Bay Dreams proactive on tent abandonment

Friday, 23 August 2019

The Bay Dreams festival's clean record with waste reduction has Nelson City Council hopeful for a repeat next year.

Councillor Tim Skinner, chair of the sports and recreation committee, praised festival director Toby Burrows and other organisers for their handling of the first Bay Dreams festival in Nelson.

'Bay Dreams was proactive for their first event here, and started on waste reduction last summer with messaging to ticket holders asking them to look after Nelson, and an aim to reduce and reuse discarded tents at the campgrounds,' Skinner said.

Of the 20,000 festival-goers, approximately 6500 camped at either Saxton Field or Rutherford park. Skinner said at Rutherford 20 per cent of the tents, about 300, were abandoned, and all of them were repurposed by community groups.

**READ MORE:

* Festivals, events push back against throwaway culture

* Bay Dreams campsites cleared for use again

* 'Camp-ageddon': Warehouse under pressure over throwaway tents**

'Saxton Field had only 5 per cent [about 250] of tents left behind, which was a great result, and 60 per cent of these were taken by community groups for repurposing.

'This was a solid result for the first event, as other festivals have experienced up to 80 per cent of the tents discarded at their campgrounds,' Skinner said.

Awareness has been growing over the abandonment of cheap camping equipment, often used for festivals and treated as disposable by attendees.

More than 500 tents, as well as other camping equipment like folding chairs and air-mattresses, were left behind after this year's Soundsplash Festival in Raglan.

Skinner said that waste minimisation was a priority for the city council.

'We are in active discussion with the organisers of Bay Dreams to explore further steps for 2020 and beyond, particularly when it comes to reducing single-use plastic and further reducing waste associated with activities such as camping.'