This eco-friendly festival gear, is ideal if you like going to musical festivals. The real (not good) surprise is that after the lockdown, instead of people appreciating nature, it seems half the world came out and littered the campsites, parks and beaches with broken bottles, cigarette butts and trash. All unsightly and damaging to wildlife too.
In Germany, Waterkant Festival is the first to be totally zero waste. From recycled furniture (unpainted) to paper straws and cloth napkins, this shows how it can be done. There is so little waste that only one big bin was fulled during the entire festival. See the Zero Waste tag to find out where to buy reusable straws, coffee cups, water bottles, phone covers and everything else.
Eco-Friendly Festival Gear
- KarTent is a Dutch invention. Made from strong cardboard, it keeps you in the dark at night, and protects against the elements. It also prevents the huge waste of nylon tents, as it biodegrades after use. Tents are pretty easy to leave in the event of fire, and these don’t have ropes to trip over. And you can buy a matching cardboard chair to sit outside.
- Eco Glitter Fun is a biodegradable alternative to toxic plastic glitter, used often at music and camping festivals. This is made from biodegradable cellulose film, to reduce the impact of microplastics in our waterways and oceans.
- Full Circle Festival Survival Kit is a bit different, as everything’s zero waste. It contains anti-bacterial hand gel, a bamboo toothbrush and toothpaste in a tin, no-rinse bodywash, a reusable towel a dry shampoo and an anti-perspirant (in aluminium).
- Look for wellies made from rubber over PVC (wash with fresh water and dry naturally, keep away from heat). Gumleaf is a good brand from Norfolk. Good choices for children are Frugi Puddle Buster Wellies, Muddy Puddles and JoJo Mama Bébé.
- Use zero waste feminine care products. Often camping toilets have no water supply, and you shouldn’t flush disposables down the loo anyway. Choose from reusable washable towels or menstrual cups are probably a good choice for camping and festivals. You can even buy organic ‘period underwear’ that you wash when you get home.
- If you smoke, Boodi is a personal ashtray that immediately distinguishes cigarettes, to safely dispose of later on. If you are visiting a beach festival, the beach version has a hole in the bottom. You fill it with sand to extinguish the butt (then let the sand out the bottom). Then again dispose of in a bin, when you find one. Festivals can help by offering litter bins for cigarette butts and chewing gum (most contain xylitol, which is toxic to dogs and wildlife if they get hold of it).
- If you are drinking beer, then choose cans wrapped in biodegradable cardboard. This is likely better than glass, which can cause issues for wildlife if smashed, but eliminates those lethal plastic wraps. Stella Artois sell vegan beer in cardboard packaging. If they can do it, so can everyone else.
- Campsites can install Natsol composting toilets. These are clean, modern and easy to use, and they offer versions for disabled festival goers.
- Evercreatures sells the funkiest rubber wellies in the world, for adults & childrenBillygoats & Raincoats makes children’s raincoats from discarded tents at music festivals (that keep you dry, just like a tent does). Until people start buying biodegradable tents, there are millions of discarded tents, that are left in rivers and fields, or dumped in landfills. With designs inspired by the Brecon Beacons, these coats (sold with matching totes) are wind-breaking & waterproof. Free repairs, for the first year.
Frugi (Cornwall) makes lovely PuddleBuster clothing for children, made from recycled plastic bottles. In fun designs, there are coats, jackets and waterproof trousers, all ethically made and sent in biodegradable packaging, made from potatoes. You can also buy matching wellies (made from rubber, free from PVC).
