As it’s Earth Day we wanted to remind everyone of the amazing steps forward the festival community have collectively made to being more sustainable and eco friendly, meaning you can come to a festival and leave knowing the impact you made on the earth was hopefully a positive one.
It’s really not that long ago that when you left a festival it was normal to pick your way through a sea of tents left behind in various states of carnage. As retailers offered cheap ‘festival’ packages and revellers were just toooo hungover to care, they were left behind, on average around 250,000 per year!! Some times they were picked up and taken for charities but the reality is that most of them would be in too bad a state to be useful to anyone and they would end up in landfill or incinerated. Saying no to single use is incredibly important, but you might be surprised as to how far festivals are taking this, read on to discover more ways in which this unique community is having an impact.
1. The ‘Take Your Tent Home’ initiative was started by the Association of Independent Festivals and hits this problem on two levels, encouraging the public to think long term when they purchase a tent or staying in a pre pitched option and encouraging retailers to stop selling and marketing tents as single use items. 1 small tent equates to 8750 straws so it really is time to ‘Say no to single use’.
2. Banning the sale of all single use plastics including straws, cutlery and bottles became possibly one of the most talked about initiatives of 2019 as Glastonbury alone reported an approximate saving of 1 million plastic bottles alone. This does not include the reduction in take away food containers and cutlery, straws etc. It might not have been a complete plastic free festival as attendees still brought plastic in from the outside but it certainly made a huge impact and one that can only gain momentum and move forward!
Glastonbury - Saved 1 million plastic bottles by banning single use plastic
3. Did you know that at present 80% of a festivals carbon footprint is down to people travelling to the festival site! Festivals encourage the use of public transport and coaches and post the information on their websites but some go further than this. The We out Here festival encourage use of carbon-offset coach travel via Tuned in Travel offering coach travel and private mini bus hire. A few festivals have even gone as far as offering rewards to those who arrive by bike and organising rides to the festival as a group! Latitude Festival offer an organised ride to the festival ‘through the glorious rolling fields of Essex and Suffolk’ and even offer a support van to carry the luggage meaning there is no excuse! Many festivals have also set up a car sharing page meaning festival goers can fill up cars and limit the amount of vehicles heading to the festival.
4. Use your inner sparkle instead of glitter made from plastic which makes its way into our ocean and marine life! Glitter and festivals have gone hand in hand, now festival organisers are asking their visitors to either let their personality bring the sparkle or use a safe, plant based eco glitter!
Plant Based glitter such as Eco Stardust can bring back that festival sparkle!
5. Cup deposit schemes have been in place at festivals for a few years now, you know the score. They produce a reusable cup, we pay a couple of ££ to use the cup and if we want at the end we take the cup back and get our pennies returned to us. It’s a successful way of limiting those awful single use plastic cups you see strewn around the floor and sometimes make a handy souvenir you can bring back next time!! In addition to this, water refill stations are on the up! So you can fill your cup up and stay hydrated!!!
6. Glastonbury have taken things to a new level with their traders by assessing them with a sustainability survey. This not only tells Glastonbury what to expect from a trader but also encourages traders to look at their own practices and influences them to be more eco friendly.
7. Power can be up to 70% of a festivals carbon footprint so reducing that carbon footprint and also cost is super important! Whilst renewable energies have become more common place such as solar power and biofuel taking the place of dirty diesel generators, some festivals have become really inventive! Check out the Glastonbury ‘Pee power’ project!
Glastonbury’s Pee Power Project with UWE Bristol
8. The low hum of toilet ‘concern’ at festivals is as old as the festivals themselves! That dread of when you might need to ‘go’! The smells, the hygiene… that unmistakable smell of chemicals… Well, this is all changing as festivals embrace compostable toilets, with no use of nasty chemicals seeping into the earth you will find yourself covering your ‘business’ with some sawdust and feeling a whole lot better about the experience!!
9. Leave with something… Festivals have become so much more than just music and dancing into the night. Festival organisers are seeing their festivals as a stage to educate revellers on various subjects but the main one being the environment and sustainability. Bluedot festival is a science and music festival set at Jodrell Bank observatory in Cheshire, with a huge programme of talks from activists and experts they really do want their visitors to leave with more knowledge than when they arrived, encouraging them to live a more eco conscious and sustainable life.
Bluedot takes place at the amazing Jodrell Bank, Cheshire
10. Philanthropy is becoming something festival organisers are tuned into. Donating profits and joining initiatives such as 1% for the planet, Energy Revolution and planting trees! Boomtown has planted 1 tree for every ticket bought through reforestation charity, Tree Sisters and have a Green Mission in place which it communicates to its ‘citizens’ encouraging a volunteer group of eco warriors throughout the festival.
Boomtown - Just one of many festivals generating their own ‘Green Mission’
It’s encouraging to see so many festivals making a huge effort to ensure not only the longevity of their existence but putting the health of the planet at the forefront of their decisions on a daily basis. Keep on keeping on and respect this wonderful planet we call home… Big Love!
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for updates from the fields!
