When the music fades and the final acts leave the stage, festival-goers begin the daunting trek back to camp, the arduous task of packing up ahead of them.
As the cars and busses trail out of the festival grounds leaving carbon emissions behind them, volunteers begin to weave their way through the campsites.
From discarded tents, air mattresses and broken chairs to doof sticks, empty cans and clothing, a sea of waste awaits them.
For many music festivals, the clean-up operation reveals the uncomfortable reality that is the environmental footprint left behind after the music stops.
Behind the music, art and community atmosphere lies a growing environmental challenge and as Australia’s festival industry progresses, organisers are searching for ways to reduce waste and encourage more sustainable behaviour among attendees.
The scale of waste increases dramatically alongside attendance numbers, with smaller festivals generating only around 10-15 tons and larger festivals generating between 100-300 tons.
Carbon offsetting has become an increasingly popular strategy for festivals seeking to reduce their environmental impact.
By funding projects such as reforestation and ecosystem restoration, organisers can address unavoidable emissions generated by travel, energy use and event operations.
Treecreds managing director, Lea Lewin said that through data collection and carbon modelling, Treecreds helps organisers manage waste impacts, understand where their emissions come from and invest in projects that may compensate.
“We set up a team at the gates who collect data about the type of car it is, where it came from, the type of fuel that they use, as well as how many people are in the car,” Ms Lewin said.
“We might take a sample of 1,000 cars, and then we extrapolate that data with our modelling to show what we think the emissions are for the entire festival.”
However, Ms Lewin has advised that carbon offsetting should merely complement, rather than replace, efforts to reduce emissions at the source.
“Some people think that we’ll just offset and they don’t have any motivation to bring down their absolute emissions,” she said.
Instead, she highlights the importance of practical actions such as carpooling and investing in quality camping gear, that can be reused and not left behind.
Green Music Australia (GMA) chief executive, Berish Bilander, told the ABC that campsite waste due to attendee carelessness was a long-standing and contentious issue.
“More than half of the waste that comes out of these events is from the campsites,” Mr Bilander said.
“Thousands of pieces of very cheap camping gear come through the gates only to end up in the trash a day later.”
One standard tent is equivalent to approximately 8,750 plastic straws, and GMA has found that one in three tents taken to a music festival are left behind.
Mr Bilander said that changing the consumerist mindset of festival-goers is amongst the biggest hurdles.
“It’s all about the ethics of the people at the event; if everyone is holding each other accountable, they’ll leave the place cleaner than they found it,” he said.
“We’ve seen that work when a festival has that energy, and there’s a real commitment to either borrow or not bring low-cost camping gear.”
RMIT Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Sustainability, Ben Cooke has explained that managing attendee behaviour and convenience is just as important as tangible sustainability efforts.
“Festivals can provide an escape for people, and for some, this can include an escape from a sense of responsibility for things like sustainable practices or considerations,” he said.
“Where sustainability initiatives are inconvenient, and extra effort is required to participate in them, then they are far less likely to succeed.”
There are many ways for festival goers to minimise their environmental footprint, including carpooling, reusing camping gear, packing reusable water bottles, discarding rubbish and utilising recycling stations.
Although overflowing bins and abandoned camping gear are often seen as the biggest environmental problems associated with music festivals, carbon emissions tell a different story.
Data shows that audience travel accounts for 64 per cent of a festival’s carbon footprint, making it the largest source of emissions.
Ms Lewin said that transport has remained one of the most significant sustainability challenges Australian music festivals are facing.
“The biggest contributors are definitely attendee travel,” she said.
“As well as probably artist travel.”
Ms Lewin has estimated that for regional camping festivals, travel-related emissions can account for up to 80 per cent of a festival’s overall footprint.
This challenge is particularly relevant for regional festivals such as Strawberry Fields and Pitch Music and Arts, which attract attendees from across Victoria, New South Wales and beyond.
Strawberry Fields is leading the way for sustainability amongst Australian festivals with the implementation of their Rewash Revolution, ‘Leave No Trace’ campaign, carbon offsetting and composting toilets.
Operating as a cashless festival enables Strawberry Fields to enforce its Rewash Revolution, where a $5 deposit is added to all food and drink purchases, and this amount is then refunded once the crockery is returned to the rewash station.
GMA research found that over 90 per cent of the 10,000 festival attendees used the rewash system, and of 5,000 plates, 3,000 bowls and 5,600 cups that were purchased, 82 per cent of the stock was retained post-festival.
The festival is also powered through 100 per cent biodiesel fuel, and they offset 100 per cent of their carbon emissions through Treecreds.
Mr Cooke said that while such initiatives can help reduce environmental impact, it was important that they are implemented effectively so that festival attendees do not feel as though they are solely responsibe.
“I think things like reusable cutlery and crockery can be very helpful and provide a clear signal that festival organisers are thinking about their responsibilities, but where they are poorly managed or not integrated into a proper system, they can also have the opposite effect,” Mr Cooke said.
“For example, a reusable system that has insufficient washing and drying facilities, or limited access to clean water for washing, risks building resentment that sustainability is being treated as solely a personal responsibility, rather than being an integrated and systematic responsibility led by festival organisers and regulating authorities.”
From the journey to the festival grounds to the footprint left behind, the future of sustainable festivals will ultimately be shaped by the choices made by organisers and attendees alike.
