The planet is on a precarious trajectory, and now every organisation must be progressive and lead the way towards a future that’s kinder to the planet.
To help us achieve our environmental aims, we’ve taken the Festival Vision: 2025 pledge. We’re aiming for a 50% reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, 50% less diesel consumption and a target to recycle 50% of all waste by 2025. We’ll also be working with our supply chains for more sustainable food sourcing, measuring our impacts and working with other industry bodies to improve our practices.
Here’s what we’re doing, and how you can help us reach our goals.
Our initiatives
REUSING & RECYCLING
Removing single use plastic cups from bars: The festival has always recycled, but it’s always better to reduce and reuse. Ecocups came to our bars in 2017, saving 109,000 single-use plastic cups from landfill in the process. You pay a £1 deposit on your cup, which you can keep through the weekend and hand in for a clean one each time you buy a drink.
Reusable cups and bottles: We also sell reusable Port Eliot metal bottles and coffee cups, though we encourage you to bring your own from home if you already have one. A percentage of proceeds from bottle sales goes to Rame Peninsula Beach Care to help fund their brilliant work keeping our beaches plastic free.
Compostable serveware: In 2017, we introduced stricter rules for traders serve-ware – it must be compostable, so they won’t be serving your food in plastic or polystyrene.
No plastic straws – In 2017, we banned plastic straws from bars. They can’t be recycled, contribute to litter and can end up blowing into the estuary – so they’re no good to anyone!
Transport
Photo: Nick Lowe and son, taken by Jill Furmanovsky
Balance your travel emissions – Over two-thirds of the carbon footprint of a festival comes from audience travel. We now give you the option to balance your travel miles by donating to Energy Revolution when you buy your ticket. 100% of your donation is invested in renewable energy projects, helping to replace fossil fuels.
We’re teamed up with GoCarShare to help people find lifts to the festival and avoid empty cars. We’re also partnered with Great Western Railway to encourage more people to come by train (we’re only a few metres from the station and it’s a gorgeous train ride!).
TOILETS
In 2015, we brought in off-grid, waterless energy-generating toilets, Loowatt.
We also introduced our first compost loos last year, and plan to introduce them into more locations on site this year. Compost loos are chemical-free and don’t need to be emptied as regularly so they reduce the need for big trucks driving around the site.
ART PROJECTS & CREATIVE
Photo by Jill Furmanovsky
Rame Peninsula Beach Care have built giant art pieces for the festival, made from plastic waste collected on the beach. It’s a visual reminder of why we must cut down our disposable plastics consumption: much of it ends up in the sea.
How can I help?
We’ll only reach our goals with your help. Here’s what you can do:
- Car share and use public transport to get to the festival. If you have space in your car, join goCarShare to offer other festival-goers a lift. It’s built around Facebook; so you can login quickly and look at people’s profiles before deciding whether you would like to travel with them. It’s a green, fun and good value way to get to Port Eliot. You can add a car share request HERE.
- Donate to Energy Revolution to balance your travel. You can do so when you buy your festival ticket. Your suggested donation amount will be automatically calculated using your postcode to work out the distance you’ll be travelling – but you’re welcome to donate as much or little as you like. 100% of your donation will be invested in renewable energy.
- Bring your own cups and mugs to use at the bars and coffee shops.
- Bring your own reusable water bottle to fill up at the tap.
- Avoid bringing disposable plastic wherever possible.
