Cycling UK Forum

There would have to be some profit in recycling before it became commonplace. Tents that cost £25, will have the mark up for the retailers, manufacturers profits, packaging and transportation to be taken into account before you get down to what the materials cost. It's hard to see that that's likely to be more than a fiver, and easy to see why recovering any of that isn't profitable.
Waste is a by-product of over consumption and that is an essential feature of the worlds economic model. You can do whatever makes you happy and eases your sense of blame, but you're kidding yourself if you think it's anymore than scratching the surface of the symptom and doing nothing about the cause.

But like I said, it's a bit hard to avoid. TV is on, front page every day of the Guardian website. And now it's David Attenborough:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... astic-free

Here's a lovely quote from a festival goer:

When you look around you hardly see any plastic,

He's literally surrounded by it and sleeps every night encased in it (tent, sleeping bag and clothing). And yet doesn't see it. Quite extraordinary. Well it's Sunday so the moment of truth nears and we shall see the pictures tomorrow I expect.

I really must try to go to Glastonbury festival next year, on an e-bike, then I shall be qualified to talk about both

The Cure...40 years young! What a performance, WoW! My pic was taken in Hyde Park at their concert in Hyde Park last summer. People (and many Goths) from Russia, the US, Japan were there, it was baking then too.

Al

By all accounts the standard has been very high (as usual?) and the warm weather put everyone in a good mood (well, except me ). My complaint is that such a fantastic festival does not have to be an environmental disaster: the organisers have done their bit, now it is up to the punters.

Horizon, from what I have seen with only one exception all festivals are much the same although they all make token green noises. Reading, mostly young teenagers is probably the worst and the End of the Road is probably one of the best. Glastonbury is a big bowl in which water will accumulate and turn into mud. The overwhelming odour, despite the organisers best efforts, is of poo.

Al

Other events ban the sale of products from certain food companies
One of the performers had to hurry off, 'I am flying to Belgium', she explained
Reaching Belgium by train is quite easy, might even be quicker than flying
..
What would Greta say?

horizon wrote:But like I said, it's a bit hard to avoid. TV is on, front page every day of the Guardian website. And now it's David Attenborough:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... astic-free

Here's a lovely quote from a festival goer:

When you look around you hardly see any plastic,

He's literally surrounded by it and sleeps every night encased in it (tent, sleeping bag and clothing). And yet doesn't see it. Quite extraordinary. Well it's Sunday so the moment of truth nears and we shall see the pictures tomorrow I expect.

In case anyone's wondering, I can testify that Mr horizon has a keyboard made from sustainable forest wood, a hemp monitor, and an internet connection based on walking to the nearest exchange and collecting the bytes by hand.

An inspiration to us all!

mattheus wrote:In case anyone's wondering, I can testify that Mr horizon has a keyboard made from sustainable forest wood, a hemp monitor, and an internet connection based on walking to the nearest exchange and collecting the bytes by hand.

An inspiration to us all!

And I won't be leaving it on a field in Somerset. Unless you are proposing that nobody need do anything. There are some things we can do, some problems that can be addressed. This is one of them. It's totemic: if a gathering of 250,000 young-in-age-or-heart people out to enjoy life and the open air cannot do the minimum but indeed make things much worse in that particular vicinity, then I (nearly) give up. Even if it is only out of respect to the wonderful old man who has given them their festival.

I think we have a right and duty to point it out (and yes, as always, get accused of all sorts of hypocrisy). Small, lightweight plastic tents are part of what this forum is about: for us they are a huge plus, it is a shame if they became a huge minus.

This is what Glastonbury says:

https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ ... -leave-it/

I think that David A's previous boycott of Glastonbury had had little effect, so an alternative approach may have been helpful in focusing minds, perhaps?

The problem with tents at festivals like Glastonbury is the walk from the parking to the campings sites can be quite long. It encourages people to abandon the tent, as they can't be bothered to carry it for miles through the mud.

Go to a smaller festival like Cropredy, where you pitch your tent next to your vehicle, and hey presto, no tents abandoned.

And don't assume it's all young people, Glastonbury is as much a middle class festival for the middle aged these days.

iandriver wrote:The problem with tents at festivals like Glastonbury is the walk from the parking to the campings sites can be quite long. It encourages people to abandon the tent, as they can't be bothered to carry it for miles through the mud.

Go to a smaller festival like Cropredy, where you pitch your tent next to your vehicle, and hey presto, no tents abandoned.

And don't assume it's all young people, Glastonbury is as much a middle class festival for the middle aged these days.

Maybe the problem is that they allow parking at all. If everyone had to carry all of their stuff by public transport or active travel, they could carry it out again when they leave.

The statement "no single-use plastics" is both too broad and too narrow. The Festival declares they will not be using single-use plastics, thinking of identifiable consumer end products such as bottles and plates. Do their stage crews use non-plastic gaffer tape? What happens to offcuts of wiring? Etc.

But tents are not distributed by the Festival. The partygoers bring them in. They might also have plastic bottles, cups and so on. Not to mention cling film on their sandwiches! (sandwiches?!). You can ask them not to but policing it is impossible on that scale. The Festival here is being held responsible for others' actions.

Bmblbzzz wrote: Do their stage crews use non-plastic gaffer tape? What happens to offcuts of wiring? Etc.

Hopefully they too dispose of stuff responsibly but at festivals one person with a small amount of waste is multiplied thousands of times - 1.3 million bottles for example.

But tents are not distributed by the Festival. The partygoers bring them in. They might also have plastic bottles, cups and so on. Not to mention cling film on their sandwiches! (sandwiches?!). You can ask them not to but policing it is impossible on that scale. The Festival here is being held responsible for others' actions

The festival seems to have got its act together and my complaint is with the attendees. Having said that, they could find ways to enforce their ideas, e.g. by having a deposit scheme for tents. In the link above, you can certainly see that their heart is in the right place.

My point is that the festival organisers are being held responsible for the actions of individual festival visitors. To an extent, of course, they are responsible: but that's a small part of society's responsibility for the actions of the individuals within it. Consumerism, etc.