Retro Rumble Sustainability report By The Green Scene For
HMS POP up Productions Overview The Retro Rumble Free Event was a family friendly cultural event of diverse retro music and arts, which brought Northbridge alive with the sounds of forgotten eras. The event took place on November 24th 2013. As well as having 8 Perth and Interstate bands, bringing sensational retro sounds to the City, HMS Pop Up Productions and OnWilliam created a massive retro ‘custom culture’ markets in Russell Square. The free event attracted around 2000 people to the heart of Northbridge to enjoy a free retro music festival. HMS Pop up Productions aim to reduce the impact of their productions by reducing their emissions, and offsetting the emissions they do create. HMS Pop up Productions also puts a strong emphasis on reducing their events waste and raising the awareness of patrons on sustainability issues.
The Green Scene The Green Scene is a Social Enterprise sustainability consultancy that works with businesses, events and individuals to make sustainability happen one step at a time. They are a small consultancy with a big vision to create positive change. The Green Scene’s mission is to make sustainability practical and accessible and to inspire positive change. If everyone starts to takes steps towards more sustainable actions then our overall cumulative effect will be a positive shift for our planet, our society and our local economy. The Green Scene focuses on education and awareness raising as well as individual, one on one consulting. The Green Scene was hired as sustainable events consultants for the Retro Rumble Free Event. The following are the areas that The Green Scene was able to assist the Retro Rumble in ‘Reducing Their Environmental Footprint’: Waste – prevention and disposal Emissions – calculating and offsetting emissions Awareness Raising – providing platforms for the public to be engaged with sustainability issues. The Retro Rumble was able to become a waste wise and carbon wise event with the initiatives that The Green Scene put in place. The following outlines in detail the initiatives put in place by The Green Scene for the Retro Rumble Free Event on November 24th.
The Green Scene Team
Waste The Retro Rumble took necessary steps to minimise and carefully dispose of the waste from the event. Prevention •
Stall holder waste guidelines were produced, which ensured stallholders and food vendors chose environmentally responsible packaging. No single use plastic was allowed at the event.
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HMS Pop up productions provided up to 50, 100% compostable bags to all stallholders at the event through the sponsorship of Nature Works Packaging
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100% Compostable cups were provided at the bar and water stations due to the sponsorship of by Biopak. Biopak’s PLA bioplastic requires 68% fewer fossil fuel resources to produce than traditional plastic.
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A water station was provided where re-usable bottles could be filled. This was promoted to patrons prior to the event via Social Media.
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Up cycled Signage, that used materials that otherwise would be sent to landfill. These signs assisted patrons and stall holders in identifying on site waste separation, and other sustainability initiatives.
Waste Management Onsite waste sorting – •
Through signage and using Green Team monitors, we were able to sort bins into co-mingled recycling and compost with little contamination.
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Most packaging was biodegradable and was able to be composted, whereas the majority of recycling was glass.
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Final Audits of the bins were conducted and the was less than 10% contamination between the two waste streams
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We were able to eliminate waste to landfill by using the SMRC resource recovery facilities, which included a industrial composting system and a co-mingled recycling facility.
Emissions Efforts were made to reduce the amount of emissions from the event, however some emissions were inevitable in the production and running of The Retro Rumble. The majority of emissions came from flights for artists to the event. The second largest emitter was power from both mains power and generators. Emissions breakdowns for the Retro Rumble:
Fleet (by Kilometre)
0.11
Percentage of Emissions 1%
Energy
42.96
48%
Air Travel
33.69
38%
Waste
0.49
5%
Event Production Misc.
11.04
12.5%
Total
88.29t CO2-e
Area
Emissions in T of CO2-e
Please see Appendix # 1 For a more detailed breakdown.
We are able to offset these emissions by purchasing two types of offsets from Carbon Neutral. One is a tree planting initiative that is based in Western Australia and the other is purchasing Verified Carbon Units that are assisting in various global initiatives.
Carbon Neutral has provided a detailed proposal that allows us to choose our preferred offsetting method. Please see appendix #2 for more information.
Awareness Raising The Retro Rumble endeavoured to use various incentives for the public attending the event to raise the awareness of sustainability issues. Public Transport and Biking incentives. We offered $2 off at the bar and $2 of an eco–Retro Rumble Bag for those that came by Bus, Train or bike.
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The Green Team- 12 Green Scene Team Volunteers were on site monitoring bins and also speaking to the public about the sustainability initiatives of the event.
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ECO Hub Stall – The Ecohub Perth set up a stall in the market areas that gave practical advice and tips on how to live more sustainably. The Public could also learn how to make a planter out of newspaper.
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A random transport survey was done throughout the event and 200 people were surveyed on how they got to the event. The results were:
The average car trip was 15km and was included in the events total emissions. •
Up-cycled signage was used to indicate we were a waste wise and carbon wise event as well as promoting our public transport incentives.
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Prior to the event a media release and social media campaign was used to highlight the green steps being taken at this event.
Areas for Improvement Waste: •
Stallholders were informed prior to signing up for event that there were restrictions on what type of packaging could be brought to and disposed of at the event. While 65% of stall holders followed these guide lines, there was still room for improvement. Some stall holders disposed of single use (non-recyclable) plastics at the event. This could be better regulated and is an area for improvement in the future.
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Utilising different coloured bins would make a difference in waste sorting and allowing the public to differentiate the bins sorting system from afar.
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Smaller skips for the event would have also been an addition to make for future events.
Emissions •
We were not able to measure on site mains power which meant that Green Power could not be purchased for the event. This left only the option of offsetting the emissions from the mains power. This was a more expensive and less effective approach.
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Procurement of goods – Being in WA has some limitations due to location and what is available. There are limited environmental event resources available such as: bio-diesel generators, ecoportable toilets, an environmental waste disposal company etc.
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Emissions estimated – In future more verified information needs to be sourced, to allow us to more accurate emissions.
Appendix 1: Emissions Estimations:
Carbon Neutral Emissions Calculator for the Retro Rumble
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Please note estimations were stallholders appliance usage Toilets were not included in Generators were estimated by
made for onsite power based on the (based on standard ratings). the emission estimates. approximating fuel use and time on.
Appendix #2 Carbon Neutral Offset Options.
Appendix #3 City of Perth Sustainable Events Checklist. Complete