A Greener Festival Messages
Green up your travel!
July 22nd, 2010
Holiday Extras have just published a 30 page guide highlighting how travellers can help make overseas travel more sustainable.
With contributions from the Travel Foundation, the Guide features expert advice on everything from choosing a destination and the greenest airlines to carbon offsetting schemes and practical tips on making your journey to the airport and hotel stay more environmentally sound. On top of that users of the online guide are also encouraged to contribute their own top tips and comments on green travel. It’s not all about chaining yourselves to trees and being a war paint covered eco-warrior, its the little everyday decisions that can save our planet.”
See more at http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/green-travel.html
Green Phoenix gets UN badge
July 21st, 2010
Green Phoenix Festival have announced that they are the first UK Festival to gain UN Blue Laurels badge as it is recognised as a United Nations University Regional Centre for Expertise for Education on Sustainable Development (RCE).
The Green Phoenix Festival taking place at Gibside National Trust Estate between 19-22 August and hosts a wide ranging debate and discussion programme run by Dr Caspar Hewett of The Great Debate (http://www.thegreatdebate.org.uk). Just confirmed are Clive Lord, founder member of Green Party, and Tony Allan, Stockholm Water Prize Laureate as high profile speakers taking part in The Great Debate programme (http://www.thegreatdebate.org.uk/GrPhoenx10.html), Niel Bowerman co-founder of Climatico and the Climate Change Project; Medical Journalists’ Association prizewinner, Rita Carter; Suzy Dean, lecturer and journalist on multi-culturalism, freedom and democracy and Daniel Ben-Ami author of Ferraris for All: In Defence of Economic Progress. Debates at the Festival include: What is sustainable culture?; Energising Innovation; Food and Water Security; Limits to Freedom; Limits to Growth in 21 Century; The Borders of Imagination; The Legacy of Multiculturalism and Are We Masters of our own Destiny?
Music includes legendary reggae act The Wailers, as well as wonderful world, folk including Martha Tilston, Eily Portman, dub group Zion Train and festival acts Seize the Day, The Baghdaddies, Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle and Diddly Squat, as well as theatre, cabaret and a family friendly area. Four, three and two day and Sunday tickets available, however the Festival has a new lower capacity of 4,000 people so tickets are very limited. To buy tickets and for the full line up see www.greenphoenixfestival.org.uk
Recycle – the Essential Guide
July 20th, 2010
Black Dog have published a new edition of Recycle – The Essential Guide – with new and updated information on the topic that has progressed massively in the last five years.
Recycle is an accessible and comprehensive resource and is fully illustrated with an introduction by Observer columnist Lucy Siegle. Recycle provides clear information about materials and the process of recycling with a comprehensive international directory of organisations and authorities involve in the recycling process as well as a consumer directory for eco-design and a glossary of recycling terms.
The book contains sections on glass, paper, metal, plastic, domestic and compost and international case studies including Eire’s plastic bag tax and Germany’s Green Dot programme.
Priced at £19.95, you can get a 40% off the price as a discount simply by emailing jess@blackdogonline.com with a delivery address and quoting “A Greener Festival Offer’ as the subject of your email – Jess can then arrange your order.
Recycle – The Essential Guide is the indispensable handbook to recycling today. With vibrant visuals and a clear, accessible layout, the book is an invaluable resource that tackles everything from the urgency of resource depletion on a global scale to what the individual reader can do to reduce waste in their own home
Greanpeace ask us all to SHOUT
July 2nd, 2010
Here is a link to Greepeace’s new video, shot in and around Glastonbury 2010, asking us all to shout out against rainforest destruction. Greenpeace asked their very own Recycled Orchestra to adapt the old Tears for Fears classic Shout” to reflect this years theme, using only instruments made from recycled waste and a little help from fellow artists Florence and the Machine, The Foals, Flaming Lips and a whole bunch of festival goers.
Bestival goes EnvironMENTAL
June 23rd, 2010
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.
Bestival, with the support of environment specialists Julie’s Bicycle – http://www.juliesbicycle.com/ – set a carbon output benchmark in 2009 and they are already putting in place measures to reduce this by 10% at this year’s event by reducing carbon emissions from onsite energy use, waste and water consumption.
There are lots of amazing initiatives happening across the site which include the Plugged In Bandstand stage which will be totally solar-powered once again this year, all with help from green-minded friends at Southern Electric. What’s more, the whole surrounding area, (previously called The Village), will become Bestival’s version of Tomorrow’s World – envisaging an inspired, sustainable, green and fun future. Plus all the other power generators in the Tomorrow’s World area, that power the WI Tent, Farmer’s Market and Sushi Yurt will be run on local Wight Made Biodiesel – made from the 1,600 litres of used cooking oil collected from the all the food stalls at Bestival 2009.
Over half the waste at Bestival 2009 was recycled which was great but with your help Bestival want to do much better this year, so Bestival have been redesigning our campsites to make it easier for the waste teams and, crucially, you to get waste into the correct bins so it can be recycled properly. Bestival also REALLY need you all to take your tents etc home with you. Tents are tricky devils to recycle due to their mixture of components… and even worse, once they get mixed up with items that could have been recycled they often make the whole jumbled lot utterly unrecyclable which means it all gets sent to landfill, which is a big fat no-no. So if you’re reading this and you usually leave stuff behind, please please don’t. NB: if you’re going to Glastonbury this weekend please check out their Please Take It Home campaign - www.facebook.com/pleasetakeithome
Lots of you will be pleased to hear that there will be even more composting toilets at Bestival this year too. Not only are they cleaner and less stinky, they also don’t need water or nasty chemicals to work.
One big area where Bestival are looking to reduce the carbon footprint is Travel. Coach or Train are easily the best ways of getting to Bestival. And they are also the cheapest. Southern Vectis are offering some great value door-to-door Coach Travel packages. Their coaches will pick you up from 25 towns and cities in the UK and take you direct to the Bestival site (& back), including ferry travel – so no changes and no extra travel costs. Head over to www.islandbuses.info/bestival.shtml for more info and to book. And South West Trains operate fast services to Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton to connect with the ferries to the island… simple. We’ve also created a new onsite bus and coach station, so those of you that do come by public transport will have a much shorter distance to walk with all your stuff.
If you really must drive, please check out our Car Sharing service – www.liftshare.com/event/20 – and fill your car up with people, thus splitting the carbon emissions between more people.
The Bestival Green Team - a select troupe of top-hat-sporting eco-minded volunteers – will return for their 4th year. They will be handing out recycling bags and free cigarette butt bins to help you to do your bit to Keep Bestival Tidy.
And We Are What We Do, the social movement behind the ‘I’m not a Plastic Bag’ shopper and Historypin, will unleash their latest creation onto Bestival this summer: A massive, fantastical, trash-guzzling creature, with a penchant for recyclable waste. Part monster, part foodie snob, he will be roaming the festival munching cigarette butts, paper plates, plastic cups and tin cans out of the hands of festival partiers. And as a sign of his appreciation he will be leaving his bitemark on anyone that feeds him their trash. Bestival are not responsible for any limbs lost.
Bestival are in the process of finalising even more environmental initiatives for this year’s Bestival… watch this space! In the meantime, please sign up to 10:10 yourself; and then get your work, school, friends, parents et al to do the same – www.1010uk.org – we need to work together to achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.
LIVE MUSIC INCLUDES THE PRODIGY, DIZZEE RASCAL, THE FLAMING LIPS, ROXY MUSIC, HOT CHIP, THE XX, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM AND FEVER RAY.
FESTIVAL HARVEST DOUBLE CD ON SALE HERE!
June 1st, 2010
SOUNDCLASH NORWICH
SOUNDHOUSE DEAL AND BROADSTAIRS
SOUND KNOWLEDGE – MARLBOROUGH
SISTER RAY – LONDON
RESIDENT BRIGHTON
ROUNDER BRIGHTON
TEMPEST BIRMINGHAM
WHOLE WIDE WORLD CREWKERNE
CHALKYS BANBURY
RAPTURE WITNEY
GATEFIELD SOUNDS WHITSTABLE AND HERNE BAY
JUMBO LEEDS
LOST IN MUSIC GLASGOW
ACTION REPLAY WINDERMERE
AVALACHE GLASGOW
AVALANCHE EDINBURGH
Twenty eight of the finest new bands around – all yours and packaged in eco-friendly card too!
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR THE AWARDS SCHEME
May 18th, 2010
We are delighted that we have a new administrator for the Greener Festivals Awards scheme 2010, Helen Wright. Helen can be contacted at agreenerfestival@gmail.com andall queries concerning the Awards scheme for 2010 can be sent to that email adress.
TOP TURNS AT THE GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL THIS WEEK
May 12th, 2010
We are really pleased that three of the bands featured on our Festival Harvest double album are playing at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton this week – for more see www.escapegreat.com. The Album also launches at The Great Escape on Friday 14th May. The release date is the 1st June.
ELLEN & THE ESCAPADES www.ellenandtheescapades.com
FRIDAY – 21.20 – PRINCE ALBERT
YEARNER BABIES www.myspace.com/yearnerbabies
SATURDAY – 16.00 – DIRTY HARRYS STAGE
MIRRORS
FRIDAY – Skint Records party (invite only) http://www.myspace.com/mirrorsmirrorsmirrors
Ellen & The Escapes at the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Final in Pilton in March – they went on to win and have are now boooked to play the Acoustic Stage and the Avalon Stage at Glastonbury 2010. Photo by John Bryant at http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/?c=Emerging%20Talent%20Comp . Other bands on the Festival Harvest album who are playing Glastonbury 2010 include Mayhew, Tom Williams & The Boat and My Luminaries.
GREAT ESCAPE CD’S GET THE IG MARK
May 6th, 2010
Plymouth based Disc Manufacturing Services have produced CD’s to be distributed at the Great Escape for BMF / Generator and AGreenerFestival.
Both the Crushing the Great North South Divide CD and A Greener Festival’s Festivals Harvest CD have been produced by Disc Manufacturing Services (DMS) in 100% card packaging that has been certified for the Industry Green (ig) mark by Julie’s Bicycle, the cross music industry initiative on climate change set up to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
DMS Managing Director Dave Summers said, ‘As a manufacturer embracing the future needs of a low carbon society, DMS are delighted to offer a full range of printed CD packaging that is scientifically certified to be far less harmful to the environment than plastic jewel cases. Julie Bicycle have guided us over the past year in developing these IG certified products and we can offer IG accreditation at no cost to clients on a wide range of printed packaging. The releases at TGE by A Greener Festival and Crushing The Great North South Divide (BMF/Generator) are two fine examples of IG accredited packaging’.
Ben Challis from AGreenerFestival commented, “We have just finished the production of our ‘Festival Harvest’ double CD – which will promote the work of AGreenerFestival, the campaign and advice group that aims to reduce the environmental impact of music festivals around the world. The CD is packaged in 100% card to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it was important for us to show that low carbon products are attractive and innovative, and the IG mark is a credible certification scheme supporting these values”.
Industry Green certification for CD packaging assesses whether a CD packaging format is ‘lower carbon’. To be eligible for Industry Green status the packaging manufacturing process must be found to produce less than 400g greenhouse gas emissions per unit, at least two thirds less than standard CD packging (plastic jewel case, booklet and inlay). In addition, the packaging supplier must demonstrate that they are engaged and committed to greenhouse gase emissions reduction and disclosure. Successful packaging formats can carry the ig mark under licence.
This development is significant in the ongoing work of the BMF with Julie’s Bicycle to introduce sustainable practices within music businesses and general activity in music in the South West.
The CDs will launch at the Scrumpy & Brown Ale party at the Great Escape in Brighton on Fri 14th May from 6 til 7pm in the Founders Room in the Dome. Live music from the very wonderful Jackie Oates and Nadine Shah
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