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.
The Environmental Impact of Palm Oil
It's destroying the environment.
Palm oil is used in instant noodles, processed breads, lipstick, ice cream, and shampoo, and is the most widely-consumed vegetable oil on the planet. It's an extremely versatile substance, and while many Americans are unaware of its ubiquitousness, it's a virtual guarantee that you've eaten or used a product containing palm oil at some point in your life. The problem is, the process in which palm oil is farmed and collected is having a detrimental effect on the environment. The industry has been linked to deforestation, climate change and animal cruelty and it's been estimated that an area the equivalent size of 300 football fields of rain forest is cleared each hour to make way for palm oil production
Though oil palms are grown all over, 85% of the world's palm oil comes from Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests, and the effects have been devastating. In the early 20th century, Borneo–the world's third largest island shared by both countries–was completely covered with lush vegetation. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) most of Borneo's rainforests will be completely gone by 2022 and many extant animal species with them. This rapid deforestation all but guarantees the extinction of the orangutan, Asian elephant, Sumatran tiger, and Sumatran rhino, as well many other forms of plant and animal life. With this in mind, there are several initiatives, mostly funded and supported by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), attempting to come up with a sustainable method for farming oil palms.
Orangutans' habitats are being destroyed
One such organization is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a nonprofit dedicated to setting a global standard for the palm oil production. Their standard is predicated on self-reported greenhouse gas emissions and a commitment by RSPO-linked companies to stop using pesticides. While relying on companies to accurately self-report is a bit unrealistic, the RSPO has been mildly successful, but many feel as though palm oil farming isn't changing fast enough to have any real impact on the environment. The truth is, the RSPO rarely kicks corporate members off of its board, and doesn't hold nearly as much sway as it purports to. In fact, back in 2016 the RSPO kicked IOI Group off its board only to reinstate them a few months later and RSPO's impact report didn't even include IOI's suspension. IOI is one the RSPO's founding members. The RSPO changes policy democratically, by matter of consensus. Couple this with the fact that there are hundreds of corporate and NGO members involved in RSPO, and it becomes pretty clear that the organization is too bloated to efficiently push for change. On top of this, companies basically have carte blanche to write the word sustainable on their products no matter how their palm oil is produced. It's virtually impossible for a consumer to tell which items in their grocery cart are ethically produced.
A short list of products that contain
The ecological issues are only part of the story, however. A report by Amnesty International revealed that companies like Unilever and Nestle aren't just forcing their factory workers to work overtime without extra pay, but are routinely using child-labor when processing palm oil. While the RSPO tepidly wags its finger at these practices, in reality, it has no power to stop them. Moving to sustainable palm oil doesn't necessarily hurt a company's bottom line, but there's no cheaper labor than slave labor. Treating employees with respect costs money, and most giant food corporations aren't willing to foot the bill.
The truth is, there might not even be a means to combat this issue. An estimated 50% of all consumer products contain palm oil. It's impossible to ask people to effectively boycott half of a grocery store, especially considering the fact that palm oil is key ingredient in many affordable staples. America's ability to solve the labor issue is also limited, as the Indonesian and Malaysian governments don't seem particularly invested in protecting their workers. Even shedding light on this issue doesn't really work, as Americans are pretty anesthetized to the fact that most of our products are made in sweatshops. To quote journalist Hillary Rosner, "Palm oil may be the ultimate icon of globalization — an ingredient directly responsible for some of the world's most pressing environmental problems that has nonetheless permeated our lives so stealthily we barely noticed."