Campsite waste contributes 86 per cent of total music festival waste, according to a new survey by campaign group Love Your Tent (LYT) and Buckinghamshire New University.
 
More than 70 per cent of this waste causes lasting land damage to the native flora of festival sites. The survey, which included 1,200 international respondents, revealed that 60 per cent of festivalgoers discard their tents, with 36 per cent saying they didn’t know if this behaviour would change. Another 35 per cent said they would never change their behaviour.
 
LYT and Bucks New University are now calling on festival organisers and retailers to end the ‘wasteland culture’ at festivals.
 
“It’s time for retailers to take their share of the responsibility and work with event organisers to tackle this problem,” said Teresa Moore, head of the music and event management department at Bucks New Univeristy.
 
The partial culprit of the waste is the tent retail market, which is flooded with cheap products. The survey found that 46 per cent paid less than £75 and that 60 per cent left their tent behind because it was broken.
 
“What we found confirms a growing problem, which is not confined just to the UK,” Moore said. “As tent prices continue to fall, more cheap tents are discarded at festivals.”
 
Love Your Tent aims to inspire festival attendees to change their behaviour and attitudes towards tent waste, which the group says has a negative impact on festival sustainability. LYT’s ‘RESPECT’ campaign, launched in 2012 at Isle of Wight Festival, gives campers the opportunity of a VIP camping experience. Participants sign LYT’s ‘Tent Commandments’, a code of practice that pledges to leave the site free of waste.
 
“Thanks to the great support and work by Bucks, we can see how much work still needs to be done to encourage a change in audience behaviour,” said LYT’s founder and director of Eco Action Partnership Juliet Ross-Kelly. “By targeting festivals to reduce their campsite waste by 10 per cent year on year, we are leading a change that will help to protect festival culture for future generations.”
 
Love Your Tent and Bucks New University are driving their campaign forward this festival season with the hashtag #JustTakeItHome.
 
Do you have news for Access All Areas? Email Emma Hudson

Campsite waste contributes 86 per cent of total music festival waste, according to a new survey by campaign group Love Your Tent (LYT) and Buckinghamshire New University.
 
More than 70 per cent of this waste causes lasting land damage to the native flora of festival sites. The survey, which included 1,200 international respondents, revealed that 60 per cent of festivalgoers discard their tents, with 36 per cent saying they didn’t know if this behaviour would change. Another 35 per cent said they would never change their behaviour.
 
LYT and Bucks New University are now calling on festival organisers and retailers to end the ‘wasteland culture’ at festivals.
 
“It’s time for retailers to take their share of the responsibility and work with event organisers to tackle this problem,” said Teresa Moore, head of the music and event management department at Bucks New Univeristy.
 
The partial culprit of the waste is the tent retail market, which is flooded with cheap products. The survey found that 46 per cent paid less than £75 and that 60 per cent left their tent behind because it was broken.
 
“What we found confirms a growing problem, which is not confined just to the UK,” Moore said. “As tent prices continue to fall, more cheap tents are discarded at festivals.”
 
Love Your Tent aims to inspire festival attendees to change their behaviour and attitudes towards tent waste, which the group says has a negative impact on festival sustainability. LYT’s ‘RESPECT’ campaign, launched in 2012 at Isle of Wight Festival, gives campers the opportunity of a VIP camping experience. Participants sign LYT’s ‘Tent Commandments’, a code of practice that pledges to leave the site free of waste.
 
“Thanks to the great support and work by Bucks, we can see how much work still needs to be done to encourage a change in audience behaviour,” said LYT’s founder and director of Eco Action Partnership Juliet Ross-Kelly. “By targeting festivals to reduce their campsite waste by 10 per cent year on year, we are leading a change that will help to protect festival culture for future generations.”
 
Love Your Tent and Bucks New University are driving their campaign forward this festival season with the hashtag #JustTakeItHome.
 
Do you have news for Access All Areas? Email Emma Hudson