6 tips for a sustainable festival season

Every year, millions of us head out to an ever-growing list of festivals across the nation and the rest of the world, but they’re inherently unsustainable. Most festival sites often make for grim viewing when they’re over - the opposite of the mini-utopias they’re supposed to be.

Here are six ways to be a more sustainable festival goer…

FOLLOW THE CAMPSITE RULE
The campsite rule is the notion of leaving things better than you found them. Getting into this mindset is helpful for maintaining good eco-conscious ethics at festivals. Think about how you and your crew can make a positive contribution to the festival and the land it's held on.

CHECK YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
Rather than driving to a festival, look at public transport, or even cycling. If it’s overseas, perhaps taking the train rather than flying would be a more interesting, and eco-friendly, way to get there.

LEAVE NO TRACE
Synthetic feathered headdresses , glitter, sequins, and single-use outfits are all harmful to the environment. Toxic fag butts are a big one, alongside nitrous canisters. At leave no trace events attendees bring portable ashtrays and never drop a single butt. This should be the norm universally.

BRING REFILLABLES
Carrying around your own water bottle or cup, rather than buying plastic ones all the time, makes a huge difference. Anyone who’s seen the area in front of Glastobnbury’s Pyramid Stage at 7am will attest to how many discarded cups end up on the ground.

AVOID SINGLE-USE ITEMS
Dedicate some time to finding biodegradable, or sustainable, alternatives to single-use items. Festivals are awash with them, from tents that get dumped in their droves, to fancy dress, wet wipes (which are typically not biodegradable) and so on.

WORK TOGETHER AND BE MORE CONSCIOUS
When everyone commits to working collectively to leave no trace we can achieve so much. It only takes a little bit of intentional time and energy to make a big difference, and bring us closer to the utopian dream. Let’s make it happen.