain album sales…but she does think there are better ways to do it that benefit the environment without hurting their sales.
Should You Boil Your Drinking Water? Microplastics Are A Hidden Menace
In the iconic film TheGraduate, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a young man wondering what do to with his life, is approached by a well-meaning family friend who advises: “There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it.”
That’s the difference between then and now. In 1967 Braddock was urged to get into plastics; in 2024 we’re looking for ways to get the plastics out of us.
Such paranoid thoughts are prompted by a Washington Post piece about microplastics. But first, a quick science class.
Q: What are microplastics?
A: “Primary microplastics are tiny particles designed for commercial use, such as cosmetics, as well as microfibers, shed from clothing and other textiles, such as fishing nets. Secondary microplastics are particles that result from the breakdown of larger plastic items, such as water bottles. This breakdown is caused by exposure to environmental factors, mainly the sun’s radiation and ocean waves.” (National Geographic Society)
Microplastics have been found in human blood, breast milk, liquid and solid waste, and even placentas. It’s in our drinking water and myriad products such as toothpaste. The world’s precious oceans and the marine life that inhabit them are teeming with microplastics.
Plastic has transcended its already horrible reputation as an environmental problem and turned into a matter of health. ClientEarth puts it like this: “Due to their persistence and the chemicals they are made of, studies suggest they can be highly detrimental to the organisms they come in contact with, including by causing reduced feeding, poisoning, and increasing mortality. They also tend to facilitate the transfer of contaminants along the food chain, with potentially grave consequences for human health.”
So how should we deal with these insidious things?
As the Post reports, scientists “Zhanjun Li and Eddy Y. Zeng report that...
...boiling and filtering water helped remove up to nearly 90 percent of the tiny plastic particles, which they write, can be found in 129 of 159 tap water samples from 14 countries worldwide.”
Li and Yeng found that “At high enough temperatures, calcium carbonate (which is commonly found in tap water) will become solid, effectively encapsulating or ‘encrusting’ the plastic particles, and making them easy to remove through a simple filter, such as a coffee filter.”
Is it time to start boiling water before we filter it for use? Li and Yeng state that their research is more about stimulating deeper research into what microplastics do to the planet than household tips. But if you want to be safe, it’s not a bad idea. Boiling water also “kills potentially harmful microbes, parasites, and viruses.” Let the water cool down for 5 to 10 minutes after boiling so any solids present can settle. Then filter the water with the device of your choice.
Scientists are still investigating microplastics’ negative effects on our health. No doubt further means of reducing and, perhaps, eliminating microplastics from our lives will be discovered and codified in the future. Until then, it’s worth doing what we can to maintain our health. It certainly can’t hurt. Chris Reddy — a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution — is quoted in the Post: “You will always want to limit non-natural things in your uptake.”