Make environmental sustainability a priority in your business and put in place a public environmental policy and action plan with a net zero target. Nominate someone on your team who is responsible for greening your activity. Join Festival Vision:2025 and become part of a community with shared targets - read The Show Must Go On report about what we can do as an industry.
TAKE ACTION
IMPACTS
Measure your environmental impacts and put in place targets for reducing them. You can use the simple Creative Green Tool carbon calculator for outdoor events:www.ig-tools.com
TAKE ACTION
INDUSTRY ACTION
Join industry initiatives on tackling campsite waste, like theCampsite Roundtable and the AIF Take Your Tent Home Campaign. Share your experiences with others at industry events like ADE Green at Amsterdam Dance Event (every October), and the Green Events & Innovations Conference in London every March.
TAKE ACTION
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Put in place an energy management strategy with a focus on energy efficiency, better power specification, and introducing renewable energy where feasible.Powerful Thinking offers a free energy management guide, factsheets and plenty of case studies. If you're sourcing biofuels, check out thisfactsheet for some things to look out for. And if you want to know more about how we can reduce our contribution to air pollution, see this factsheet.
TAKE ACTION
SPONSORS AND SUPPLIERS
Speak to your partners, sponsors, and suppliers about how they can support your targets and aims, and put in place environmental conditions in contracts, with partners, and your procurement policy.
Encourage audiences to take public transport. Download the ecolibrium Travel Guide link: Sustainable Travel Guide for Festivals and Events. Ensure information on how to get to the festival by coach, train, bicycle, or car-sharing is readily available, and put in place incentives where possible. Give audiences (and suppliers, crew, and artists) the option to balance their travel miles by sharing theEcolibriumTravel Carbon Calculator app designed to help everyone in the industry from artists to managers, event professionals and freelancers make a significant difference to the carbon footprint of their work by reducing the carbon emissions from travel and balancing unavoidable emissions though their climate solutions programmes (Energy Revolution - Renewable energy projects AND/OR Trees+- tree planting, rainforest protection & ecosystem regeneration)
TAKE ACTION
FOOD AND DRINK
Put the environment on the menu. Introduce vegetarian and vegan options on your menu (or go 100% meat- and fish-free). Focus on local, seasonal and organic produce. Read about Shambala's experience of going meat- and fish-free. Work with initiatives like Eighth Plate to make sure surplus food goes to where it's needed instead of landfill.
TAKE ACTION
ARTISTS
Speak to visiting artists about the climate and ecological emergency, what you’re doing, and how they can take action. See artist section.
TAKE ACTION
FANS
Speak to fans about the climate and ecological emergency and support environmental campaigns and events.
TAKE ACTION
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Switch to 100% renewable electricity for your office, and encourage your staff, artists, and partners to do the same. Switchit can tell you how green your current provider is and suggest alternatives.
Divest your pension fund from fossil fuels. Look to switch to an ethical pension fund with a focus on green investment, and/or lobby your pension provider to create a more climate-proof pension plan.
TAKE ACTION
BANKING
Ask your bank about their ethical lending and investment policy and pressure them to improve it. If you can, switch your business banking to an ethical bank that doesn’t invest in carbon intensive fossil fuels. Switchit can tell you how green your current bank is and suggest alternatives.
TAKE ACTION
GOVERNMENT
Write to government representatives at DCMS, BEIS, and your local MPs about the actions you’re taking and your support for more ambitious climate policy.
We believe that single use plastics in venues and at festivals is no longer justifiable. Examples around the world show that banning single use plastics is achievable with commitment, innovation and sharing of good practice to rapidly scale and accelerate new sustainable business opportunities.
Demonstrating best practice in powering small to medium scale outside events, the Bandstand project uses a compact, portable solar battery powered system to power outside live music events across the UK in 2021 and creates a forum to educate and engage local audiences and empower and support local venues.
