Humans are messy animals, and nothing produces a mess quite like 50,000 people sharing a campground for four days. Lucky for the environment, most music festivals are jumping on board the greening bandwagon. For example, the Rothbury Sustainable Music Festival attempts to get close to zero-waste. At 10000 Lakes, campers were given three bags — one for compost, one for recyclables, and one for trash.
Even if your festival of choice doesn’t offer many options, it’s pretty easy to green up. Here is a quick reference of items commonly found in campgrounds and festival grounds that can be composted and/ or recycled.
*Anything that was once living will compost, however, some items should be avoided like meat and dairy as they can attract vermin.
Compost This!
- Paper napkins
- Leaves
- Matches
- Paper towels
- Grass
- Weeds
- Coffee grounds
- Wood ashes
- Tea bags
- Shredded newspapers
- Egg shells
- Corncobs
- Jell-o
- Kleenex
- Soy milk
- Flower petals
- Tobacco wastes
- Nut shells
- Shredded cardboard
- Tofu
- Fruit
- Brown paper bags
- Vegetables
- Old beer
- Beer cups made out of corn
- Paper plates
Recycle This!
- Aluminum cans
- Aluminum foil
- Cardboard
- Food cans
- Newspaper
- Plastic bottles
- Tin cans
- Glass bottles and jars
- Paper