With Australia’s festival calendar growing more crowded each year, it’s high time to think green. Victoria’s Summer of Sustainability music festival project is helping make our party habits more eco-friendly.
The S.O.S. team works with four of Victoria’s foremost events – Falls Festival, Big Day Out, Golden Plains and Laneway Festival – to help nut out some sustainability solutions. From the ‘Kennys’ to the DJs, everyone can help make festivals greener. ITM spoke to Liz Franzmann, Events Program Manager for Sustainability Victoria, and Liam O’Keefe from Creative Environment Enterprises about the initiative.
Obviously climate change is a serious talking point at the moment. Do you think in the past the environmental consequences of staging festivals went somewhat unchecked?
Liz: I don’t think we’ve experienced a time where festivals, particularly outdoor music festivals, have been so popular. All the festivals involved in Summer of Sustainability have sold out. At the same time they’ve begun to realise their responsibility for the environment and the communities they interact with. Sustainability Victoria has been working with the Victorian festival and events sector on waste for over 10 years so it’s not that they’re unchecked, it’s just that you haven’t been hearing about it (let’s face it, talking about rubbish bins is hardly the sexiest media topic in the world!). What we began to realise is that festivals are developing creative, local solutions to addressing their sustainability challenges. The Summer of Sustainability project is about accelerating this and then publicly sharing some of the best ideas we discover along the way.
Summer of Sustainability (SOS) aims to raise awareness about the impact of music festivals on the environment – but you’re looking to educate festival staff more so than the punters. Why does the onus mostly lie with those behind the scenes?
Liz: It doesn’t. For a festival to really succeed in reducing its impact, everyone involved needs to play a part. That includes the festival goers. For example, festival organisers might set up the best waste management system in the world but if the punters don’t understand it and don’t use it then it won’t work well. But there is real power in working with all the core staff that deliver these events (festival owners, cleaners, catering contractors, stage technicians, site managers, toilet companies) because they deliver events every day. And they can influence the whole industry to work out better choices.
What kind of measures are achievable to make the running of festivals more eco-friendly?
Liz: There are many things an event organiser can do. We had a lot of ideas but we wanted to hear what event staff thought. So we went to these festivals and simply asked, “What do you need to do things better?” Their responses have been great and we’ll be incorporating them into the festival organiser resources we’re currently developing. We aim to make this information really practical and we’re hoping to publicly launch them around June 2008.
How important might new technology be in making festivals greener? Or is it more a matter of utilising simple, organic measures?
Liam: In most cases we already have the technology; it’s a matter of adapting what’s already there to the festival context. More efficient and accurately sized generators can be used. Alternative fuels (such as appropriate bio-fuels) and renewable energy applications can be set up. Efficient LED lighting can be used on stages and around festival sites. Also, alternatives to potable (drinking) water and water efficient technologies are available.
Is it difficult to gauge just how ‘green’ some ostensibly environmentally-friendly festivals are?
Liam: It can be tricky. Events can differ so much. And, although festivals can be measured and monitored, there are issues around what constitutes an event. For instance, are organisers responsible for how people travel to their event? Or the truck drivers who deliver equipment? We hope the SOS project will identify the core areas a festival organiser can assess their event and then start making improvements.
Tell us a bit about how the Summer of Sustainability initiative worked at Falls Festival and Big Day Out, and how you hope it will work at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival?
Liz: The Falls is a leading event, particularly on waste management. They’re helping us develop the general resources for festival organisers. The Big Day Out was really interested in looking at how they could ask their major suppliers for their environmental credentials. For an event this size, a lot depends on who you work with. So we helped them develop green tendering clauses. St Jerome’s was keen to really nail their waste strategy this year, but also looking at how they can improve on energy and water consumption.
Apart from the obvious, how can a festival punter be more eco-aware?
Liz: Really simple choices can make a difference. For example, one of the most difficult areas of rubbish for the Falls is the waste people bring to the event, the chip packets, the ‘traveller’ drinks for the trip down. A lot of it can’t be recycled so they’ve now started asking people to take it away with them or not to bring it at all.
We’re starting to realise there’s a huge environmental cost to bottled water – most of these festivals provide free drinking water – so just take an empty re-usable bottle and fill up when you’re there. If you’re buying a drink in a plastic cup at the bar, do you need a new one each time? Can you re-use it a couple of times?
Golden Plains has realised cigarette butts are a real problem for them – they take ages to clean up after the event and are a fire hazard. So, are you making sure you’re butts end up in the bin? It just requires a bit of thought. If you’re not sure, ask the festival staff – you might just get them thinking about how to do things better.
For photos and updates on the Summer of Sustainability project click HERE.
