Here at Ravers Co, we believe each and every one of us has a responsibility to be Eco-Friendly Spectators. We believe deeply in sustainability, and working towards a greener future. Today we’re going to take a deep look at what it means to call a festival “green”. However before we get into that lets take a minute to think about what each of us can do as festival attendee’s. You see no matter what festival organisers do after everything is said and done.
We each have an innate responsibility to make our festival experience less of a burden on the environment. When we each chip in, and do a little, at minimum we should all be prepared to carry out what we carry in to the festival. This means that you should have a bag or box for your rubbish and a little extra space on your way in for the bag to go. If you can use an eco-friendly bag, do so, but take into consideration the length of the festival. You may need bigger, stronger bags for longer events, and large groups of people. Lets look at some things we can each do to be Eco-Friendly Spectators.
Avoid Glass
There are a number of really good reasons you should avoid glass at a Festival. We highly recommend bringing some plastic or metal cups if you bring harder liquor to be mixed or wine. there are some very practical reasons for using cans and reusable containers over bottled drinks, that everyone will appreciate.
Cans can be flattened, they take up less space as rubbish. The space required to pack your rubbish out in your vehicle can be decreased. great news, it means you can fit more outfit’s, more costumes, and more accessories. Remember to leave a reasonable amount of space in your entry load for exit rubbish, it always grows. Cans definitely help to reduce the amount of space you need to dedicate to rubbish.
Some festivals collect cans for recycling; but many are adopting a completely carry in carry out policy. This means you will be expected to take your cans home with you, along with all other waste you, and your group create. This will help lessen the amount of unrecyclable landfill waste, and you can even take your own cans to a metal recycling company and get some money for them. That way we can get rewarded for being Eco-Friendly Spectators.
Use Gear That Lasts
Buying a cheap tent seems like a good idea at the time, especially if it’s just for yourself. Quite often cheaper tents are of poor quality construction, and only last for a couple of uses before they break. A good quality tent can last 10 or 20 years of festival use if you take care of it. Poor quality tents have to be replaced after 1 to 3 uses, this means more rubbish, and in reality costs more money. If you think of averaging 3 camping festivals a year for 10 years that’s 10 tents you can avoid sending to landfill.
This principal applies to many things like that you will use during your festival experience. For example, buying disposable plastic cups seems like a good idea, avoid glass right? In Reality, it’s a bunch of plastic heading for landfill and that you will have to take home with you. Get a nice insulated, large drinking bottle with a straw or sipper. This way your drinks stay nice and cool, and you don’t have to take home any extra rubbish.
Bring Good Food
Think carefully about the length of time you will be at the festival, and what facilities you will have access to. Is there ice available at the festival grounds or close to it? Even if there is, if it’s a summertime, resources like ice, cold drinks, and even food will always run out. Many people either don’t bring any food, any rely and the festival organisers to ensure that there is food available. Many other people bring food, but return home with it, only to throw it out at home because it’s spoiled. If we each choose to bring food that is easy to prepare, tasty, and doesn’t spoil easily we will go a long way to lessen our individual carbon footprints.
In the Ravers Co blog we have some Vegetarian meal ideas for your next festival. We will have some more meal ideas coming in the very near future, so for the meat eaters amongst us, don’t fret. Although, don’t forget, vegetables survive better than meat, fish, and poultry in harsh festival environments. For this reason, it’s just safer to eat vegetarian during a festival. No one wants to get food poisoning during a festival, it’s probably one of the worst things imaginable!
Be A Green Raver
When you’re walking through the festival grounds, if you see any litter, pick it up. Put it in your campsite rubbish bag and take it home. This should be the way each of us behaves all of the time anyway. Litter on the ground looks awful, and has a very negative effect on this earth we all love. If you purchase food or drink, be sure to take any containers, or wrapping back to your campsite, and take it home in your rubbish bag.
Many of us need as much space as we can get for all of our amazing festival and rave outfits, and costumes. We should however always be looking for opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint. Carpooling is a excellent way to start, and end your festival experience in the green. Talk to your group of friends in good time before the festival. Ask them if they’ve got extra space and if you can join them, remind them that this way we can all be Eco-Friendly Spectators. It’s not only better for the environment, but it makes for a better overall experience for everyone.
Thanks for joining us for this latest instalment of the Ravers Co Blog. We love you guys and we love festivals. These tips will offset some of your carbon, and help protect our beautiful earth.Sso we can have festivals for many years to come. If we all take a moment to consider the impact of our actions we can make a real difference. Just think, we can change the outlook for the future not just for ourselves and our future family, but for everyone. We can do it just by each taking small steps everyday to reduce our footprint on this earth.
Ravers Co will be building a range of camping gear over the coming months. Just in time for New Zealand’s summer Festival season. Check back in at our Awesome Shop for updates on new products. Join our mailing list for product updates, and awesome blog updates.
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