Environmental action plan put in place by Glastonbury Festival Organisers – June 2007

Ever committed to continuous improvement, Glastonbury pushed the boundaries again in 2007, which was no mean achievement given the appalling weather. However, it didn't stop the great Glastonbury audience, and it didn't stop festival organisers - the commitment to this festival and the causes it supports is awe inspiring, and that commitment from all involved allows the festival to be bigger than any given individual. With environmental issues high on the agenda that means that even bigger things can be achieved in 2008 if we all work together!

This was their 2007 agenda:

“I Count” campaign

Supporting the Stop Climate Chaos campaign, a coalition of 50 organisations aimed at highlighting the dangers of climate change and encouraging personal and political action to avert it.
All festival wristbands and laminates were enscribed with the message “We can stop climate chaos”.
Target intention was for 100,000 people to sign up to campaign over the weekend and commit to 16-point personal action plan contained in “I Count” booklet.

Joint Charity Action

Glastonbury work consistently with Greenpeace, Oxfam and Wateraid - the main beneficiaries of the festival who were involved in a programme of activities to highlight climate change issues, supported by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.
Further details about their work from:
WaterAid:
Kate Watson 0207 793 4793; 0788 752 1552 katewatson@wateraid.org
Greenpeace:
Ben Stewart 0207 865 8283 / 0780 121 2967 ben.stewart@uk.greenpeace.org
Oxfam:
S Fowkes 01865 472254 / 0781 840 6038 / sfowkes@oxfam.org.uk
Stop Climate Chaos:
Alison Blower 0207 729 8732 / 0796 769 8928 / alison@stopclimatechaos.org

Travel - Programme bags

An additional 25,000 ticket-holders arrived at the festival by coaches from 50 locations around the UK. This was estimated to reduce number of cars by 7,000.

Festival programmes were handed out as ticket-holders arrived - without the usual plastic wrappers. Instead, 150,000 specially commissioned 100% unbleached cotton bags were available to keep them in.

Energy

Four site tractors were using biodiesel for the first time. Generators in several areas, including The Park, used biodiesel sourced from recycled cooking fat. Recycled biodiesel was also used in the Greenpeace, Green Welfare and Medical areas. All energy in the Green Fields already comes from solar and wind power.

Rickshaw and electric bikes were used by key staff/visitors.

Lost Vagueness ran its own environmental campaign, including fuelling its generators with recycled vegetable oil, there were 26 composting toilets and waste monitoring.

Sustainable wood

All wood used by the festival was sourced from Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC) suppliers, ensuring it's sustainability. FSC wood was used to construct a giant skateramp in the Greenpeace field.

Market traders

Market stalls were checked for their level of sustainability - with the best environmental practice winning a free pitch at the next festival.
The Soil Association published the first ever “Glastonbury Climate-Friendly Food Guide”

Tent re-use

Abandoned tents were donated to the “Give Me Shelter” campaign run by the Global Hand charity, due to circumstances beyond the organisers control this didn't go as well as was hoped in 2007, but there were still huge numbers of .tents donated.

Green police

135 Green Police patrolled the site. Dressed in comic uniforms their role is to lightheartedly remind festival-goers to keep the site tidy, recycle their rubbish, only pee in the loos and respect the countryside. The focus for 2007 was on cigarette ends.
More information: Bernadette Vallely – bernadette@easynet.co.uk

Entertainment

“Hard Rain” mega-slide show about global environmental issues – based on Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” – was be shown in The Glade.

Backstage area at the Jazz World stage was brightened up by sculptures and décor made from waste materials by Risky Business Décor.

Green Fields displayed what is new and old in sustainable living. Activities included a pedal-powered launderette, large sculptures and a Green Way Super highway along the old railway line.

The Al Gore film “An Inconvenient Truth” was be shown in the Cinema Marquee.

Travel

Festival-goers were encouraged to arrive by special coach and train services (there was a free bus shuttle from Castle Cary rail station). In 2005, over 10,000 people arrived by coach and 14,000 by train. Lift-sharing encouraged by the festival is estimated to reduce car travel by 15,000 journeys.

Energy

All electricity in the Green Fields supplied by renewable energy, mainly solar and wind power. Biggest venue, the Croissant Neuf marquee, can entertain 1,000 people. Solar heated showers provided by Navitron and Greenpeace, the latter enhanced by an innovative wood pellet-fed boiler.

Waste

Target to equal 50% recycling record in 2005. All cans, glass, paper, wood and organic waste separated and recycled. 15,000 bins around the site clearly identified for either wet and dry recyclable materials or non-recyclable rubbish.

Conservation

The site is protected from pollution by such things as:

1. ensuring all sewage is collected in tanks, then pumped out and removed from the site to nearby sewage farms
2. providing wood for campfires from untreated offcuts from local sawmills
3. creating wildlife sanctuaries to which animals can retreat during the festival

Trading

Comprehensive guidelines for market stallholders includes such things as:

1. All cutlery must be made from wood, all cups and plates from biodegradable card
2. Generator use is reduced by using centralised (silent) generators
3. Truck movements reduced by providing an on-site wholesale market
4. Encouragement to use low energy light bulbs

A Green Traders Award will run this year for the third time.

Credits

Glastonbury Festival for providing the information on their Environmental Policy

Photo Credit to Jason Bryant