Analysis Shows Green Gains at AIF Member Festivals
- A Greener Festival’s third annual research analysis reveals a step improvement in green initiatives from AIF Members
London, 11th May 2011:- Hot on the heels of 7 AIF members winning at the Greener Festival Awards 2010, their annual analysis of environmentally friendly practices shows AIF members coming out top yet again.As the Australian summer season comes to a close and as the UK welcomes its glorious summer of festivals, A Greener Festival’s analysis of its 2010 winners all over the world have been compared to those aggregated from the Awards Schemes in 2008 and 2009.Noted greener improvements and innovations from AIF Members in 2010 included:
- Shambala Festival ran on 100% renewable energy and improved recycling rates, 7% up on the previous year, with the help of Network Recycling.
- Grassroots Eco Music Festival saw no bottled water on site. They provided drinking water taps and re-usable water bottles, in conjunction with Jersey Water, available for £1 with 100% of proceeds for which going to WaterAid. The promoters also organise a beach clean in the local area leaving the local environment better than they found it.
- Bestival had more compost toilets on their event than any other event in the UK.
AIF’s Shambala Festival, Bestival, Camp Bestival, Big Sessions, Summer Sundae Weekender, Grassroots Eco Music Festival and Standon Calling all won Greener Festival Awards and were researched for the analysis. Each festival must submit a detailed application covering 53 different environmental questions on topics ranging from energy conservation to recycling to environmental protection to audience travel, and must also submit to an independent environmental audit by A Greener Festival.The results show that 100% of the participating festivals now promote public transport in an attempt to reduce audience greenhouse gas emissions, which are the largest contributor to most festival’s carbon footprint. When it came to the delicate issue of human waste, 47% now had compost toilets on site (up from 36% in 2009), with many saying these were preferred by customers. 84% of festivals have now adopted the use of at least some renewable energies on-site (up from 71% in 2009) which include solar power, wind power, hydro-electric power and bio-diesel from sustainable sources. With regard to recycling, 100% of the entrants had some form of recycling in place and all now had a dedicated environmental coordinator (up from 91% in 2009), including 93% having a written environmental policy.The AIF members join results from festivals around the world which includes the likes of The Isle of Wight Festival, The Glastonbury Festival, The Sunrise Celebration, Croissant Neuf Summer Party, T-in-the-Park, Waveform in the UK and well as Peats Ridge and the Falls Festival in Australia, Norway’s Oya Festival, Spain’s SOS 4.8, Portugal’s Boom Festival, Switzerland’s OpenAir St Gallen and America’s Bonnaroo and Lightning in a Bottle.Claire O’Neill, AIF’s General Manager, said: "We are very happy to see the level of commitment of the festivals participating in the Greener Festival Awards. Both large and small festivals are embracing best practice across the industry. Although time can be scarce when organising a festival, it would be great to see a greater number of events engaging in a carbon and equivalent emissions analysis of their events so that they have a benchmark for progress, not only for themselves but the industry as a whole. Monitoring the festivals power, waste and water usage is a perfect place to start."With data gathered throughout the year and further research and analysis gathered in 2011 by A Greener Festival assessor, Nicolas Pianet, the analysis was based on entries from 47 festivals who all won the 2010 Greener Festival Award. Below is a breakdown of the findings:
| What is the percentage of festivals that have an environmental policy? | 93% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that undertook an environmental impact assessment? | 64% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that have a dedicated environmental co-ordinator? | 100% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that implement or partially implement a “turn off and save energy” policy at their offices? | 90% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that totally or partially measure the CO2 emitted by public, artists and production transport? | 77% |
| What is the percentage of events that publicise and promote public transport? | 100% |
| What is the percentage of greenfield events that allocate tickets to coach/rail schemes? | 58% |
| What is the percentage of greenfield events that publicise and promote lift sharing? | 88% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that have a policy aiming to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions? | 90% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that completed a carbon footprint or greenhouse gas emissions analysis? (only those who scored 100% of the mark have been counted) | 39% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that partially use 100% renewable energy sources? | 84% |
| What is the percentage of events asking caterers to use organic and free range products? | 55% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that partially recycle plastics, metals, paper and glass? | 100% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that ban non-recyclable disposables? | 75% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that have compost toilets? | 47% |
| What is the percentage of festivals selling bottled water that is ethically sourced? | 69% |
| What is the percentage of festivals that undertook a comprehensive environmental risk assessment? (only those who scored the maximum mark were counted) | 37% |
| What is the percentage of festivals taking measures to minimise noise pollution? | 91% |