The EAFN is asking our East Anglia Festival community to commit to reducing their environmental impact for a ‘Greener Future’ across our region’s events.
Do you want to improve the sustainability of your event/venue/business/organisation?
Please show your commitment to reducing your environmental impact
by signing up on the form below (It’s FREE!)
We will then add you to the EAFN’s ‘Greener Future’ list of Participants and share what you are doing to reduce your environmental impact.
Copyright Gofer Ltd (Simply C Photography)
Background: When we launched the EAFN at the inaugural EAFN Show in October 2018 we had ‘Sustainability’ as the core theme and at the EAFN Show in 2019 we decided to launch a ‘Greener Future’ initiative. We ask our Members (and the wider East Anglian Festival community) to sign up to reducing their environmental impact and share what they are are doing or planning to do about it.
This is in line with the Festival Vision 2025 Pledge, a shared vision for a sustainable festival industry. It was conceived as part of ‘The Show Must Go On’ report, a festival industry response to the 2015 global climate change talks in Paris. You can access all the information on this at the Powerful Thinking website. To sign the Vision: 2025 pledge and download the latest Show Must Go On report visit www.vision2025.org.uk. We recommend Powerful Thinking – it is a not-for-profit industry think-tank working towards smarter energy management practices in the live events industry.
The EAFN is now a member of the Vision 2025 Steering Group and EAFN Members Cambridge Folk Festival,, Gofer, Pearce Hire Smoke and Fire Festivals and Wild Paths & Wild Fields Festivals are also involved with Vision 2025 and we encourage all our members and the wider East Anglian Festival community to get involved too http://www.powerful-thinking.org.uk/get-involved/ and please complete Vision 2025‘s annual Event Industry Green survey.
The Green Events Code of Practice is currently a working draft. A pilot project supported by Arts Council England, 10 participating local authorities, and 60+ events tested the practical implementation of the code using the Donut Advisory Tool for Events (DATE) as the assessment method. Results of this test period and recommendations for national adoption were published in a report Green Events Code of Practice (GECoP): National Pilot Key Findings – Vision for Sustainable Events
Travel and Transport are the most significant sources of emissions from event production and touring, typically accounting for more than 80% of an outdoor event’s carbon footprint in the UK. The Show Must Go On report ed. 1, Vision: 2025, 2015. The Ecolibrium Travel Guide for Events is a handy guide to help you look at reducing your event’s travel and transport emissions. Ecolibrium Travel Guide for Events
Here’s what our Greener Future signatories have done, are doing or plan to do to reduce their environmental impact:
Sustainability Measures – East Anglian ‘Greener Future’ Festivals.
Bike Run or Walk BROW4 events, rather than asking for a financial entry fee, ask guests to bring empty items, i.e. aluminium cans, Snack containers, ink cartridges, used stamps, plastic cheese wrappers, home hygiene flexible product refill packets, and branded biscuit wrappers as an entrance fee. Both the Army and Magpas Air Ambulance collect these as they can earn £££ from these items.
Cambridge City Council’s Climate Change Strategy shared a vision for Cambridge to be net zero carbon by 2030 and set a target to reduce their own emissions to net zero by 2030. Cambridge Folk Festival are a long time Vision 2025 Member and are focused on reducing the carbon emissions from audience, crew and supplier travel https://www.powerful-thinking.org.uk/cambridge-folk-festival-measuring-and-tackling-travel-impacts/ All Cambridge City Events have the aim of Becoming Greener Events by advising all involved to: Bring your own reusable water bottle – drinking water available on site!; Always separate your recyclable waste from general waste; Bring your own bag – plastic bags never fully biodegrade; Walk or cycle to the event. Where it is not possible, please use public transport or lift share.; Ask food vendors for compostable plates and cutlery; Use mobile apps and websites for information instead of printed brochures; Don’t forget your chairs and rubbish when you leave; Properly dispose of any cigarette butts
Clacton Pride join with other community groups such as Clacton litter pickers to help collect and sort rubbish. Caterers and bars are asked to use cardboard food containers and recyclable cups. It is hoped to be able to afford festival cups at the event further reducing our foot print. We also have plans to get our local council to install electric so that generators are not needed and have water fountains so no need for plastic bottles.
Deepdale Camping and Rooms the award-winning, eco-friendly campsite and venue on an organic farm in North Norfolk have always tried to put the environment at the heart of what they do. All caterers who attend Deepdale events including the annual Deepdale Festival and Deepdale Hygge will be required to use only biodegradable packaging, cutlery, glasses and the like. They aim for 100% of plastic waste to go to recycling not landfill. Currently all plastic that is separated goes to recycling specialists near Norwich. We are editing our bin area to more clearly show where each type of waste goes and help customers divide their waste more easily. In particular we want to actively encourage customers to separate plastics so they can go for recycling not landfill. We’re all in this together, so the separation and recycling of plastic waste has to be a partnership between customers and us. We are becoming more and more actively involved with organisations like Surfers Against Sewage, to help promote awareness of environmental issues, and get our hands dirty with events like beach cleans. It’s also vitally important that we support the campaigns being led by organisations like Surfers Against Sewage, and encourage our customers to support them too. We need fundamental change in laws to really make proper changes. We will plant at least 50 trees each year. We are committed to continuing to reach the Gold standard from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. This covers a wide range of environmental issues from biodegradable cleaning materials, to recycled toilet paper, to solar thermal panels on the roof to produce the majority of our hot water. We already have the Gold award, but we pledge to continue improving and feeding back to the Green Tourism Business Scheme to help them make the standard more and more comprehensive.
East Anglian Storytelling Festival encourage attendees to travel by public transport or Lift Share. Suggested lift share sites from the Gov’s lift sharing page https://www.gov.uk/…/lift-sharing-local-authority-toolkit are suggested:https://www.blablacar.co.uk/ , https://gocarshare.com/ and https://liftshare.com/uk/account
Ely Folk Festival is committed to being as sustainable as possible. This covers waste management, recycling, reusable items, power and festival travel. All of these areas also generate carbon and we are also working to mitigate the impact of that. They calculate their carbon footprint annually. 90% of it is generated by travel and they offset this. They recognise that many carbon offset schemes are of questionable benefit, and also that offsetting should never be used as a replacement for sustainable actions. However, in parallel with the actions below we have partnered with multi-award winning organisation Make It Wild and in 2024 They will be offsetting forty tonnes of carbon, which exceeds our current estimates for the carbon generated. They use local family-run company Ellgia Waste Management to process their waste, they deliver all skips and bins before the festival starts and collect them after the festival has ended for further processing. All campers are issued with a black (non-recyclable) and clear (recyclable) bag on arrival. We also ask them to take all their waste home with them and recycle it according to the rules in their local areas. They provide a free shuttle bus from Ely train station to the festival site. This allows easy movement of festival attendees between the festival site and the town, reducing the number of car journeys during the festival. The shuttle bus also goes via Ely railway station for those choosing to travel to the festival by train. Ely Folk Festival endeavours to use local suppliers wherever possible. This reduces the amount of road miles and carbon generated and also retains money in the local economy. Our various suppliers are based between nine and thirty-five miles away. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to use mains power for the festival. Accordingly, all our major electrical installations, which includes main site cabling and tower lights, are powered by diesel generators. We are actively working to reduce the amount of diesel we use and have achieved a reduction of more than 25% since 2021. https://elyfolkfestival.co.uk/sustainability/
Folk in a Field Festival replaced all single-use plastics with reusable, biodegradable or recyclable alternatives
Leestock Music Festival are committed to reducing their environmental impact and currently have a number of measures in place to achieve this aim:
* All caterers are local companies and all offer vegetarian or vegan options.
Life Arts Mind, Body, Spirit and Wellbeing Festivals are committed to reducing their carbon footprint. Their event guides are made of recycled paper and eco inks, they use use online paper turn software for pre-promotion event guides, all exhibitors book via a paperless booking system. From 2022 all their events will be pre-bookable for the public using a paperless online booking system, Wristbands and Workshops booking tokens are compostable. They planned to have their first zero carbon event in 2022.
Primadonna Festival is keen to be environmentally as well as socially responsible, creating a weekend event that has minimal impact on the beautiful environment in which the festival is set. They want to inspire the audience to engage with their surroundings there, and when they return home. https://primadonnafestival.com/our-environment/
Smoke and Fire Festival is another member of Vision 2025.
SPILL recognises that climate change and environmental damage is a serious global problem and they are committed to minimising their contribution to it. SPILL create an annual Environmental Action Plan to facilitate better understanding of the environmental impact they have, effective ways to monitor and reduce this impact, and to establish a standard of best practice within the organisation. SPILL also has a regularly updated Environmental Policy that ensures they remain accountable and committed to achieving their sustainability goals. As an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, SPILL is committed to the Environmental Responsibility investment principle and reports annually to Julie’s Bicycle. In 2023 SPILL were awarded a Carbon Charter Bronze award in recognition of the steps they have taken to reduce their carbon emissions and wider environmental impacts.
St Neots Festival were delighted to have achieved a whopping 55% recycled waste (compared to a usual 0% for outdoor events) . We were the first and so far only event to do this in the town and we have plans to achieve an even higher rate in 2024. We have a new mains power supply to power stages and food trucks, we are hiring battery packs for our other zones and using biodiesel rather than regular diesel elsewhere. Our free shuttle bus service and bike racks encourages many people to leave their cars at home. We also held a no-print policy last year and had online information ahead of time. We will be upcycling materials for signage to help with information sharing.
- Continuing our deposit scheme for glasses from the bars and continuing our ban on the sale of water in plastic water bottles.
- Increasing the use of recycled/re-used/upcycled materials for decor.
- Emphasising local acts on our stages to minimise vehicle use.
- Increasing recycling of cardboard and plastic (along with the usual comprehensive recycling of drinks cans).
- Continuing our trial of compostable rubbish bags for bins and litter picking.
In addition: - We have had no paper Programme since 2022, with the Programme, instead, being on-line as a free app.
- The ever popular Scarecrow Corner continues to be a generator free zone and will, again, feature a solar powered stage.
- Trialling of compostable rubbish bags for bins and litter picking.
More information on the Strawberry Fair Environment page.
Wild Paths & Wild Fields Festivals are a Vision 2025 Member are looking to grow alongside their audience, to broaden the conversation on sustainability in the local community, and ultimately contribute towards a sustainable future that is accessible to all. To see their past achievements, future focus and sustainability goals are all on their website at https://wildfields.co.uk/sustainability.
Woodbridge Festival of the Arts takes environmental responsibilities seriously – avoiding using generators, operating a leave no trace policy, encouraging train travel for artists and audiences and having a dedicated EcoZone and educational activities at the festival.
Sustainability Measures – East Anglian ‘Greener Future’ Suppliers
attend2IT are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and providing more sustainable services to their clients. To achieve this they have become ESSA Sustainability accredited. This pushes them to improve their sustainability efforts year on year and keeps them accountable. In 2023 they commissioned an external carbon footprint calculation, allowing them to use a science based plan moving forwards. They have updated their fleet to ULEV/Electric vehicles, introduced regular charitable donations, employee green travel schemes and are working on waste reduction. They are committed to reviewing their carbon footprint on an annual basis to drive their footprint down to net zero by 2050. For more information please check out their sustainability page at https://attend2it.co.uk/sustainability/
Breeze Events are committed to reducing their environmental impact.
Elite GSS have been reducing their environmental impact with their products as well as the carbon footprint for delivery e.g. minimising #co2emissions by calculating how to dispatch products onto less lorries and will do more for their #carbonfootprint in the future when they have our own fleet of transport.
Gofer are a Vision 2025 Member. Have a look at their commitment to Sustainability including their work with the Greenbelt Festival to help them become more power efficient https://www.vision2025.org.uk/case-studies/greenbelt-festival/
Imaginators as a long-term supplier to the music and festival industry, have developed their unique LOOP Recycling Scheme_v4 to recycle their waste during manufacturing together with printed waste which is returned post event/festival. Effective use of our policy will ensure environmental sustainability is promoted along with an eco-friendly attitude, and ensure that we are as sustainable as we can be.
Logic Safety Solutions Ltd are committed to managing environmental concerns and understand the importance of living sustainably. They recognise their responsibility to ensure they consider their activities and the impact they have. They encourage both clients and staff to think about the environment and how their actions will impact upon their local surroundings, as well as the global environment.
Pearce Hire are a Vision 2025 Member and were one of the first companies to use low energy festoon lamps, low energy floodlighting and photocell-controlled site lighting, reducing power consumption. https://www.vision2025.org.uk/suppliers/pearce-hire-2/
Phoenix Events (East) Ltd were one of the first to sign up to the EAFN’s ‘A Greener Future’ Initiative and have increased their remote work with clients, introduced a miles tracking system for their essential travel and ‘offset’ this using Ecologi.
PLRS Sound and Stage Hire currently use Bio Fuel, and their lighting towers are solar power only. They are looking into solar powered energy now they have moved into the small to medium power supply industry. On the Stage and Sound systems, we plant trees for every quotation we give out and have been doing so for a number of years as a member of more trees.
Serendipity Street caterers have always believed in sustainability, they have been practising this from the start. They always recycle, use compostable products where possible and use green energy suppliers. Using local seasonally available ingredients to minimise energy used in food production, transport and storage. Organic produce is used wherever possible. They aim to limit foods of animal origin and promote meals rich in fruit, vegetables, pulses, wholegrains and nuts (always using free range eggs and farm assured meat). They exclude fish species identified as most ‘at risk’ by the Marine Conservation Society and specify fish only from sustainable sources. They Choose Fairtrade certified products for foods and drinks imported from poorer countries to ensure a fair deal for disadvantaged producers. They avoid bottled water and instead serve plain or filtered tap water in reusable jugs or bottles, to minimise transport and packaging waste. They promote health and well-being by offering generous portions of vegetables, fruit and starchy staples like wholegrains, cutting down on salt, fats and oils, and cutting out artificial additives.
Splendid Events bring expertise in environmental impact to your events and the events they run.
Superfly Media have the Superfly Media EAFN green policy to reduce their environmental impact.
If you have any examples of how you are reducing your environmental impact please send the information to us so we can share it with others and join our growing ‘Greener Future. inititaitive. Email office@eafn.co.uk including ‘Greener Future’ in the Subject field.
Sustainability Guidance and Links:
The EAFN has produced a summary of The 3 ‘R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – we hope this simple guidance is useful.
We have also listed goals you could consider for your plans to reduce your ecological footprints:
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Direct ENERGY use
- renewable energy onsite
- reduced use of diesel
- reduced use of electricity
Materials and WASTE
- Eliminate all non-sustainable waste streams
- Reduced use of resources (including printed material)
- Recycle waste produced on site;
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT
- Provision of enhanced public bus service from the nearest train station
- Shuttle bus service
- Bike hire
- Park and ride
- Car share schemes
WATER use
FOOD AND DRINK
- Compost food waste from catering outlets;
More goals
- Decarbonisation – Become a carbon neutral festival!
- Only local, sustainable food & drink
- Significantly tackle and reduce travel related GHG emissions.
- 100% compost toilets on site.
- Simply encourage an environmental ethos.
- Provide a means and encouragement for people to clean up after themselves.
- Ensure the festival grounds are kept in a sustainable order.
- Limit capacities to manageable numbers.
- Allow reusable cups.
- Use only renewable energy sources.
- Sustain ecosystems surrounding the festival grounds all year round.
- Rollout green offset ticket options.
- Layout coach transport schemes.
- Rely upon local.
- Be innovative.
Useful links on Sustainabilty can be found at Useful Links – EAST ANGLIAN FESTIVAL NETWORK (eafn.co.uk)
