Ep 72: Groove with integrity: ethics at festivals

Whether you are a seasoned festival goer or a newbie, this podcast episode offers some practical tips on attending festivals with ease and ethics. Don't worry though, you can be ethical and still have fun. #Ethical #LeaveNoTrace #SmallFootprint #EthicalFestival

Episode Transcript

(00:10):
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet Earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to

(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA
please visit ANSA.co.ukLet's get into the podcast
episode. So welcome to thisepisode of the Challenge to

(00:54):
Change podcast. So we arestill in the flow of the
festival season. So beforepeople pack up their tent for
another year rather thanleaving it behind or throwing
it away, let's talk aboutenjoying festivals as
ethically as possible. Sowhether it's plans for this

(01:17):
year or planning ahead fornext year. According to an
article by the Global Citizen,there are some festivals that
are deemed to be more ethicalthan others. So here's a list
that they have provided.Glastonbury perhaps
unsurprisingly is there at thetop, Burning Man, Global

(01:40):
Citizen Festival, Terraformer,Green Man Festival, Splendour
in the Grass, Pahoda Festivaland finally, and no doubt I'm
going to struggle to pronouncethis one, It's Oye Festivalen,
as you will no doubt haveguessed. Not all of those
festivals take place in theUK, although some them do. And

(02:01):
what you may want to considerbefore planning a festival is
perhaps going for one that ismuch closer to you, because of
course if you are travellingoverseas then there is a
strong likelihood that youwould need to board a plane to
do this, although of coursethere are other ways to travel
between countries. But if youare planning to travel by

(02:24):
plane, there is of course acarbon footprint associated
with that. So you might wantto consider carbon offsetting
if you are going to travel inthat way, or you might want to
look at alternative modes oftransport. So perhaps a boat,
boat combined with train orsomething like that. Or of

(02:45):
course, as I say, consideringa festival that is closer to
home. So that's a list offestivals that the global
citizen have deemed to be moreethical than others or have an
ethical edge but of coursethat's one list. There will be
many other lists availableonline and it's always
worthwhile doing your ownresearch as well. So when

(03:08):
looking at a festival, thereare some things that you might
want to consider if you'rebringing in ethical criteria
or sort of green eco-friendlycriteria when making your
choice. So does the festivalreuse cups? So rather than if
you buy a drink and youreceive a cup, Are you able to

(03:30):
continue to use that cup forthe duration of the festival
and in fact beyond? Can youtake it with you when you go?
Does the festival have recyclebins? So that's another thing
that you might want toconsider. Some festivals will
also have a charity partner orpartners. So that's something
else that you might want toconsider when choosing your

(03:54):
festival. Another thing toconsider is does the festival
make use of renewable energy?Do they have composting in
place for the food that isconsumed at the festival? Do
they offer and promote carshare schemes? Is there green

(04:14):
buses to and from the site?What is the policy that they
have for litter picking? Doesit take place throughout the
whole of the festival or moretowards the end? So what do
they do with regards toremoving that litter as the
festival proceeds? And alsowhat do they do in terms of

(04:34):
linking rail travel Withactually getting to the
festival site. So those are afew kind of basic things
really to maybe consider whenlooking a festival. So when
researching this podcast, Ispotted an interesting article
from Let's Recycle. I can saythat correctly. Let's Recycle.

(04:58):
And the article that they puttogether indicated that the
Retailer Decathlon hadannounced its No Tent Left
Behind campaign meaning thatcustomers are able to return
their tents after use. Sobasically you purchase a tent

(05:18):
from that particular shop andthen after the festival you
can return back to the shop toreceive a voucher to spend on
another item in store. It maywell be The other
organisations that sellsimilar products also offer
something similar to this soit's worthwhile doing your
research. I did think thatthat was quite a good idea

(05:40):
however I think it's worthnoting that really the best
thing to do when going to afestival is just simply to
take your tent home with youClean it, dry it, then store
it away ready for next yearand keep doing that for the
duration of time that youdecide to go to festivals or

(06:01):
of course camping in general.And of course continue to look
after your tent but if you doreach a point where you decide
that camping and festivals isnot for you and you want to
pass on your tent thenconsider giving it away on a
group where you can offerthings for free so you can get
that on apps and you can getit on social media as well.

(06:22):
Alternatively, if your tent isin excellent condition and you
think you may be able to sellit, then that is also another
option. Basically, what I'msaying is here that if camping
and festivals is no longer foryou, don't just pop your tent
into the bin if it's still inusable condition. Now this is
a personal note based on myexperience of going to music

(06:46):
festivals. So this issomething that I did in the
90s and I've been to festivalsalso in recent years. But it's
only been in recent years thatI have clocked that people
tend to leave their tentsbehind. Now of course, not
everybody does that. Manypeople do take their tents
home with them, but it seemsto be something that has kind

(07:07):
of come into play more inrecent years and I'm not quite
sure why that is maybe it'sbecause tents were more
expensive in the past I don'treally know the reasons but if
you do feel like taking yourtent home with you after the
festival may be something thatyou're not going to want to do

(07:30):
for whatever reason it maywell be worth looking into
another option. So one ofthese could be to select the
kind of premium camping optionthat is available at a lot
festivals. Now there is ofcourse quite a hefty price tag
associated with that but if itis something that you're able

(07:52):
to do then of course the tentsor Sleeping arrangements in
those cases, because it's notalways a tent, it can be
another type of like a wigwamor something like that, they
of course are provided for youso there is no need to arrive
with a tent and there's noneed to leave with one,
they're already there for you.So that could be an option but

(08:14):
as I say it does tend to bequite an expensive way of
enjoying a festival. Butanother option might be this.
What about a cardboard tent?Yes, you did hear me
correctly, a cardboard tent.Sounds a little bit strange,
but Sustainability Beat wrotean article on a short life

(08:39):
recyclable cardboard tent. Soit may be worthwhile I
don't know what the price tagis associated with them but of
course in this case you wouldjust be using it, maybe once
and then it can be easilyrecycled. So sticking with

(09:01):
tents for the time being,according to Circular Online,
81% of British festival goerssaid that they took their tent
home with themHowever, it's worth noting

(09:39):
that this is just what peoplehave said rather than a survey
of people's actual behaviourat a festival. So, whilst
theoretically that sounds likea fairly good statistic, it
doesn't necessarily indicatewhat people's real behaviour
actually is. In the samesurvey by Circlear Online,

(10:01):
people also said that they diddrop disposable cups on the
floor and that only a smallnumber of people actually made
full use of the reusable cupoption where you purchase a
cup with a drink in and thenyou keep reusing that cup
whilst you're at the festivaland you, you know, you fill it

(10:23):
up with whatever drink you'rebuying. So before we dive in
to an ethical festivalsurvival list, I just want to
mention smoking. So if yousmoke, it goes without saying
that don't drop yourcigarettes on the floor and
that actually applies to anykind of cigarette whether it's

(10:43):
an ordinary kind of standardcigarette if you like or an
e-cig and that actuallyapplies anywhere festivals or
really any part of life. Ifyou drop it on the floor it is
an item of litter and not alllitter if you like is created
equally. If you drop yoursandwich at a festival and it
gets mashed up in the festivalmud then give or take no harm

(11:08):
no foul although it does lookpretty horrible. However if
you drop your cigarette ore-cigarette on the floor and
that gets mashed up in the mudthere is an environmental
impact there. All cigarettescontain plastic and they do
contain other toxins and theseare not good for wildlife and
they're not good for theplanet in general and if you

(11:30):
drop a cigarette at a festivalit can end up in the ocean and
yes that is still the caseeven if you are far far away
from the sea because all wateris interconnected. So if you
drop it at a festivalsomewhere in the middle of the
UK, yes it can still end inthe ocean. doesn't make a

(11:50):
difference whether you are bythe sea or not. Also it can
end up in rivers, lakes andstreams along the way to the
ocean or just simply Hangaround there for a little bit.
So whichever way we look atit, dropping litter is never a
good thing. So if you do smokea cigarette, then put it out
and pop it in the bin. And ofcourse, with e-cigarettes, as

(12:13):
we know, you need to returnthem to the retailer after
use. So after that slightlymore negative interlude there,
let's move into the FestivalSurvival Kit. For people who
want to enjoy the thrills of afestival with less planetary
spills. First point to note isbuy a tent and keep using it

(12:37):
every year. So obviously wehave mentioned that there are
other options. You may want tolook into a cardboard tent if
that's something that seemsappealing to you or if you can
afford it you may want toconsider the more premium
camping option at a festivalif that's an option for you.
However if it isn't thensimply buy a tent and just

(12:59):
keep on using it and I guessreally I can't stress that
enough. Another point that isworth noting that if there's
just one of you that's goingto camp in the tent it's
worthwhile still buying atwo-man tent because generally
speaking you do need to sizeup If you're going to a
festival generally speakingmost people don't tend to

(13:22):
travel light because if you goto a festival you usually need
quite a lot of stuff so it'salways worthwhile sizing up.
So if there's two of you, buya three man tent, if there's
three of you, buy a four mantent and so on. Obviously you
can try and travel lighter Butgenerally speaking, as I say,

(13:43):
tents do seem to come upsmall, so to speak, so it's
worthwhile sizing up. Youmight also want to consider a
pre-loved tent. As we know,some people who do go camping
or they go to a festival, theymay only do it once or maybe a
few times and then they nolonger want that tent. So

(14:04):
check out social media, lookfor pre-loved options on
there, maybe apps as well.It's definitely worthwhile
looking into. Like many thingsin life, pre-love doesn't
necessarily mean you're goingto get something horrible or
unpleasant to use. It may wellbe that the tent in question

(14:24):
has only been used once ortwice, so it's perfectly fine.
As noted you will saveyourself some money by opting
for this. Look after yourtent. Use the tent pegs
provided and make sure thatyou have spares. Always expect
there to be wind or rain orboth rather if you are going

(14:46):
to a festival here in the UK.Use the guide ropes provided
with the tent and secure themIf you don't you may well find
that you wake up in themorning or perhaps early
afternoon depending on theevening you've had in a puddle
and no one wants to do that soit's definitely worthwhile

(15:07):
using the guide ropes andmaking sure that you have
spare tent pegs. Sticking withtents again Make sure that you
look after it, so it'sworthwhile having a tent
repair kit with you as welland just basically looking
after it, just keeping it asgood as you possibly can

(15:30):
really. Another importantthing is to take some toilet
roll with you with yourbelongings when you pack for a
festival. Of course, toiletroll is provided but it's
surprising how quickly thistends to run out and no one
wants to be caught out withoutit so make sure you take
toilet roll with you. Don'tput wet wipes or personal care

(15:52):
products in the loo and thatapplies actually to any loo.
So if you do do that at afestival then you could well
be the cause of a floodedtoilet and it's not fun to
walk through a flooded toiletespecially in flip-flops so
maybe avoid flip-flops at afestival but definitely don't

(16:12):
put personal care items or wetwipes into the loo. If you
have these items use Take anairbed with you. You may want
to travel light and sleepingon top of the grass knowing
that you've got some tentcanvas between you and the
grass may seem like a reallygreat idea but it can get cold

(16:36):
in the evening and perhapsmore importantly Canvas
combined with grass is notreally very comfortable so
definitely take an airbed andI've probably stressed this
quite a lot already but keepusing that airbed every year
for the festivals and thecamping that you take part in.
It's also worthwhile taking apuncture repair kit and you

(16:59):
will thank me later for thisbecause it is quite easy
sometimes to damage yourairbed and then It's no longer
going to operate as an airbedso a puncture repair kit is a
really useful thing to havewith you. Another important
thing to take with you is ajumper or a hoodie or maybe
both because if you'refestivaling in the UK it's

(17:22):
going to get cold at somepoint. It's pretty much
inevitable especially lateinto the evening so you will
need these with you. Sosticking with the British
weather, definitely take areusable waterproof. You will
absolutely need it and I wouldsuggest avoid using the
single-use plastic ones, notonly because they are

(17:43):
single-use plastic, butbecause they actually rip very
easily. So if you have awaterproof with holes in, it's
not waterproof anymore, soit's definitely worthwhile
using a sturdy waterproof. Ifyou're someone who likes to
glitter yourself for festivalsthen do opt for biodegradable
glitter or make it much easieron yourself and just avoid it

(18:06):
entirely because I can tellyou from experience doesn't
look pretty for very long andalso there is some debate
online that biodegradableglitter might not be as
biodegradable as we would hopeit to be so If you can't do a
festival withoutFestivalSparkle, then do your

(18:26):
research first and try andfind out with some confidence
that biodegradable glitter isdefinitely biodegradable. This
is actually far more importantthan glitter. Make sure that
you take wellies with you. Itreally is the only footwear
that can handle mud. It'ssurprising how many people you

(18:46):
see trying to traverse the mudin a flip flop. Yes, I do mean
flip flop because the otherflip flop has already got lost
inside the mud. So wellies arean absolute necessity. This
might not apply if you'regoing to a festival outside of
the UK. Take a reusable waterbottle with you as well.

(19:09):
Festivals in general doprovide areas for you to
refill your water bottle. It'sa really useful thing to have.
It means that you will beavoiding single use plastic.
But if you do forget to take areusable water bottle with
you, then If you're going tobuy a single use If you have a

(19:29):
plastic water bottle thenconsider refilling that for
the duration of the festivaland then recycling at the end.
Consider lift sharing or usinggreen buses to travel in and
out of the festival. There'salways going to be a carbon
footprint associated withattending a festival but we
can mitigate this by makingmore ethical choices when it

(19:52):
comes to our travel options.And finally, leave no trace.
Make sure you bin your litter,recycle what you can, take
your belongings home and keepreusing them. We've mentioned
this before and we have talkedabout this of course on the
Challenge to Change podcastpreviously, but really I can't

(20:15):
stress it enough. It's soimportant to leave no trace
when attending a festival orreally in life in general. The
more we reuse things in life,the better off the planet will
be. So I think that coverseverything for this episode of
the Challenge to Changepodcast. I hope you have found
some of the information thatI've shared interesting and

(20:38):
useful and if it's too latefor your festival plans this
year then why not make surethat you use the information
shared in this podcast forfestival season in 2025. 2025.
Thanks for listening and byefor now.