PILTON, England (CelebrityAccess) Organizers of Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, England have announced single-use plastic bottles will be banned from sale at this year’s June 26-30 massive gathering.
Plastic bottles will also no longer be supplied or available in any of the festival’s backstage, production, catering and dressing room areas.
“Our partners Greenpeace estimate that, globally, up to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans each year. Greenpeace advise that by far the best way to avoid plastic pollution is to reduce plastic usage. With more than one million plastic bottles sold at Glastonbury 2017, we feel that stopping their sale is the only way forward,” Glastonbury organizers said. “For those wishing to drink water – which we certainly do recommend! – we are, once again, encouraging all Festival-goers to use a reusable water bottle and refill it at any of the hundreds of free water taps around the Glastonbury site. We have a mains water supply from Bristol Water, with water of the same quality as your taps at home.”
A festival spokesman told the BBC that more than 1 million plastic bottles were sold at the 2017 event.
The festival had already phased out plastic cutlery and plates from food vendors, and single-use plastic cups and straws were also banned, in step with a commitment last year by festival operators of corporate and independent events. Festival Republic and AEG / Goldenvoice, and Live Nation / MAMA are some of the promoters banning the items from last year’s events. jA “Drastic on Plastic” campaign by the Association of Independent Festivals pledged to “eliminate single-use plastics at our event(s) within 3 years.”
The top is expected to be discussed at the Green Events & Innovations Conference, in association with the ILMC, March 5.
“It’s paramount for our planet that we all reduce our plastic consumption,” Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis said, “and I’m thrilled that, together, we’ll be able to prevent over a million single-use plastic bottles from being used at this year’s Festival. I really hope that everyone – from ticket-holder to headliner – will leave Worthy Farm this year knowing that even small, everyday changes can make a real difference. It’s now or never.”
This year’s event includes Janelle Monae, Stormzy and Kylie Minogue. The festival had a “fallow year” in 2018 to allow the festival grounds to recover.
h/t IQ Magazine
