Sustainable Living - Eco-Friendly Festival Experience

Many festival organisers have recognised that they need to make their events more sustainable. One way they’ve done this is to introduce recycling facilities. Glastonbury’s reputation as an eco-friendly festival is underpinned by its onsite recycling facilities. There are thousands of recycling bins and areas where festival-goers can leave items.

There are loads of sustainable ways to travel to your favourite festival. Depending on where you’re travelling from, you can get the train or a cheap as chips coach. The fewer cars on the road, the better it is for the environment.

But we get it, sometimes you just want to drive. You can arrive when you want and leave when you want. Not to mention that if you’re feeling delicate, you won’t have to share a  journey with strangers. 

If you’re going to drive, car share if you can. You can share the cost and the driving with your buddies, and you get to be a real eco-friendly festival-goer.

Single-use equals lots of waste. To have a real eco-friendly festival experience, ditch single-use items wherever you can.

Many festivals have stations where you can fill up your water bottle for free. This prevents unnecessary plastic waste and it saves you money.

Coffee is a must if you want to keep your energy levels up. It also helps you recover from the night before. Take your own reusable cup so you don’t end up going through tonnes of hard to recycle coffee cups. 

Another must for any real eco-friendly festival goer is a reusable cup for your pint. Opt for a stainless steel cup. They’re perfect for anything from a camping trip to watching your favourite band. They’ll last for years and keep your pint extra cold, so they’re a great investment.

You don’t see plastic straws that often now, for good reason. They’re a single-use, commonly littered item that pollutes our planet. If you want to sip your drink through a straw, invest in a paper, metal, or bamboo one. No mess, no fuss.

Okay, it’s nice to wrap your sarnies and keep them fresh. But wasteful clingfilm isn’t part of an eco-friendly festival experience. Look into eco-friendly reusable food wraps instead. They keep your food fresh, they look great, and they don’t create waste.

It used to be that baby wipes were the go to self-care solution at a festival. In the absence of shower facilities, they were a great fallback option to keep you feeling fresh. However, now we know more about the impact they have on the environment. They clog up sewers, get into our waterways, and wash up on beaches.

If you can’t give up wipes, at least look for biodegradable and compostable ones. Cotton pads and microfiber cloths are a great alternatives. They only need a hint of water to work and they remove grime, makeup, and glitter!

If you’re not wearing glitter somewhere, are you even at a festival? But listen up. Every eco-friendly festival-goer knows that most glitter is not biodegradable. Therefore, if you want to wear glitter, opt for a biodegradable brand. At Glastonbury, vendors are only allowed to sell and use biodegradable glitter. If in doubt, check first.  

Read the headlines from recent festivals. Shake your head at how many people left tents, chairs, sleeping bags, and more behind. Don’t be one of them.

When you go to a festival, your goal should be to leave no trace. Use the recycling bins or take your rubbish with you. Don’t ditch your cheap tent. If it’s in good condition, think about donating it to charity. The homeless charity Raise the Roof recovered hundreds of tents and sleeping bags from Leeds festival.

There you have it, our top tips for an eco-friendly festival experience. With a few tweaks here and there, you can do more for the environment at your next festival. For more interesting articles on sustainability, check out the rest of our blog.