Are festivals becoming more zero waste?
This summer I've been lucky enough to experience festival life for the first time and what an experience it has been! As an aerialist performer for Airfish circus I have been very privileged to tour with them around a few small festivals in Cornwall . What went through my mind before attending was sun, music, food ...... and LOTS of disposables.
But I was wrong!
After prepping and actually being organised for once, I packed everything I needed to avoid the dreaded plastic cups, straws, plastic water bottles, and takeaway cartons I expected to see. I packed my usual water bottle, bamboo lunchbox, cloth napkins, metal cutlery and my metal straw and to my delight only produced a small bit of waste! If you scroll down to the bottom of this page I have put together a festival kit list for both day trips and camping for a low waste festival experience!
Tropical Pressure 2018
Tropical Pressure is a music festival held at Mount Pleasant eco-park on the North coast of Cornwall which celebrates the rich cultures of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. They only served vegetarian and vegan food which is amazing and I defiantly made the most of the food stalls. I attended both Saturday and Sunday without camping.
Over both days I saw no disposable cups on site. People ordering drinks were provided with hard plastic reusable branded cups however I continued to drink water from my stainless steel water bottle to prevent having to take one home with me. All of the food was provided in cardboard takeaway boxes with wooden cutlery, yet I am unsure whether they were lined with plastic or not. I ended up buying food from a stall selling African cuisine and it was divine! They were more than happy to put my food in my bamboo tub and even made a positive comment about how it was nice to see someone bringing over a reusable container as it wasn't a common sight. I ate using my metal cutlery and cloth napkin.I also ordered some vegan treats and instead of using the paper bags provided I asked the man behind the stall to wrap it in my napkin.
There were multiple recycling bins and even a compost bin for food scraps and non industrial compostable items. There was also drinking water taps for refilling water bottles on the camping fields. On the last day I found a large wooden structure made from old pallets and tyres which turned out to be a mug station! Campers were able to take a mug for the weekend, wash it and return it to prevent using single use coffee cups. How awesome is that! There was only one mug left by the time I got there so it must have been popular! Overall the only waste that went into my trash jar was my crew parking car sticker which was made of plastic.
Holifair 2018
Holifair is a fun family festival located in Gweek on the South Coast of Cornwall that provides a diverse range of music, food and activities suitable for everyone. Unfortunately this is the last year of this festival and therefore I am very thankful that I was able to be part of it even if it was only for 1 day!
This festival blew me away! There were no plastic disposables AT ALL. No plastic cups, no coffee cups, no straws, no plastic cutlery or plates..... I basically got so excited I had to be calmed down! With every purchase whether it be coffee, tea or food a £1 deposit was asked for and in return you were lent a ceramic plate, mug or set of cutlery etc. After the meal or drink was finished you washed the utensil at a water station, returned it and got your money back.
THIS SHOULD BE AT EVERY FESTIVAL!
IT IS AWESOME!
I ordered lunch from a vegan stall called Atta which provided Indian thali street food. My food came out on a large metal platter with metal cutlery which was washed and returned. Unfortunately the brownie I ordered came on a paper tissue which was put into the compost bin to prevent landfill. After performing me and my boyfriend ordered a vegan pizza and vegan cheesecake which both came on ceramic plates and were returned. Also lots of tea was consumed in a variety of funky mugs.
There were drinking water stations around the site and camping field for refilling water bottles and the toilets were composting toilets which are essentially just a hole with sawdust. There were also multiple recycling and compost bins around the site.
I am super impressed with how well organised these small festivals were in regards to waste management and ways they avoided plastic! With plastic pollution being such a well spoken topic in the media at the moment, it is so nice to see that it is having a positive impact. I fully understand that these are only small independent festivals unlike Glastonbury, Boardmasters etc however I hope that in the future the larger and more well known festivals will decide to make positive changes and seek inspiration from these smaller events. Even swapping one disposable item for a reusable one will have a massive impact on the environment if you think about how many people attend these festivals.Big thumbs up from me!
FESTIVAL PACKING LIST
DISPOSABLE ALTERNATIVES
~Day trip~
- Low waste sun cream alternative
- Reusable takeaway container
- Reusable water bottle
- Reusable coffee cup
- Reusable cutlery
- Resusable straw
- Cloth napkins
~Camping~
- All of the above
- Coconut oil for makeup removal
- Flannels/make up remove pads
- Bamboo toothbrush
- Toothpaste tablet
- Conditioner bar
- Shampoo bar
- Bar of soap