Our big challenge in 2017 was tackling waste head on. We have spent years designing ‘waste’ out of our festival ecosystem wherever possible. Waste simply shouldn’t exist in our finite world.
So far we’ve completely eliminated single-use plastics, and made huge efforts to recycle everything we can. But this has been a genuine challenge, and one that requires everyone to play their part to achieve better results.
We are seriously happy to announce that we achieved an epic 25% increase in recycling rates compared to 2016, rocketing to a total of 91% of materials either recycled, composted or used for waste to energy.*
Only 9% ended up in landfill and we aim to make this a big fat zero.
Importantly. we also reduced the total waste onsite by 15% overall in 2017 and, in partnership with local organisations, sent half a tonne of edible left-over food to people who need it.
Thirty three of you left a tent this year (absolutely no excuse!) but overall a massive well done to all of you who used the recycling exchanges, recycling bins, all of the amazing crew working on the Greenbox Recycling team and the tireless Upcycle crew who you may have seen in the campsites – this year’s results have shown that it all counts.
Also – a big thank you to everyone who supported our new Bring a Cup initiative. Over 90% of you said you supported it in the Big Debate audience survey, and absolutely loads of you brought a re-usable cup or bought one onsite. We collected over 8,000 thousand disposable paper cups which have been sent for processing by specialists. Our branded ecoffee cups are still available to buy in our online shop, for an introductory, not-for-profit price of £5.00 – grab yours here if you haven’t already.
We were also thrilled to see that a whopping 95% of you brought a reusable bottle with you this year, showing how possible it is to survive without buying plastic bottles of water!
A huge thanks, as ever, for your support around all things green at Shambala – you truly are the best crowd out there.
Big love, The Shambala team x
*56% recycled and composted, 35% waste to energy, 9% to landfill