Every time we attend a festival, we bring a massive amount of waste products, most recently represented by CRSSD Festival’s 65k in damages. By the time the weekend is over, most festival grounds typically look as though you would be walking through the refugee camps of an impoverished nation on the brink of being over run by a genocidal war lord. Maybe we’re being a little hyperbolic, but there is a serious need to address how filthy we leave our campsites. It’s odd that we look to these festivals as our “home” but treat them like our trash cans.
Luckily there is a not-for-profit company called “A Greener Festival” trying to make a difference, “committed to helping music and arts events and festivals around the world adopt environmentally efficient practices.” These practices are pretty standard for people in the Northwest, but there is still a long way to go. So far, A Greener Festival has partnered with many different organizations to help facilitate environmentally friendly practices. This includes programs like “Sustain,” promoting the use of sustainable food products and locally sourced foods, paired with “Every Can Counts,” working with festivals and waste management companies to provide recycling services. Those are just a couple of examples of what they are doing. For more information, check out their website over in this direction.
But what can we do to create a cleaner festival? The number one thing we can do is hop on with the “leave no trace” philosophy, sometimes known as “pack in, pack out.” The basic principle is that what ever you bring with you, you take away. These can be items that are fairly obvious, like trash, water bottles, empty packages, etc. But some festivals report a high number of challenging items for the clean up process including tents, sleeping bags and coolers (yes, people really do leave behind tents, sleeping bags and coolers).
The Northwest is one of the most beautiful areas in the world with an enormous amount of natural beauty. It’s up to us to help maintain that delicate balance. What are some of the ways that you help preserve our local festivals? Tell us in the comments below.
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