With bans of single-use plastics such as straws and bags becoming more common around the world, it only makes sense that this would extend into the festival and event sphere. With approximately 250,000 tents abandoned at UK festivals every year, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) is looking to take action with a ban on disposable tents.
Imploring attendees to bring their tents and camping gear home with them, as well as pressuring major retailers to refrain from marketing tents as single-use or disposable, the AIF aims to “highlight abandoned tents as part of the single-use plastics problem.”
Paul Reed, the CEO of AIF, notes that forcing festival attendees to buy fancier or higher quality equipment is not the goal:
“The message here is not to buy a more expensive tent—with a single tent carrying the same amount of plastic as more than 8,700 plastic straws, festival audiences can take positive action and reduce their carbon footprint simply by taking their tent home and reusing it, ensuring that it doesn’t become a single-use item this summer.”
With debates on the sustainability of large-scale festivals in pristine locations (Ultra, Electric Forest) already ongoing, this is yet another step in the direction of environmentalism from the global festival community.
H/T: DJ Mag
Photo credit: INS
Source: dancingastronaut.com
