Greenfest

Foreword by Peter Noble:

When Bluesfest began it was a Blues Music Festival in a country where none occurred. As a result of East Coast Blues Festival's success, many Music Festivals began all over Australia and as the Bluesfest matured, a unique way of presenting music took shape.

Bluesfest has won many awards both in Australia and around the world. Festival Director Peter Noble's vision for the event became clearer: "Bluesfest features musicians who have something to say on the Planet, this may be by being the finest players of their respective instruments, or it may be by sharing their culture and particularly social justice issues in the content of their music, of which I am proud to present".

"Bluesfest is a peaceful gathering of people from around the world. A marriage of diverse cultures, religions and beliefs is the unifying factor of the positive nature in the Artists that I book."

"I believe there is a message that is universal and that is why I book an event that is meant to be seen and heard by all ages and backgrounds. It is about bringing everyone together."

"Doing the right thing is what should be done anyway and I have up till now not publicised our ongoing commitment to social and environmental responsibility. However, I see the importance of increasing public awareness of all the environmental issues and to lead by demonstration."

Bluesfest demonstrates its commitment to environmental sustainability.

Bluesfest has had many years experience as a green event organisation incorporating imagination and ethics. Peter Noble has spoken about the benefits of running a 'green' festival: "We have been recycling and using corn starch plates, plantation timber cutlery and delivery of green compost to local organic gardens for a decade. When we do move, it will be to a green site. We will be installing wind and solar power, we will have bio-diesel, we will strive to be the best and we will have the same motives through the whole festival". Excerpts from Echo April 3rd 2007.

Bluesfest organisers are committed to the principles of environmental sustainability and they actively pursue opportunities to implement these principles in the management of the festival. Peter Noble quotes: "We always try to find 'green' solutions for every situation and with the purchase of land; Bluesfest is dedicated to the ongoing challenge of climate change issues with the intention to keep developing the area and the festival as sustainable as possible. Our volunteers in recycling are given a great learning experience every year by Bluesfest resident recycologist Bruce 'the Pixie', who not only trains them in this area but also gets them to present a play on recycling to festival goers during the event."

Each year Bluesfest creates a novel and successful integration between traditional concert and festival cultural values. Events normally reserved for major arenas and concert halls are presented in a regional field, more commonly used for local football matches. Local residents and visitors who have attended the festivals at the local rugby league ground were always amazed at the transformation from football oval to music festival and revel in the unique staging of the event.

The logistical and infrastructural challenges that are presented by the staging of Bluesfest demand creative solutions and the creation of strong partnerships between event organisers and Byron Shire Council. The support, vision and ingenuity of the Byron Shire Council are a vital component in the successful staging of each event and the resultant implementation of environmental sustainability principles throughout the project.

Minimizing negative impacts of ongoing business practices and activities

The 2008 Bluesfest marks its seventh year with Veolia Environmental Services (VES) Pty Ltd (formerly Collex Pty Ltd) is involved in the event. As with each previous year VES has taken has gained experiences and refined the processes to ensure a smoother, cleaner and more environmentally friendly event.

The focus is a clean and green event. The volunteers assist VES to ensure that the site is recycled to its fullest potential.

VES reassess the requirements of the site to ensure that each key area is managed and sufficient receptacles are available for use by the festival goers each day, and that the site is clean right from the beginning. Two collection vehicles are utilised, one for General Waste and one for Recycling, which leads to reduced contamination of the recycling product and increased tonnages that are presented for recycling.

Two rear lift collection vehicles are used. One dedicated to the collection of non-recyclable product and the other for recycling product, along with 4 large 15m and 27m hook lift containers for cardboard and recyclables. Each vehicle is emptied following the nightly clean, to ensure that odour and other issues associated with the collection vehicles are kept to a minimum.

The product is transported from the festival to the Byron Shire Council Transfer Station, where VES negotiate the use of the facility with 2 x 60m bulk containers. The first 60m container is general waste which is transferred from the facility to VES TiTree BioEnergy facility, west of Brisbane. The facility is a state of the art site which converts waste into clean energy.

The second 60m container is for the collection of the recyclable product, which is transported to Visy Recycling at Gibson Island in Brisbane. At this site the product is presented and processed through the MRF facility, which allows for the sorting of the various products for recycling.

For many years already organisers have actively promoted the thesis: "Waste Wise - Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle". a cry on all promotions including festival tickets, drink tickets, posters, flyers, advertisements, letterhead, faxes, emails, staff T-shirts, vests and on site banners. Bluesfest also creates Screen ads to further promote the "Waste Wise" message, and these are played at regular intervals on the big screens in each tent while volunteers move through crowds to collect rubbish and encourage attendees to dispose of waste thoughtfully. The Waste Wise message is followed right through to the organiser's office, where all office materials are recycled and reused. Additionally, Bluesfest is a sponsor of the BEC (Byron Environment Centre) BIN-YA-BUTT concept - using recycled film canisters as pocket ashtrays targets this form of litter.

Bluesfest only allow recyclable packaging and plastic on site from stalls and suppliers and there are clearly marked recycling stations placed around the site. Alongside the regular recycling stations are smaller bins for all food scraps, plates and cutlery. All food stalls on site use compostable plates and utensils. All plastic glasses are *PET Code 1 and cardboard generated at the Festival are recycled and reused in the production of other items. No glass is allowed on site. One of Bluesfest's innovations was to get beer suppliers to supply beer without plastic ring neck packaging, almost a decade ago now. This means not only less non-recyclable waste but also less chance of animals getting the product caught around their necks. The organisers noticed that, nationally, beer suppliers stopped supplying plastic ring neck packaging shortly after.

After each Bluesfest event, the Land is returned to its original state with the policy: Aim for Zero Waste and 'leave no trace'.
*PET Code 1 (Polyethylene Terephthalate).
Code 1 is the highest degradable quality and the most recyclable form of plastic.