Going Green at Glastonbury Festival 2022

Going Green at Glastonbury Festival 2022

Posted on: 31 May 2022

The impact that Glastonbury Festival and its 180,000-plus attendees have on the site at Worthy Farm is a much-discussed topic before, during and after the event every year it runs, and with good reason.

 

From energy consumption to waste rubbish, abandoned tents to transport emissions, water use to overall wear-and-tear of the farmland, several elements of the festival have a huge effect on the environment.

 

If you were lucky enough to bag a ticket for Glastonbury 2022 and want to know how to limit your own environmental footprint on Worthy Farm when you visit, check out our list of a few top tips below.

Glastonbury green pledge.

Car share or use public transport

 

Riding your bike to Glastonbury is firmly off the table for most of us, but that doesn't mean you can't take measures to reduce your impact on the environment before the weekend has even started.

 

Firstly, don't drive to the festival with two people in a five-seater car. If you've got a spare seat or spare seats, get on one of many UK car-sharing sites like LiftShare or Bla Bla Car to find fellow festival-goers to catch a lift with you, reducing your emissions - and travel costs - per head.

 

Or, if public transport by coach or train is an option where you are, then make use of it. Basically, the fewer vehicles travelling to Worthy Farm, the better.

 

Ditch single-use materials wherever possible

 

Glastonbury's Green Policies page discusses single-use materials at length, after the organisers announced back in 2019 that they'd be banning the sale of single-use plastic bottles across the festival.

 

This is obviously a huge step forward in terms of limiting the festival's collective environmental impact, and it means you'll have to bring your own reusable water bottles and cups to Worthy Farm if you want to avoid paying higher prices for them inside the gates.

 

Festival-goers in 2017 got through an estimated 1.3 million plastic bottles across the weekend, which is insane, so do your bit this time around and bring reusable metal or plastic bottles to limit the amount of waste you generate.

 

The same applies to things like drinks cups, cutlery and straws - if you think you're gonna need any of those, make sure you bring them with you. 

 

 

Share your tents and take them home with you

 

We've all seen the photos and videos of post-festival wastelands in recent years - seas of discarded tents, sleeping bags and gazebos sparking widespread and seemingly endless online debate about whether or not environmentally-conscious festival-goers really care about the environment.

 

The Sun and The Daily Mail relish the chance to rain on the parade of anyone who dares to have a good time at Glastonbury, but in truth, there really is no defending buying a hundred-quid tent for a festival, using it once and leaving it behind for volunteers to have to clear away and consign to landfill.

 

Get yourself a decent tent and look after it over the weekend, make sure you keep the bag somewhere where you know you won't lose it, and pack it away and take it home with you when you leave on Monday.

 

That way, you're not contributing to a huge waste problem, you haven't just spent £100 on a tent you'll never see again, and you won't have to buy another one next year. A real no-brainer.

 

 

Bring recycling and bin bags with you to the festival for the cleanup afterwards

 

Not only are thousands of tents left strewn over the campsite once the weekend is over, the sprawling fields are also covered in empty tinnies, food packaging, bottles and various plastics.

 

Glastonbury organisers do enlist a huge team of volunteers for the extensive cleanup project after the festival, but there's no reason not to manage your own rubbish throughout the weekend and leave the campsite - or your section of it, at least - waste-free.

 

Bring a few bin bags or clear recycling bags with you, and try to separate your cans, plastics and other materials so they can be recycled when you leave.

 

Pack light

 

Regardless of whether or not you've been to Glastonbury before, or any music festival for that matter, for most of us there's always a last-minute scramble to make sure you've remembered to pack everything and not forgotten anything important.

 

This can often lead to packing heavy and bringing all sorts of unnecessary gear with you, but this time, for the good of the farm, don't.

 

Leave that extra pair of shoes. Forget those three extra outfits you were going to bring 'just in case', don't bother with a roll mat, use your hoodie as a pillow.

 

Some need more comfort than others but the reality is that the more stuff you bring with you, the more you're likely to leave behind because you can't be bothered to lug it back to the car on Monday morning after a heavy weekend.

 

The less you pack, the lighter the load, the less you'll end up leaving behind for landfill.

Packing light at Glastonbury.

Eat right

 

Going veggie or vegan for the weekend is a big ask for a lot of people, especially when faced with a hangover and the smell of bacon sandwiches wafting through the morning air, but that doesn't mean you can't make decisions on what to eat with the environment in mind.

 

Obviously cutting out meat is the most effective way of doing so, but if that's out of the question you can also make sure to look for locally-sourced produce, sustainable food stalls and fairtrade coffee, tea and sugar.

 

Glastonbury is home to one of the most diverse ranges of food and drinks you'll find at any festival in the world, so you can be sure there's no need to make compromises on taste or quality if you're keen to reduce the environmental impact of your diet.

 

Keep hold of your cigarette butts

 

This one seems picky but it's the little bits of waste (cigarette butts, bottle tops etc) that are the hardest to clear up after the festival and most likely to get picked up by wildlife when normal business resumes in the weeks and months post-Glastonbury.

 

Get yourself a little pocket-sized tin for your fag butts, keep them in there when you're out and about or in the crowd, and bin them on your way back to the campsite or in the morning.

 

It's not ideal walking around with an ashtray in your pocket but it means you can rest easy knowing that cows aren't chewing the burnt ends of your Sterling Duals for weeks after you leave the farm.

 

Limit your water use

 

Nobody likes 'that guy' who spends ten minutes every morning washing their feet off under the tap or leaving it running while they brush their teeth.

 

Of course it's important to stay hydrated throughout the weekend and make use of the water points located around every area of the festival, but don't be excessive and don't waste water for the sake of it - there won't be enough to go around one day.

 

Help clear up afterwards

 

More often than not, when it's time to head home after a festival, you end up waiting for ages for a mate who's lost something, stuck in the toilet or gone on a huge bender on the last night and hasn't resurfaced.

 

If you've bought some bin bags with you (see no.4), why not lend a hand to clear up while you're waiting and make 100% sure you've left nothing behind on site?

 

Glastonbury Festival is one of the biggest and best musical events in the world, and its continued existence relies partly on the land being looked after by its attendees. Do your bit, clear up after yourself, and leave with a clear conscience. 

 

 

For more information on Glastonbury Festival's green policies or to find out more about how you can make a difference, visit the Green Glastonbury section of their official website.

 

Main Image: Andrew Allcock / Glastonbury Festival


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Article by:

Matt Robson

 

Editor - 365Bristol.com & LOUD Magazine
 

Matt is a Journalism graduate and writer, passionate about supporting Bristol music, art and independent business. Get in touch via email at matt@365bristol.com.