The last scene from "Woodstock," showing mounds of filthy garbage left over by thousands of music fans, is still the final image at most music festivals 37 years later. Even though many of rock music's fans and performers are otherwise environmentally conscious, when such large numbers of people get together -- eating, drinking and having fun -- there is going to be a lot of waste left over.

	Associated Press file photo Woodstock Music and Art Festival participants leave the festival in this Aug. 17, 1969 file photo in Bethel, N.Y. Click photo for larger image.

To battle that, a local group is trying to implement a "green" music festival, probably in conjunction with the Three Rivers Arts Festival, as a national model for holding large-scale events while minimizing their impact on garbage landfills, energy usage and other environmental concerns.

The Pittsburgh Green Music Festival group hopes to author one of the nation's first green event standards -- an official set of rules approved by environmental experts for being certified green -- for holding such events, and export the standards to other cities, further marketing Pittsburgh as a green-friendly city.

The effort's leader is Ryan Walsh, fellows program director for the Coro Center for Civic Leadership on the South Side and a former concert promoter. Starting a year ago with the idea only to throw a music festival during Pittsburgh's 250th birthday celebration next year, the plans evolved into something more, based on the waste Walsh and others saw when going to outdoor concerts.

"There was so much marketing by festivals, identifying themselves as being green. But when I was going to these events, I wasn't seeing it," the 27-year-old said. "I thought it was a really interesting twist on doing an event here, to really showcase to a younger, more national audience that Pittsburgh is environmentally conscious, and make a music fest in 2008 focused on environmental standards."

The idea is part of a growing trend nationwide. Last year's massive Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee implemented a number of green-friendly initiatives, as will this year's Sasquatch festival in Washington state.

Ryan Walsh -- Seeking to raise money to get project started. Click photo for larger image.

Organizers of the Live Earth concerts Al Gore announced two weeks ago -- planned for cities on seven continents this July to raise awareness of global climate changes -- plan to work with the U.S. Green Building Council to write green standards for entertainment venues. (The council created the LEED process that certifies buildings such as the David L. Lawrence Convention Center as green.)

Bonnaroo last year announced plans to recycle 250 tons of festival garbage, power nonmusic generators with bio-diesel fuel, serve food with biodegradable plates and cutlery and use recycled paper and toilet paper. Bonnaroo also works with Clean Vibes, a North Carolina-based firm that recycles waste at large events, including next week's Langerado music festival in Florida.

Sasquatch this year will be "carbon neutral," meaning it will offset the carbon dioxide it emits (largely from gasoline) by purchasing credits that pay for cleaning carbon waste (through planting trees and other means). Live Earth plans similar moves, along with installing energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs at venues.

The Pittsburgh group has similar ideas, such as ticket incentives for public transit users and cyclists, using solar or wind power for electrical needs and emphasizing locally made food and beer.

All that is nice, but does it work in the real world? That is where the Three Rivers Arts Festival comes in.

	Dave Duprey, Associated Press A Woodstock '99 festival goer walks in front of burned out trailers in front of the east stage July 26, 1999 in Rome, N.Y. Click photo for larger image.

The arts festival is, of course, much smaller than the events above, but it still faces a microcosm of their environmental and organizational challenges. It juggles five separate garbage collection contracts and gets power from 10 different sources alone, festival director Elizabeth Reiss said.

The festival's executive committee has approved taking on the Pittsburgh Green Music Festival (pending a board vote next week) as a pilot project, to test some of the green concepts. The move is partly out of environmental concerns, but it's also economic.

Reiss said a green festival could help attract more college students to the event each June -- who often skip it while on summer vacation -- deepen its roots with the Pittsburgh music scene and market it outside the city.

"We think it could help promote us nationally and develop the festival further," said Reiss.

Walsh is targeting 2008 or 2009 for the first green festival, but he needs to raise money first -- writing the standards and paying environmental experts will cost $25,000 -- before spending much more on performers and other event costs.

Some of the green event concepts may also be tested at a Flux event -- where art and music is hosted in neighborhood industrial spaces -- in Braddock in April, he said.

For large-scale green events to succeed, they will have to attract a committed fan base, which in turn supports the festivals economically. They also have to be fun.

Bonnaroo, Sasquatch and Live Earth are being headlined by such bands as the Beastie Boys, Bjork, the Police, Tool, Pharrell Williams and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As much as attendees may want to be nice to the environment, the main reason they will be there is to listen to music -- not civics class lectures.

"For 99 percent of the people there, the last thing they're thinking about is recycling," Walsh said. "They're thinking, 'I need to go see Beck and Radiohead, and I need to get there two hours beforehand and drink a whole bunch of beer on the way.'"