Over 3 million users attend music festivals every year in the UK, creating a staggering 23,500 tons of waste.
WOMAD is already leading the way in sustainability, with several inspiring initiatives including green energy from Ecotricity and action on recycling, single-use plastics, water, and travel. Whichever events users choose to attend, here are the top tips for a sustainable and safe summer of festivals.
Be COVID safe
Wide open spaces like those at WOMAD are perfect for keeping people secure, so choose festivals with plenty of room and check their plans for open-sided tents and spacing before paying for that ticket.
Stay outdoors as much as possible and enjoy the countryside and music in harmony. Bring a stash of reusable masks for when they need them and can even make own hand sanitizer, the natural way.
Go to a green festival
Not all festivals are created equal. Many of the bigger events have a huge environmental impact caused by the logistics of running multiple stages over the festival period. So try to make sure the festival the user's head is as green as it can be. Check to see if the festival user plan to attend:
- Is powered by green energy
- Provides clearly labeled recycling bins
- Offers shuttle transport
- Has a sustainability or environmental policy
To keep transport emissions as low as possible, try and use public transport to get there.
Use biodegradable glitter
Instead, buy biodegradable glitter so users can still sparkle without harming the environment
A festival isn’t a festival without some shimmer and shine. But the glitter we’re all used to is a microplastic, and virtually impossible to remove from our beaches and oceans.
Instead, buy biodegradable glitter so users can still sparkle without harming the environment. Eco Glitter Fun has a great range of eco-friendly glitter.
Use a decent tent
Thousands of tents are abandoned at the end of UK festivals every year with most ending up in a landfill. So if users are regular festival goers, think about investing in some decent camping gear that they can reuse every summer.
It’s much better for the environment will keep out the rain and will save a fortune in the long run.
Go plastic free
Festivals are renowned for their plastic waste, so much so, that many of them have banned the sale of single-use plastics out of concern for the environment. There are plenty of ways to enjoy a plastic-free festival:
- Take a reusable water bottle, and fill it up at the free water stations.
- Take a reusable cup for your morning, afternoon, and midnight coffee.
- If users are camping, use reusable plates and cutlery.
- If users are taking their food, use reusable beeswax wrapping instead of clingfilm, it’s brilliant.
Recycle
A really simple way to cut down on the amount of waste produced is to recycle whatever users can
Tens of thousands of tonnes of waste are produced every year at UK music festivals. A really simple way to cut down on the amount of waste produced is to recycle whatever users can.
So track down those recycling bins, they won’t be hard to find because most festivals encourage users to recycle as much as possible and challenge them to send zero waste to landfill while users are at the festival. If users are feeling creative, they could make an ecobrick during the festival.
Eat plant-based festival food
One of the great pleasures of festivals like WOMAD is the chance to try all kinds of delicious food from around the world.
There’s always a great range of healthy, plant-based foods at festivals and it’s an easy way to be green while users are there in fact, researchers at the University of Oxford have found that cutting meat and dairy from the diet could reduce the carbon footprint from food by 73%.