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Making Festivals Sustainable Music festivals are notorious for their pollution and plastic waste. Termeh explores the ways we can change that and build a more sustainable, fun-filled future. Music festivals are a great way to gather the community around and to celebrate the success and rise of certain artists. However, one of the biggest questions for me has always been the aftermath of a festival. What happens to all the plastic waste? How much plastic is actually produced? UK festivals like Reading and Leeds, Wireless and Glastonbury have been trying to tackle the issue of plastic waste since 2008 by installing on-site recycling bins, but this is still a serious problem due to the huge amount of plastic produced every year, such as plastic drink bottles, plastic straws, glitter, plastic food trays and toiletry bottles.
“Apart from festival organisers introducing new ways to become eco-friendly, people can also make small but rather important contributions”
Luckily, awareness of the horrid impact of plastic on the environment has grown a lot over the last few years, which leads us to these festivals pledging to go plastic free by 2021. In Norway, many festival organisers have changed beverage cups from plastic to PLA, a decomposable material made from plants. There are also new recyclable cardboard tents that have also been serving as a great sustainable camping option, since each year tens of thousands of tents end up in landfill. Another great contribution to festival environmentalism is the youth volunteers that are helping pick up debris and waste from the area to be recycled. These volunteers contribute to festival sustainability, as they can also raise awareness of these efforts through social media and gather more members.
Apart from festival organisers introducing new ways to become eco-friendly, people can also make small but rather important contributions. It’s estimated that over one million bottles of water are consumed over the duration of festivals. However, this can easily be reduced, as many festivals have taps located throughout the grounds. So, get yourself a reusable bottle and help reduce waste even more. Truthfully, being sustainable can even begin before the festival, as you can plan your trip in the greenest way possible. If you’re driving alone or getting a lift from your parents, why not ask other friends to join? There are also other travel options like booking festival buses.
A few days ago, I encountered a video showing the creation of edible utensils made from corn and potato, which got me wondering: why not make disposable utensils in festivals an actual thing?
Finally, always remember to recycle! Yes, we all know people will clean up after the festival is over, but why not start by recycling your waste during the festival itself?
“Luckily, awareness of the horrid impact of plastic on the environment has grown a lot over the last few years”
Termeh Mousavian
Illustration & Page Design by Natasha Phang-Lee
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