APRIL | THE ANATOMY OF…
Green field thinking
Powerful Thinking’s fourth annual Industry Green Survey shows
that more event organisers are embedding sustainability into their
operations and getting savvy with waste and energy in 2018
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0 events took part in the 4th
annual Festival Industry Green
Survey for 2018, run by industry
steering group Powerful Thinking.
The survey asked festivals organisers
what sustainability measures they
put in place last year in key areas
such as waste, travel, energy, about
barriers to implementing initiatives
and plans for next season.
The results show that more
organisers are committing resources
to their sustainability initiatives.
Events are becoming increasingly
savvy about energy efficiency onsite
and reducing environmental impacts
across the board. Tackling waste is
the number one priority for most
events - the most striking change
compared to 2017 is that three
quarters of events state that they
have checked what happens to their
waste when it leaves site.
In a year when 65 AIF festivals
committed to becoming plastic
disposable-free as part of the
Drastic on Plastic campaign,
there is a definite move towards
sustainability becoming embedded
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into the way the sector is delivering
events. More festivals than
ever have appointed a dedicated
sustainability role, are working with
suppliers to increase fuel efficiency,
and working with audiences and
suppliers on measuring and reducing
environmental impacts of travel.
• 3 out of 4 organisers have checked
where their waste is going in 2018,
a dramatic increase from previous
years
• In the 2017 survey 58% of event
organisers stated that they were
monitoring energy. This has risen
to 80% in 2018, demonstrating that
the trend toward organisers taking
fuel efficiency seriously is now
firmly established
• Grid connection has emerged
for green field events an area to
explore with more greenfield event
organisers stating they are using a
grid connection than in 2017
• 58% of organisers state that they
offer or intend to offer carbon
balancing to tackle audience travel,
compared to 25% in 2017