Belper Goes Green Festival Targets Single Use Plastic

Organisers of the 2018 Belper Goes Green Eco festival are leading the way to tackle single use plastic.

The festival, organised by Transition Belper, has adopted a series of initiatives to reduce waste, recycle more and cut down on the amount of plastic being used.

Transition Belper is partnering with Wastecycle who will be recycling as much of the waste created over the weekend as possible. As the festival aims for zero landfill, any remaining materials that they cannot deal with shall be disposed via waste-to-energy.

Wastecycle said: “We process in excess of 500,000 tonnes of material through our recycling facilities each year, more than 95% of which is recycled and recovered.”

Site manager Mark Creed said: “One of the biggest issues facing any festival is the tremendous amount of rubbish that is created. As an environmentally conscious event we are striving to reduce plastic use, recycle as much as we can and cut down on waste.”

After the success of last year, the organisers hope to reduce the mountain of single use plastic glasses thrown in the bin with a reusable souvenir glass made from recycled plastic. The glasses – pint and half pint – will be on sale for £1 each and each purchase directly funds the free festival.

50% of all plastic is only used once and it can take 500 to a 1000 years for some plastic to degrade. The damage done by the massive amount of plastic created each year has significantly harmed the ocean, marine wildlife and it also poses a serious threat to human health through absorption.

Being a Rugby ground, glass is not allowed outside the Rugby Clubhouse so licence conditions dictate the use of plastic.

For the promotion of the event all the leaflets and programmes were printed on 100% recycled paper. The company chosen by Transition ‘A Local Printer’ embraces eco friendly printing, using vegetable oil based inks and it has a clear environmental statement.

The PA systems used on both stages will be fully powered by renewable energy. Tom Dixon from V3 Power will be aiming to run our two stages with renewable energy as an example of what can be achieved with solar and bike generators.

Caterers have also been informed that the use of polystyrene or other non-compostable or non-recyclable material will not be permitted.

The free event, which aims to highlight environmental issues through art, music, food, activities and talks, is now in its sixth year. It is a family friendly weekend that caters for all ages and runs from June 1 to the June 3 at the Belper Rugby Club.

Transition Belper can only do this because Transition Belper volunteers, Rugby Club volunteers, entertainers and workshop and activity leaders giving up their time freely. If you want to get involved this year then email them at info@transitionbelper.org.

For further information see the website, Facebook page and Twitter