Festivals Get Greener with Innovative Solutions
The first things that come to mind when thinking of music festivals might not be sustainability or waste reduction. Festival season kicked off a month ago and will last until the end of September. Thousands of people camping in a field for several days can produce tonnes of waste and tarnish the experience for organisers, fellow participants and neighbours. Luckily, over the last couple of years, some original green initiatives have been implemented by organisers in order to give incentives to festival-goers to rethink their habits. Here are some remarkable ways to involve people in eco-friendly solutions.
Waste management:
The Vieilles Charrues festival in France turned the waste collection into a game for last years’ participants. Trash bags with different colours were distributed to festival-goers in order to push them to collect and sort garbage. In order to motivate people in participating, the festival then gave exchangeable points for every bag brought back to the collecting stands. Prizes went from simple goodies to weekend trips.
Clean energy
Glastonbury festival in the United Kingdom have paired with Greenpeace and found an innovative way to create energy for the sound system and screens used for the concerts. People can work out in a mini gym that has been installed next to one of the stages and therefore produce usable energy.
Organic food
Supplying food can be challenging when you strive to be a carbon neutral festival. Flow Festival in Finland uses local products and offers>vegetarian meals in order to limit their carbon print. In addition to this, they also included food vendors in their mission to supply organic food by organising a competition between them, in order to see who can create the best sustainable dish.
Green transportation
Coachella, the famous festival in the United States, encourages people to share a ride to the festival in order to reduce gas emissions. The program called “Carpoolchella” offers many prizes including VIP tickets to the festival or food vouchers, to randomly selected carpools of four or more people.
Overtime, festivals are becoming more and more environmentally conscious and do not hesitate to offer fun initiatives and alternatives, in order to raise awareness among participants. If you are going to a festival this summer, keep your eyes open, think green and be part of the solution!
