Tent-dumping at Music Festivals becoming more of a problem
In recent years it has become increasingly common practice amongst festival-goers to leave tents in the camping site at the end of a festival, amongst other waste. The Love Your Tent initiative set up by Juliet Ross-Kelly aims to discourage this practice, and also the sale of bad quality, cheap tents. The issue is becoming increasingly harder to manage in the festival sector, with many logistical, environmental and commercial ramifications – something highlighted by A Greener Festival (co-founded by AIF’s Claire O’Neill.)
Love Your Tent and Buckinghamshire New University have now published the results of a survey of festival-goers about the waste left on festival sites, with 1200 festival-goers having participated. 60% admitted to discarding tents at the end of festivals, with a third then admitting that they intended to continue doing so, and another third unable to say for certain they wouldn’t do it again in the future. This despite the fact 86% of those surveyed recognised waste was a major environmental factor at festivals.
Read the CMU interview with Juliet Ross-Kelly and Teresa Moore (Bucks Uni) HERE.