We’ve just received the most fantastic Christmas present ever! We’re over the moon to announce that Shambala is the first and only festival to have achieved a five star Creative Green industry certification!
This certification takes into account all aspects of an event’s environmental performance. Previously, we had achieved 4 stars, which in itself is something to be very proud of but we were determined to take it to the next level in 2017 and aim for that elusive fifth star. After a lot of hard work, our results came in and some serious high-fiving commenced!
Our previous environmental initiatives, which had helped us achieve 4 star rating in the past, include:
- Being 100% renewably powered
- Going meat and fish free to minimise emissions (and start debate about how what we put on our plates affects our planet).
- Managing our transport sustainably.
- Reducing the carbon footprint of the event by 81% in five years
- Banning sales of single use plastics on site (as part of our Bring A Bottle initiative)
- Ensuring our Food Traders use only biodegradable plates/cups/cutlery, use fair-trade, organic and local produce wherever possible and use non-toxic cleaning products
To take it to the next level, this year we implemented:
- Innovations such as monitoring the energy use of every cafe to deign a pay-per-use charging tariff in 2018 to encourage efficiency.
- A 25% increase in recycling and a reduction in waste – a third less per person!
- Getting everyone in the organisation up-to-speed by sharing information internally
- Our Bring A Cup campaign – our latest weapon in the fight against disposables
Read the full report HERE.
SEE OUR CERTIFICATE HERE.
We’ve worked hard toward this for several years, and it’s testament to the whole festival team, innovative and committed contractors, the food stalls we work with, and our brilliant audience, working together. Shambala is about doing things right and pushing the boundaries. It’s great to be recognised – it shines a light on what we achieve – but the story is far from over. Every one of us, in whatever way we can, must take active steps to co-create the future we want to be part of – let’s keep pushing.
We say it every time, but it’s true: our green successes and achievements would be no more than pipe dreams, if we didn’t have thousands of supportive, enthusiastic and climate-conscious Shambalans on the case each year – this is a team effort and a win for us all – congratulations, and a big soppy THANK YOU.
Love, the Shambala team x