Sustainability has finally made its way to the forefront of the festival community. More and more, events continue to introduce new green programs each year, showing us that sustainability is a concept that festival culture is collectively striving to achieve and improve upon.

“We’ve made sustainable choices in the background since the beginning, but the biggest change we’ve noticed is that it has come to the forefront of patron’s concerns.” said Laura Sohn, sustainability coordinator for Bonnaroo . “It’s [environmental sustainability at festivals] become a more mainstream issue. ”

Bonnaroo has been a trailblazer in music festival sustainability, through their 13 Years of Green commitment, since before it became a dominant issue in the global festival community. The festival’s greening initiatives have continued to grow and evolve with the festival as technology and education converge and the festival’s size grows. In fact, Bonnaroo was the first major US festival to power itself with a permanent solar installation.

Additionally, Bonnaroo was recognized by A Greener Festival with a commended award. Only two other US festivals have been recognized with this award: Lightning in a Bottle and smaller third-year festival Northern Nights Music Festival. Winning one isn't easy – all festivals recognized with A Greener Festival Award are closely evaluated on-site during the event by one of the organization’s representatives, and are required to fill out a rigorous self-assessment.

Festival organizers are making leaps and bounds to make their events more environmentally friendly, but the real question is: Are we, as festival-goers, truly holding ourselves accountable, or has sustainability become an empty promise on our end? To help keep up our end of the bargain, we asked the sustainability experts at both Bonnaroo and Northern Nights Music Festival to share ways we can all contribute to a sustainable, eco-friendly festival culture.

“Everybody has limitations, but we want to encourage you to do the best you can,” said Zoe Dagan, Northern Nights Sustainability Coordinator. “We’re never going to be perfect, but we can strive for perfection and we can certainly set the intention to improve along the way.”

Carpool to a Festival

Not only is carpooling an easy way to be greener at your favorite festival, it’s also an incredibly fun economical solution that can help you make new festie friends, and save money on gas. Several green festivals, like Bonnaroo (http://www.bonnaroo.com/get-involved/sustainability) and Coachella (https://www.coachella.com/sustainability/carpoolchella/) have taken the initiative to coordinate carpool solutions so that festival-goers can do their part in reducing their C02 emitted into the atmosphere.

Bring Your Own Dishes/Cup [BYOD]

Image courtesy of Envision Festival

This is huge. Bringing your own cup and dishware can dramatically lower landfill waste and contribute to the greater good of sustaining our planet. Imagine a festival where no one used or threw away a paper plate or plastic cup – now envision how much more beautiful that festival ground would be. If you don’t have a reusable drinking device, many festivals sell or lend reusable items, and have water stations where they can be refilled for free. Bonnaroo’s Refill Revolution is one great example of providing patrons the option of buying reusable cups and utensils to use during the entire festival and beyond.

Envision Festival in Costa Rica takes this concept to the next level by not selling any paper or plastic dishes and cups. An entire reusable dish set is offered for loan or purchase to use during the festival (and after). These can be washed after each use, stored at camp, then brought back to be re-used when you’re hungry or thirsty again.

Pack a Bandana or Reusable Napkin

These can be used for a number of things, just like paper towels. You can dry your hands on a bandana or reusable napkin, wipe your nose with it, and then wash it when needed. This eliminates paper waste and helps conserve trees across the world.

Volunteer to Be An Eco Ambassador

Envision Festival's Permaculture Action Day, photo by Art Gimbel

Festivals across the nation offer attendees opportunities to give back to the sustainable fest community through green ambassador programs (and many of them let you work off your ticket this way too). The details for each of these programs vary from festival to festival, like Northern Night’s program to Bonnaroo’s program, but all festivals provide their eco and green ambassadors the fulfilling experience of making festival culture more environmentally friendly through spreading education and awareness.

Take Permaculture Action

Last year, a team of permaculture educators teamed up with another trailblazer, activist and DJ The Polish Ambassador, to create the Pushing Through The Pavement Tour. This tour was made up of educational presentations and workshops at TPA shows in big venues and community spaces to facilitate project builds and sustainable living centers across the nation. See photos from the Permaculture Action Day we at Fest300 joined in on during Envision Festival 2015 in Costa Rica.

While festival-goers can learn a lot about how to be green from the festival community, festivals can also learn many things from their patrons. Bonnaroo truly embraced this concept when it began reaching out to its patrons about what environmental sustainability efforts they would like to see at the festival in 2016, when the permanent solar installation is paid off. Bonnaroo patrons can let their voice be heard on this issue via the festival’s census and social media polling.

Summer Camp Festival activist, photo by Abby Fox

“We value building trust with patrons,” said Laura. “We don’t throw that party [Bonnaroo] for ourselves, we build a partnership with everyone.”

The most important thing to remember? It's all a work in progress, and baby steps count.

“Everybody has limitations, but we want to encourage you to do the best you can,” said Zoe Dagan, Northern Nights Sustainability Coordinator. “We’re never going to be perfect, but we can strive for perfection and we can certainly set the intention to improve along the way.”