Sunday 26 June 2011

Is it possible to have a green festival?

© Matt Cardy
Glastonbury, the largest music festivals in the UK, was this weekend and while everyone was enjoying the sunshine and music and possibly a beer or too most people forgot about the environment. Tens of thousands of people travelled from all over the country to take part in this event adding unnecessary CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. According to organisers around 50% of Glastonbury’s CO2 emissions arise from travelling to and from the event.

So this year Glastonbury has come up with a green initiative whereby anyone arriving by public transport gets exclusive use of solar showers, discounted main meals and access to compost toilets. This sounds fantastic and a great way to encourage people to think about their travel arrangements especially as it is for no additional cost. I know if that was me I would definitely arrive by train or coach for the possibility of a solar powered shower! It will be interesting to find out how many people took up this opportunity and whether it was a success in reducing travel related pollution.

According to the Little Hampton Gazette this year Glastonbury organisers have launched the ‘Love the Farm – Leave no Trace’ campaign, which aims to tackle many of the environmentally negative aspects of the festival. The campaign covers many of the initiatives already mentioned as well as handing out biodegradable tent pegs and using bio-fuels to power the generators.

There will also be 100 ‘green police’ wearing comic costumes reminding people of their responsibilities whilst at the festival. This is because the mountain of rubbish created by these week long events takes days to clean up.

What could you do as a festival-goer to go green at Glastonbury or any another festival this summer:

  • Travel to the event by public transport;
  • Use biodegradable tent pegs;
  • Use the toilets provided and not the ground;
  • Use the recycle bins provided;
  • Use the cigarette ‘BUTT’ bins;
  • Limit what you bring and take everything home again;
  • Clean up behind you; and
  • Pack up your tent and take it home;
So while your out their having fun remember everything we do has some kind of impact on the planet.
© The Telegraph

1 comment:

  1. I went to another festival this year, and although I had a brilliant time, I couldn't shake a feeling of guilt looking around seeing all the rubbish left behind and how such a massive area of green grass was devastated in a metter of hours.

    ReplyDelete