This week on Good News on The Current, we feature a story about Coldplay — who are clearly living their commitment to community and to the environment.

Talk about Good News, Coldplay have been doing a lot of good lately. Frontman Chris Martin noticed a fan struggling on her walk to a Coldplay show, so he so he gave her a lift. The fan, Saundra Glenn, said, “He looks just like a normal bloke who you could sit and have a cup of tea with, and there he was. I had a conversation with him!” She couldn’t believe that just happened.

On top of that, Coldplay beat their own emissions target for their world tour, reducing their carbon emissions by 59% by using some inventive methods like having the dance floor generate electricity through kinetic energy, using recyclable wristbands, traveling by train, and a whole slew of other things.  

But what I want to focus on is their new album, Moon Music. They just announced this record is coming out October 4, and they are keeping on theme and on mission as some of the vinyl pressings of this album will be made of recycled plastic. This is from the efforts of The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit with a mission to clean our waterways of plastic.  Specifically for this album, the organization used its Incepter 006 floating barricade to capture plastic in the Rio Las Vacas in Guatemala before the plastic could enter the Gulf of Honduras.  

So how does this system work? 

The Incepter 006 contraption has some pretty heavy duty floating booms that capture this polluting plastic in the river while letting the water flow freely underneath its system.  

So about 70% of this river plastic from this cleanup and 30% of recycled plastic bottles will make up what Coldplay called The Notebook Edition of their new album. They are truly living their mission.  

Coldplay and The Ocean Cleanup

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Here’s one from that upcoming record, it’s “feelslikeimfallinginlove” from Coldplay on Good News on The Current.

If you have a story to tell about music making a positive impact in the world, a moment or a memory associated with a song or an artist, or maybe sparked by something you hear here, share your good news at ajaffer@mpr.org.