Trafigura fined E1 million for toxic waste

Remember Trafigura, the oil company that last year pursuaded the  Mr Justice Maddison to grant a ’super-injunction’ to gag the Guardian (and “persons unknown”) over allagetions that it had transported toxic waste to West Africa on board the Probo Koala, dumping poisonous caustic soda and petroleum residues there . That’s the same Trafigura that then reached a settlement with 31,000 people in Ivory Coast who claimed they were made ill by toxic waste dumped around the capital, Abidjan – and although no link between the waste and the harm was ever admitted by Trafigura, nearly $50 million was paid out. Well, now a judge at the Amsterdam District Court has fined the very same Transfigura E1 million on a charge of illegally ferrying a cargo of toxic waste from Amsterdam to The Ivory Coast.  Trafigura employee Naeem Ahmed, who was involved in the ship’s operation in Amsterdam, was fined 25,000 euros and the captain of the Probo Koala, 46-year-old Sergiy Chertov, was sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term.You can read more at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10735255

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/20/trafigura-anatomy-super-injunction

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/09/2009920132129567154.html

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GreenerRoo!

Contributing Writer : Rashon A. Massey [TheRFW.com/blog/15secFAME]

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (Manchester, TN) just wrapped up the 9^th year anniversary, and the event still stands as an American triumph of music festivals.  Bonnaroo is the only festival where the average person will lose ten pounds from sweat, dehydration and exhaustion throughout the course of the events duration.

Moreover, 2009 marked my 5^th go at the Roo Rodeo, and I must admit that seeing the beast each year with 10-hour waiting lines for vehicles, a never-changing layout, scorching sun and those handfuls of lackluster sanitation stations are something of nostalgia; on the flipside, even the rodeo clown gets old.  My complaint about Roo prior to arriving was that nothing EVER changes, which meant finding new joy and wonderment in the event would be a little harder.

This year, being an official GREEN AUDITOR on behalf of A Greener Festival I was elated to explore Bonnaroo from a new perspective.  Assuming this role would allow me to investigate and interrogate those responsible for the greening initiatives and communities that not only orchestrate but blossom from the Roo.  This was my dream, momentous experience to branch out and begin finding new friends and exploring terra incognita within an experience I was developing a bad taste towards.

Alongside Derek Singleton, a suave, fedora-sporting young man who just completed an exciting, 82-page report taking a look into music festivals and their sustainability programs, we would examine the greening efforts together.  Both veterans of the event, I was excited to meet up with a new friend and discuss the potential and environmental impact a festival of this magnitude could produce.  The duty and jobs to be performed by Derek and I were to work with the Bonnaroo Sustainability Coordinator, Laura Sohn, and complete an overall, comprehensive walk-through while asking questions, exchanging information and documenting through photo and video the onsite highlights of the greening efforts.

The festival spans a full weekend, yet Derek and I didn’t meet with Laura until noon on the final day of the event.  With her brightly-humorous and enjoyable spirit, Laura greeted us in the backstage media compound on Sunday, and with cameras, pens and paper, Derek and I boarded her gas-powered golf cart (although they do have electric carts as well!) and began the onsite greening tour.

The first thing Laura explained were words that still resonate within me: “Although Bonnaroo takes steps every year to get better, our greening initiatives are far from perfect.  Each year is a lesson of success and failures.”  Well shared words from a woman who has assumed this part-time, year round position since 2007.

Talk numbers, shall we?  Good. In 2009, 329-tons of landfill trash were collected, and 33 percent of all waste by weight was separated into recycling and compost.  30-tons of organic waste was composted which totaled three times as much as 2008, and Laura attributes the improvement of numbers to the implementation of the onsite “Trash Talker” program.  A work exchange system, “Trash Talker” rewards those attendees that can commit three, six-hour shifts next to waste stations (while wearing blue-gloves) in aim to aid the festival patrons with the disposing of trash, recyclables and compost in the proper receptacles.  For their tireless work and oftentimes on the spot sorting, they receive a free pass to the four-day festival.  A fair deal since ticket prices were about $240 or $275 at the gate/box office.

The first stop on our greening tour brought us to the onsite compost sorting area, which surprisingly did not STINK!  Welcomed by a mound of sorted and ready to go compost, a well-developed system of trash drop off, identification, sorting and separation takes place.  In a tented pavilion, more blue-gloved volunteers extensively do the work that most people would dread.  Like a well-oiled machine, the rotational groups of fifteen riffle through bags of trash, acting as the first line of defense to protecting our landfills and festival community ecosystem.

Something worth noting, vendors are rewarded for using compostable utensils and plates, and even if you brought enough food not to purchase goodies within Centeroo (the main area where music and activities take place), you are sure to use or see the biodegradable cups for lemonade, beer and assorted other beverages.  Produced by NatureWorks LLC, the cup is made of Ingeo biopolymer, a corn-based material, which allows the product to be sorted into the compost receptacles with other wasted food.  Although more expensive than your normal grocery store party cups, Bonnaroo continues to work with the company after six years because in just over a year, “the cups pretty much break down with the other stuff in the compost pile,” according to Sohn.  Beware – according to an article at Tonic.com, “the cups are not, however, officially “biodegradable” as designated by the United States Federal Trade Commission since Ingeo does not break down in nature in a “reasonably short time,” as per the FTC Green Guide’s specifications.”  Again – as Laura stated, Bonnaroo is not perfect, but it is trying to get there.

The next stop on our green adventure lead us to Anna Borofsky , owner of Clean Vibes (the company maintaining the recycling efforts at several major music festivals) at the mega recycling station.  A colorful, glittering heap of containers, bottles, cans and other recyclable products proudly congregate together and await delivery to nearby recycling facilities where further sorting will take place.  To crunch numbers again, in 2009 nearly 81-tons of plastic was delivered to Tennessee recycling plants by Clean Vibes, “…a fraction of the 130-tons of total gathered recyclable materials including scrap metal, corrugated cardboard, boxes and vendor cooking oil,” says Borofsky.  “By the looks of this pile, we already have more recyclables than last year.” 

Laura took us past waste management, greening information stations and shared specific goals she would like to see addressed in the development and execution of Bonnaroo’s 2011 music festival.  Just like the budding projects for the desolate, rundown areas of Detroit, MI, Sohn hopes to begin community gardens around the town of Manchester to be tended and used by locals.  Not only a possible source that would provide fresh produce and fruit, but a cultivated idea which also opens the door for employment opportunities to stimulate economic revenue.   The Bonnaroo team would then be able to access and use these foods during the festival, guaranteeing organic food and residual profits for the locals.

At the end of the tour, I also was able to take my duties as a GREEN AUDITOR to a special place in Centeroo themed “Planet Roo.”  Adorned with vendors, non-profits, organizations, café, a solar-powered stage and small lounge showcasing eco-conscious films and open discussion forums, Planet Roo is an area that Bonnaroo improves every year.  Whether you’re looking for more information from an organization aiding the cleanup efforts of BP’s latest oil catastrophe, or interested in reaching out to the worldwide OxFam cause to end poverty and hunger, resources abound are available to activate, encourage and bring awareness to giving back to not only our planet, but your home-based community.

While Derek and I hope to see the planning and execution of renewable energy sources (how much electricity did Jay-Z’s massive set use?), Bonnaroo is on the right path and strives for improvement.  Many do not receive the opportunity to interact and witness the 24/7 energy and persons it takes to keep the four-day festival moving, and for that, I am incredibly grateful I received the privilege.

Brandon Merritt, Christine Clark, Megan Magill and Anna Borofsky

I left Bonnaroo 2010 with a perspective and acquired experience that trumps any prior reservations I once felt towards the music festival.  Being able to elevate the experience beyond the headlining acts and my year after year complaints reminded me that sometimes new adventures are happening all around us.  Even the Bonnaroo experience changes, but it is up to each of us to allow our view and focus to be broadened and opened to our surrounding environment. Just as Laura stated, nothing is perfect, but it is the quest to better ourselves and the land around us that matters, learning through each success and failure.

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Green quangos cut

Environment quangos will be slashed as part of the UK Government’s spending cuts drive Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has indicated, saying her department’s arm’s length bodies would be sacrificed in order to protect frontline services such as flood defences and animal health protection. The new coalition government will cut £270m from regional development agencies (RDAs) and will cut DEFRA’s budget by £162m – in particular looking to slash £600m from quangos this year as it embarks on a radical cost-cutting drive to save £6.2bn.  While the School Food Trust has emerged relatively unscathed, with bosses having to reduce budgets by just £1m (an 11% reduction), staff at the Food Standards Agency are still anxiously waiting to hear their fate as the finer detail of the proposed Public Bodies Bill to tackle quangos has yet to be spelt out. There will also be cuts at in transport spending – the Department for Transport, which has been asked to find £683m of savings in 2010-11.Describing DEFRA as “the Government’s emergency service” Ms Spelman said many of the quangos were set up in the 1970s and 1980s to perform functions that were now “mainstream”. Ministers in non-protected departments had until Friday to submit blueprints for how they would reduce spending by between 25% and a worst-case-scenario 40%. Ms Spelman told Sky News that Defra had 87 quangos, with some set up decades ago to protect the environment or rural communities. “These things are now mainstream, they are part of what the department does as a matter of course, so we can make savings from amongst those quangos,” she told the programme.

It has also been reported that plans for a £1 billion “green investment bank” to help British firms develop and use green technology were being shelved.

AGreenerFestival is an independent ”not for profit” organisation that receives no public money or government funding whatsoever. We will continue with our Greener Festival Awards Scheme, improving and adding to our website, providing training and education, running our ‘Great Big Green Ideas’ competition and providing practical advice and help to music events and festivals wherever we can.

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Sun, Sweat and Charity – a Glastonbury tale

Here’s a link to the Community Channel’s new programme that looks at the charities and volunteers that are so important at the Glastonbury Festival  - and why the festival is so important to them. Featuring WaterAid, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Shelter, The Festival’s world famous Green Police, the festival’s radio station Worthy FM, The White Ribbon Alliance, The National Trust, the on-site medical team – Billy Bragg and Michael Eavis! It shows just what a Festival can do to promote messages at an event – here a range of different charities promoting sustainability, safe child birth, access to water and climate change amongst others! 

http://www.youtube.com/v/ojgpgbJvZ38&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0

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Oil spill is China’s biggest yest

China and environmental observers said cleanup efforts on the country’s largest reported oil spill were progressing, but the environmental and economic damage was clear. Now extending to 165 square miles (430 sq km) over the Yellow Sea, the cleanup was marred by the drowning of a worker whose body was found coated in crude oil.  China National Petroleum Corporation said that the pipeline at Dalian that exploded and caused the oil spill had already resumed operations although the cause of the explosion that started the spill was still not clear. Greenpeace China released photos  of local fishermen cleaning up oily sludge at Weitang Bay with shovels, and of an employee scooping up dead snails at Guotai Water Products Farm, about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site of the explosion and spill. “Dalian’s seafood farming and tourism industries have taken critical hits,” Greenpeace China said in a statement. It estimated 10,000 shellfish farms have been contaminated. Fishing in the waters around Dalian has been banned until the end of August, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.  It remained unclear exactly how much oil has spilled, but state media has said no more is leaking into the sea.

China Central Television  reported an estimated 1,500 tons of oil had ben spilled – roughly 400,000 gallons  — compared with 94 million to 184 million gallons in the BP oil spill off the U.S. coast. The ecological harm from the spill could last a decade, Zhao Zhangyuan, a researcher with the China Environmental Science Research Institute, told the Shanghai Morning News earlier this week.

Picture: Greenpeace

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Lounge on the Farm gets greener

Lounge on the Farm is a fantastic ten thousand capacity Festival that is now a well established part of the Kent music calendar. Set in rolling farmland near Canterbury, the festival has a real emphasis on local – local foods, local juices, local bands, local suppliers and even local beers.

This year the Festival was blessed by glorious sunshine which came in handy as I ended up walking from the rail station to the site. Now there was meant to be a shuttle bus but I have to say it wasn’t at the station and no-one knew anything about it – no signs – no staff – but you know, the festival crowd is a great bunch of people and within a few minutes train passengers were working out taxi shares with (up till then) complete strangers, and some of us set off on foot (yes, I checked the map first!).

Merton Farm was buzzing when I got there and I had planned to meet up with Neil who was looking after all things green . As we had set a time for later on, I decided to catch up on a couple of bands and These included The Yearner Babies who feature on our Festivals Harvest album, and I had the interesting experience of a rather over excited dreadlocked young man dancing in front of me – I just wish he had thought to wear trousers that fitted – or worn a belt! Grey pants aside, the Cow Shed (yes, it really IS a Cow Shed) was really relaxed with a good crowd.

One new innovation at LOTF this year is that the Festival is now using tools from Julies Bicycle to measure their greenhouse gas emissions. It is important that Festivals set a ‘benchmark’ and measure their greenhouse gas emissions on an annual basis – its only when they know what greenhouse gases they are emitting  and from where that festivals  will have a chance of reducing  carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. You can find out more on the Julies Bicycle website  – www.juliesbicycle.com.  But as audience travel is going to be a major factor, a well publicised travel and transport plan remains a must.

Recycling is a priority at LOTF and it is a really clean site with well marked recycling points which split waste into four streams –three recyclables – paper, glass, plastics and then waste.  All of the catering I saw used recyclable plates and cutlery although the bars still use plastic disposable glasses – it would be nice to see souvenir  or reusable glasses in the future – something a number of festivals like Cambridge Folk Festival have brought in. But it really was great to see almost all of the food and drink sourced through local suppliers and from local firms. Kent is called the ‘Garden of England’ so why not use food and drink that grows on your doorstep!

The line up was as good and varied as ever – and not all local bands of course –  Hercules & The Love Affair, Toots & The Maytals, Martha Reeves,  Phil  Jupitus on the news comedy stage, Electric River, Josh Weller  and DJ Yoda were all there – but it was nice to see that LOFT has a solar powered cinema as well as a number of charity stalls over in the Meadows, excellent to see that  kidz weren’t forgotten and Greenpeace had a big presence on site. LOTF is great fun – and getting greener every year – so happy fifth birthday LOTF!

www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk .  Pictures from Get Involved.

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Bestival Goes EnvironMENTAL

Bestival has signed up to the 10:10 campaign and has commited to reduce the festival’s carbon emissions this year by 10%.  Bestival were one of the worthy recipients of the ‘Outstanding’ Greener Festival Award in 2009, one of only 13 festivals worldwide to achieve this top level award. Not content to rest on their laurels, this year Bestival are pulling out all the stops to make Bestival an even greener and more environmentally friendly event than it already is. As part of the green masterplan they have signed up to the 10:10 campaign making a firm commitment to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% starting in 2010. 10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of society behind one simple idea: cutting our emissions by 10% in 2010. We think it’s a fantastic campaign to get involved with, which is why Bestival have signed up to it and you can too. It’s quick and easy to do, just click here.

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New plane offers greener travel options

Boeing have launched a new flagship 330 seat aircraft which is said to be ‘leaner and greener’ than traditional aircraft. The Boeing 737 Dreamliner was launched in the UK at the Farnborough air show last weekend and it is markedly different from conventional aircraft, having been built largely out of light-weight composite material. The airplane is powered by new more fuel efficient Rolls-Royce engines –  but primarily because of its lower weight the  787 is substantially more fuel efficient than older craft. When it was first conceived, the Dreamliner was a revolutionary concept, but rivals have since done much to catch up – not least as the price of oil has risen and risen – Airbus is building a similar series of planes dubbed A350 and rivals are being planned by manufacturers in Brazil, China and Canada. Its not a low carbon solution – its a lower carbon fix – and air flights remain a major contributor to greenhouse gas emmissions – but its certainly a move in the right direction.

BA have also announced some environmentally friendly news – using up to sixty lorry loads of organic waste every day to fuel a new plant that will produce 16.4 million gallons of jet fuel every year. Whilst it is great that BA will be able to turn banana skins, cardboard, coffee grouts and tomato skins into biofuel, and that the plant will be self sustaining and ‘self powered’, it will only produce 2% of BA’s overall fuel needs.

From planes to bikes – and hats off to London Mayor Boris Johnson who is championing a bold new scheme to get more people cycling in the UK’s capital city. He has already closed  11 miles of roads in Ealing for a day to get more people out and about on bikes, and now Boris is launching the first two of a possible twelve cycling ‘superhighways’ which are bike only trackways linking the outskirts of the vast metropolis with the centre. On to[p of this, Boris is going to promote a scheme allowing people to hire out one of 6,000 bikes from 4,000 docking stations across the centre of London. Liverpool is set to follow in London’s footsteps (or tyre tracks) and a number of cities including Cambridge, Blackpool, Bristol and York and already well on the way to getting more and more people out of cars and onto bikes. Montreal has a working bike scheme with its ‘Bixis’ and Mexico City has just introduced 1200 Ecobici cycles – but its Paris that is the real leader with the ‘Velib’ scheme with 24,000 bikes for hire – based on a £24 annual subscription – and each bike gets used about 20 times a day – reducing car use by 2%.  Vandalism and theft remain a problem as does the fact that some docking stations empty fast and others of course fill up (especially those downhill!) but the scheme is generally considered a big success.

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We’ve been busy!

Firstly, congratulations to all of the winners  of the competition to win a copy of our brilliant double CD and download album ‘FESTIVALS HARVEST’ – if you have won, you would have got a email from us by now. And almost all of  our own and Virtual Festivals’ truly international readership (as far afield as the USA and Germany, Australia and  Belgium) got it right – how do you cut down on personal CO2 emissions to get to festivals ? Well walking and cycling are brilliant, followed by coach and train – but if you have to go by car – the answer is LIFTSHARE! 

On the topic of travel, Latitude sent us a really really well planned out transport plan for this year’s festival (which has just finished).  Organisers Festival Republic were keen to encourage festival goers to respect the local environment and local residents and put in place public transport options to encourage everyone to leave their cars at home, with a convenient network of coaches, trains and shuttle buses to get right into the heart of the festival. With transport to and from festivals the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions, public transport options are essential to lightening a festival’s environmental load. Not only that, it will also help to reduce congestion in the car parks and on the surrounding roads. Cycling was certainly one option – and Latitude had bike racks available onsite for cyclists and whilst actually walking to the site was discouraged, as local roads around the site are not suitable for pedestrians, there was a Shuttle bus available. The Festival also joined up with National Express, Anglian Bus and rail operators to offer a variety of convenient and good value public transport options pointing out that travelling by train emits three and half times less CO2 than travelling alone by car and travelling in a full coach is the greenest form of motor transport with each journey generating less than 10% of CO2 per person than those who travel alone by car (see the statistics below). Latitude also promoted Liftshare and had almost 900 people registered for Liftshare for the Festival. If just a third of them matched lifts, that’s a potential saving of almost 24 tonnes of CO2 – if every car coming to Latitude Festival had 4 people in it, there could be almost 3000 fewer cars and a reduction in CO2 emissions of almost 240 tonnes!

It has been really nice to see bands who feature on Festivals Harvest out and about at festivals too – Ellen & The Escapades, Mayhew, Tom Williams & The Boat and My Luminaries were all at Glastonbury and Yearner Babies at Glastonbury and at Lounge on the Farm (yes Duncan, that WAS me in the audience). The amazing Beaus will be at the Tramlines Festival at the Peace Gardens in Sheffield on the 24th July – catch them if you can – its free!  If you haven’t got a copy of Festivals Harvest yet – you can get  28 brilliant new tracks from 28 brilliant new bands here http://www.amazon.co.uk/FESTIVAL-HARVEST-Various-Artists/dp/B003MUXDYA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274453195&sr=8-4 and here http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;0;-1;-1;-1&sku=522123  and http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/15159469/Festival-Harvest/Product.html

We have been busy busy busy visiting festivals who are taking part in our Greener Festivals Awards scheme – in the UK, on mainland Europe and in the USA.  Penny kicked off our visits with a trip to Spain for SOS 4.8 in Murcia, Rob then had a mini tour of his own having bagged to Open Air St Gallen in Switzerland and then on to Rock for People in the Czech Republic and back for The Big Session in Leicester,  Luke visited the ever brilliant and inspiring Isle of Wight Festival as well as Wireless in Hyde Park, Sharon was at Hard Rock Calling, Claire went to  Hadra in France, Penny and Mish visited Glastonbury, Iain made it to T-in-the-Park in Scotland, Hel went to Wood, Alicia was at Sunrise and Ben made it to Lounge on the Farm in Canterbury. Over the pond in the USA, our Awards organiser , Lee, organised visits to Summer Camp, Lightning in a Bottle and Bonnaroo  - and thanks  to Rashon, Lindsay  and Derek for their help in the US. Over in Australia, Amie has done all her hard work and has her feet up, busy sticking our own very special labels on recycled empty bottles of wine – for our 2010 Awards season winners – hic! We have more to get too as well, including Sonisphere, Kendal Calling, Big Tent, The Cambridge Folk Festival and Splendour in the Grass, Grassroots, Summer Sundae Weekender, Oya Festival, Malmo Festivalen, Rototom Summer Sunsplash, Solfest, Bestival, End of the Road and the Croissant Neuf Summer Party. See you there!

Lastly – it was really nice to get an email from Shai, a festival organiser in Israel, thanking us for our efforts. This is what Shai said:  “Thanks for the quick reply, and for the data you’ve sent.  Your site brings a lot of inspiration to where we could be if we gather in good ideas and knowledge from festivals with experience.  We hope you’ll keep on with this beautiful work, and hope we’ll get some progress here that we can show off! We’ll  be in touch and Thanks again!”

Those travel statistics!

CO2 Emissions per Passenger Mile getting to and from a Festival

(1) Coach: 26.97g. Car: 334.2g.

(2) Train: 96.32g. Car: 334.2g.

(3) Car (4 people): 86.05g.

Based on DEFRA 2008 emissions figures, coach with 40 passengers, train with national average occupancy rates, solo occupant in cars.

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Green schemes wobble

A revolutionary scheme backed by the World Bank to pay poor countries billions of dollars to stop loggers cutting down rainforests is failing due to corruption – and indeed may actually be promoting more logging. Under the United Nations’ REDD scheme (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) 37 mainly tropical countries have requested $14 billion in payments by 2015 by agreeing to reduce carbon emissions from logging and other forestry activities, but the Observer says that many of the applicants have no intention of reducing logging and will simply cheat the system or bend the rules to suit their own aims. Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation said “REDD has been touted as the quickest and cheapest way of preventing climate change, but what we are seeing are expensive and ill conceived plans that fail to address the underlying causes of deforestation , and might make things worse”, calling for a revised scheme that agrees payments based on the “actual amount of logging or deforestation that is averted”.

In the UK the motor industry is warning the new coalition Government that it is putting Britain’s leadership in low carbon vehicles at risk by threatening to to renege on promises to subsidise their introduction in the UK. Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, Peugeot and Citroen will write to The Business Secretary and the Transport Secretary to outline their alarm at a perceived lack of government support for electric vehicles.

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