How to go-green at this year’s festivals

• Jun. 3 by Bianca Eglinton (0)

Summer is approaching and that means the time to don our wellies and hit the music festivals is almost upon us.

Following a few stories on the music industry’s need to cut-down carbon emissions as a result of these festivals we thought we’d offer our readers some tips on how to help out and make your own festival trips more eco-friendly.

The Green Tent Company offers tents which can be easily recycled. Most tents are made from lots of different materials and it is therefore not economically viable to split them up and recycle them. The Green Tent Company make sure that all their tents are made in such a way that they can be easily recycled when they can no longer be used. The Green Tent Company is available for festivals across the country, including V Festival, Weston Park, West Midlands.

Getting there can be greener too with the Big Green Coach. Festival goers’ travel emissions account for a massive 45% of a music event’s carbon footprint, meaning that sharing a ride or getting on the Big Green Coach will make a huge difference.

The Big Green Coach also promises that for every full coach a donation will be made to Trees for Cities and a new tree will be built, helping to counter-act the pollution of larger cities and bringing a taste of the countryside into some urban settings.

For all your festival attire try Ascension and their range of fairtrade, organic and recycled clothing and accessories. They can provide it all from dresses and raincoats to summer hats and funky scarves. Ascension help to improve the lives of workers in poorer countries by sourcing fairtrade products but they also make use of designers and craftspeople in the UK so as to avoid shipping and flying products from further afield every time. They avoid using chemically treated materials which are harmful to the environment and make use of natural and sustainable alternative fibres that don’t require chemicals, such as silk, linen, hemp, nettle and even bamboo.

There are many things that festival-goers can do to help the music industry decrease its carbon footprint and if you don’t want to take any of the options mentioned here, simply clearing up your rubbish and taking your tent with you instead of leaving it in the field can make a big difference this summer.