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Our Planet, Our Environment
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Waste Management
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CO2 Emissions
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Noise!
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Land Damage
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Message Board
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A Greener Festival in the News:
AGreenerFestival's Ben Challis speaking about AGF in clip featured on Kerrang Radio
Click here to play clip in standalone player
Article in The Metro on which Festivals are involved in The Greener Festival Award 2008 (PDF download - view the article at Metro online here)
The Observer discussing the Greener Festival Award scheme
- Article about AGreenerFestival from Glastonbury Festivals
- EFestivals about AGreenerFestival's Latest Research (see Press Release Here)
- SafeConcerts article on AGreenerFestival
- The Independent cite AGreenerFestival
Latest News:
EIGHTEEN FESTIVALS TRIUMPH IN THE GREENER FESTIVAL AWARDS
Eighteen UK and international festivals are the first recipients of the prestigious Greener Festival Award 2008 for their efforts in promoting environmentally friendly music festivals. In the UK, recipients of the leading eco-award included Latitude, the Glastonbury Festival, the Camden Green Fair and the Cambridge Folk Festival, all praised by our awards team for their green efforts. In the US , the Bonnaroo Festival was singled out as a 'beacon of excellence' and in Australia three festivals, Falls Festival, West Coast Blues & Roots and Bluesfest all received the Greener Festival Award.
The Award is based on a seven part questionnaire which covers event management, travel and transport plans, CO2 emissions, fair trade, waste management and recycling, water management and noise pollution. Points are awarded for festivals which can show an active plan to promote public transport, reduce on-site waste, recycle and compost wherever possible, re-use water and use sustainable power. Festivals are expected to have a coherent environmental policy and we have environmental auditors who visit as many festival sites as possible to assess how festivals implement their plans.
So far in 2008 the Greener Festival Award winners are
UK Festivals
Big Session Festival
Camden Green Fair
The Cambridge Folk Festival
City Blues Festival ( Leicester )
Download
The Glade Festival
The Glastonbury Festival
Hard Rock Calling
Latitude
Leicester City Blues Festival
Lounge on the Farm
02 Wireless Festival
T-in-the-Park
Workhouse Festival
2000 Trees
International
The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival ( USA )
Bluesfest - Eastcoast Blues & Roots Festival ( Australia )
The Falls Festival ( Australia )
West Coast Blues n Roots Festival ( Australia )
These are the first of the 2008 Awards to be announced. There will be second announcement of further Awards which will be made in September 2008 when the UK and US festival season ends. All Awards will be confirmed at the UK Festival Awards which will be held on October 30th in London.
Awards Team: Amie Green, Claire O'Neill, Luke Westbury, Chris Klasinski, Aylin Mcnamara, Helen Wright, Sam Hinde, Iain Hossack & Ben Challis. Photographs: Nick Cordes.
CO2 –Now we know what we're doing – do something about it
We have collected some basic statistical data about CO2 emissions from festivals and DEFRA statistics for emissions from different modes of transport. And the truth is out! However hard festival organisers try and promote green energy and reduce CO2 on-site – it is the carbon footprints of fans travelling to and from events which does the most harm. At an out of town site with a nearby rail link, the most environmentally friendly way to travel (if you can't walk or cycle) is by coach, followed rail & ride and then followed by a full car. A multi-occupied car (at least three) obviously reduces individual carbon footprints and four or more is fairly environmentally friendly. So it seems that festival organisers, apart from promoting public transport, need to promote lift share – perhaps offering incentives such as parking discounts for multi-occupied cars or other incentives to get the audience personal carbon footprint down. The same applies to crew and crew travel. Festival organisers – tell your suppliers that they need a coherent travel policy before you will do business with them – and that includes crew travel. Another way to reduce CO2 emissions is to think and buy local – what suppliers, from marquees and stages to food and drink, can be sourced locally. And lots of taps for drinking water saves on bottled water too!
READ DETAILS OF AWARDS IN OUR PRESS RELEASE HERE
Application forms are now available for our already prestigious award scheme. To get involved with The Greener Festival Award 2008 please email agreenerfestival@aol.com. There is a non refundable application fee of £100 in 2008 to cover our administration costs (payable to A Greener Festival Ltd). For cases of genuine hardship we would try and reduce or waive this. Last years winners included The Big Session Festival, Latitude, Glastonbury, Sunrise Celebration, The Glade, The Waveform Project, The Big Chill, Big Green Gathering, Summer Sundae Weekender and the Edingburgh International Film Festival. In 2007 Download Festival was awarded a 'most improved' award and this year there will be three categories of award including improving, greener and excellent for outstanding festivals. You will need to complete our 53 Point self assessment questionnaire, sign up to our aspirations and have a site visit. But this is already a recognised independent award – something fans are starting to look for and something bands are starting to look for. Get involved!
The Great Big Green Events DVD – calling all teachers and lecturers!
We are producing a DVD as a educational tool for Universities, Colleges and Schools. The DVD will include examples of best environmentally friendly practice which have been developed at festivals. If you are interested in getting a copy of this (which will be free subject to P&P) please email agreenerfestival@aol.com with the word 'DVD' in the subject box ands details of your position and your institution, with a contact email address and with a postal address. The DVD will include 'A Journey Through The Glastonbury Greenfields' (from PVP Multimedia), 'The Impact of Festivals' (from BBC Countryfile) and a number of short films from green.tv.
News Archive:
Music Fans Want Green Events!
A Greener Festival has commissioned research involving 1407 festival goers across Europe to find out what they know and what they think about green issues surrounding music. Read More...
Green Festivals To Get Insurance Discounts
International insurance brokers Robertson Taylor have teamed up with A Greener Festival to offer greener festivals and events substantial savings on insurance premiums. Read more...
The Competition is now CLOSED
A Greener Festival ran a competition to find the greatest Green Ideas from the public for greening events. We had a wealth of suggestions and gave away some great prizes - Read More...
Who Are We?
A Greener Festival Ltd. is a not-for-profit company committed to help music and arts events and festivals around the world adopt environmentally efficient practices through providing information, by providing education resources and by swapping ideas. The basic purpose of the site is to provide information about how environmentally efficient methods are currently employed at music and arts festivals and to provide a forum for discussion about how the impact of festivals on the environment can be limited at future events. We hope to do this by by providing information on the best ideas for greener festivals from around the world.
This site is split into sections looking at discrete areas where festivals organisers and festival goers can make a difference. We know that not every festival can adopt every idea - the original research for this site showed that some festivals have no environmental policies at all. But even tackling just one area - whether it’s having a coherent waste recycling plan or having policies to promote the use of public transport or to minimise land damage - will help. And that is also why the Message Board is vital - we need YOUR input to spread the word - if you've had a good idea or seen a good idea please do let us know and we can post these on our Message Board. There are also links to other websites which we hope are useful. Again if you send us useful links we can add these in. So please do interact so we can promote greener festivals everywhere.
Thank you,
Ben, Claire & Luke
The Greener Festival team.
Our Ethical Policy
We try to maintain an ethical stance and there are certain industries (along with companies and organisations servicing those industries) we cannot deal with. We will not deal with those involved the production, sale or distribution of arms and ammunition. We will not deal with those who are involved in the exploitation of non-sustainable resources in forestry and/or in the agricultural, mining and fuel industries. We will not deal with those who exploit the individual and/or who do not respect those basic human rights enshrined in the European Convention for Human Rights. We support Fair Trade and an environmentally efficient approach. Let's all try and Make Poverty History.
Is a festival a liability to the environment? - (PDF Download); an interesting document by Henrik Bondo Nielson of Roskilde Festival, Denmark.
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