Hats Off to the Splendour Organisers
Splendour in the Grass, one of the coolest festivals on the calender has come to a close for yet another successful year . With a line-up boasting hip-hop giants Outkast, the return of Lily Allen and acoustic band City & Colour, as well as the Very Small Mall and the rather decadent Moet Champagne Bar, it’s little surprise that it was attended by celebs from all over the globe. But there’s much more to Splendour than cool music and fashion. With Camp Little-foot Print and a whole host of eco-friendly measures, Splendour is one of the greenest (and happiest) festivals in the country.
The main drive behind Camp Little-foot Print was to encourage folk to embrace a more sustainable attitude towards festival life – instead of letting their tents languish in landfill once the weekend was over. In order to stay in Camp Little-foot Print, festival-goers had to abide by a few criteria, including the use of sturdy gear that could be used repeatedly, getting maximum use out of items such as crockery and cups, offsetting their public transport or driving to the festival with at least 3 people in the vehicle, keeping the campsite clean and respecting everyone else on site as well as the natural surroundings of the site – i.e. not weeing in a bush. Festival-goers were also asked to plant a tree as part of Splendour’s Tree Planting initiative. In return, they had a great campsite spot – right next to the festival entrace – a happy camp with fab vibes and personal pick-up from their car to camp at the beginning and end of the festival. Not only that, as an added bonus, the campers deemed to be the most sustainable at the end of the festival were awarded Gold Bar tickets for next year’s Splendour in the Grass – a pretty big deal!
To help campers who were new to the idea of sustainability and eco-friendly living, the Green Chiefs were on board, walking through the camps and giving advice, guidance and generally making sure that everything was running ship-shape. Living in teepees, these science students and professionals have again proven that knowledge is power: the more people know, the more they can do. The Green Chiefs were supported by the Green Team, armed with bags and litter pickers and on the lookout for recyclable materials, who kept the festival clean and tidy.
Making sure everyone was doing their bit to look after the environment were the Eco Cops. Dressed as cops – yep, actual cops – it was their job to remind people that Splendour is environmentally friendly and sustainable, encouraging responsible waste disposal and recycling.
Splendour’s organisers are fully committed to making sure that they leave a positive stamp on the environment – so following on from the successful Tree Planting initiative last year, they did exactly the same thing this year, identified a suitable location for the trees, gathered native tree varieties and got Camp Little-foot Print residents to plant 2,000 trees, doing their part to re-populate the North Byron Parklands with vegetation.
Now, if only every other festival could be the same, right?
