“Why does everyone bring so much tat to Glastonbury,” asks
Michael Eavis, its founder. “People pack all this stuff, and then they don’t
need it, so they leave it behind. Radios are the worst. Why bring a radio to
a music festival?”
It is a good question and one that he has every right to ask because it will
be Eavis and his team that will have to sort the junk left behind on Worthy
Farm. His message for revellers this year is: “Don’t bring what you don’t
need.”
He still has a pile of stinking wellies from 2005 that he has been trying to
recycle ever since. “I don’t know what to do with them, they’re so muddy. If
I redistribute them at the festival people will end up with trench foot.”
Other items pose less of a problem. Unclaimed clothes are sold at a local
jumble sale, and tents are donated to homeless shelters in Bristol. Why
people leave perfectly good tents is another mystery to Eavis. He doesn’t
mind – so long as people don’t burn them, a trend that started at Reading
several years ago.
That a lot of waste is generated by music festivals is hardly surprising, but
it is only one of the ways in which thousands of people converging in a
field to party affects the environment. Much as we may like to think that a
few nights of camping and lolling around in the mud will boost our eco
credentials, it is hardly the case. As well as abandoned debris and land
damage, other prime concerns are the transport costs of getting both punters
and artists to the site, the impact of diesel-run generators and water
pollution. The latter cost Eavis £10,000 in 2003 when he was fined for
allowing the toilets to leak and kill fish in the nearby river. What people
don’t realise is that peeing outside is seriously damaging to wildlife. “We
do everything possible to encourage people to use the toilets,” he says.
“There are signs all over the place and the ditches are fenced off.”
According to Ben Challis, whose website, agreenerfestival.com,
provides an information resource for festival organisers, the only truly
green festival is one that doesn’t take place. “I’m not saying cancel all
festivals; most of our leisure pursuits have a carbon footprint,” he says.
“It’s more helpful to look at how these events can be improved.” This year
it’s not just the festivals traditionally allied with green campaigns, such
as the Big Green Gathering – an offshoot of Glastonbury’s Greenfields – that
are offering new environmental policies. Even the distinctly unhippy V
Festival offers recycling, and recommends getting there by lift-sharing. For
the second year running, T in the Park is declaring itself “carbon-neutral”,
which involves having its emissions assessed and investing money in forestry
projects across the world.
But progress is most obvious, says Challis, in festivals that have
planet-trashing tendencies. The Download Festival, known as the headbangers’
Glastonbury, bravely admitted to being the dirtiest festival of 2006,
spending £250,000 on sending its waste to landfill. This year it pledges to
spend the same amount on green initiatives, such as recycling, to improve
its reputation. “Reading and Leeds festival and those with a young, male
demographic, are often the worst,” Challis says. “People know they should
care, but they don’t.”
At the other end of the spectrum, an example of sustained good behaviour is
the family-friendly Big Chill, held in the Malvern Hills. Every year it sets
a Leave No Trace policy and hands out copies of the Countryside Code. This
year it is subsidising National Express coaches and charging car users a £5
environmental tax.
Then there’s a little-known festival called the Sunrise Celebration that takes
place over the summer solstice in Devon. Best known for its pioneering
compost lavatories, the festival is powered solely by renewable energy, has
an organic-only food policy and appoints eco-rangers to oversee
carbon-reducing measures.
The further you stray from the rock concert vibe, the easier it is to go
green. What makes the biggest dent is flying band members across the world
and powering several acres of hefty stage equipment to make the music
audible to thousands. Challis says: “If you are happy with a small
bicycle-powered music tent, your footprint will be light. But if you want an
impressive set of music stages, with stacks of speakers, big lights and
decent sound, it’s a problem.”
This is a sticking point not just for festivals. There is growing pressure
within the music business in general to reduce environmental impact. Clued
up as we now are about our contribution to global carbon emissions and their
relationship with climate change, musicians globe-trotting on a tour bus,
stopping only to splash out on copious amounts of energy and materials, have
garnered criticism. Acknowledging this, the Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke
threatened to quit touring by plane last year because of the effect of
aviation fuel on the environment. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and the singer KT
Tunstall have since pledged to offset carbon emissions. More recently, a
mass movement called Global Cool was launched, providing a focal point for
responsible rock stars and an eco-consulting service for event organisers.
Such ideas may lend kudos to the green movement, but it is not always clear
how they help the environment. According to Global Cool’s projects director,
Paul Morrison, what’s important is that an audience takes away from a
concert simple green advice. “Live music creates a captive audience,” he
says. “It’s a great vehicle for getting across basic messages about
energy-saving. If it comes from someone that you admire and respect, such as
the lead singer of a band, it’s even better.”
As the Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic screamed at a Global Cool sponsored gig
in the UK last year: “All it takes is for you guys to shut your s**t off at
night.”
Eavis agrees that altering attitudes among festival-goers is as important as
the eco-friendly measures taking place on site. “You leave Glastonbury with
a different mindset from the one that you arrive with,” he says. “You learn
about looking after the planet. You see it in practice.” (Sadly, this
doesn’t always stop you leaving your wellies.)
Anna Shepard writes EcoWorrier in Body & Soul. Read her blog at timesonline.co.uk/ecoworrier
How to be a good festival-goer
Don’t pee outside. There is nothing wholesome and natural about
vast quantities of urine seeping into streams and rivers.
Don’t take stuff that you don’t need. Be a light,
carbon-efficient traveller.
Join liftshare.com
and share your car. Or use public transport.
Make sure you know where the recycling bins are.
Collect your belongings – and your friends – before you leave, so that
somebody else doesn’t have to.
