Organisers of the A Greener Festival programme have announced that numerous UK festivals have now signed up to their previously reported scheme to promote more environmentally friendly practices in the live music arena. The eco-championing group announced earlier this month that they were launching a new award scheme through which they would formally acknowledge festivals which improve their environmental efficiency, promote green issues and commit to an 'A-Z of green priorities'. Organisers said this weekend that Glastonbury, Latitude, Download, Wireless, Hyde Park Calling, Bestival, Truck, Workshouse, Summer Sundae Weekender and the Carling Weekend were among the live music events who had already signed up to the scheme. Talks are now ongoing with festivals in the US, Australia, Finland and Serbia with a view to them also signing up.
Commenting on the awards programme, A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis told CMU: "The Greener Festival 2007 award is to promote greening practices at music festivals. We don't expect festivals to be able to meet every single point on our check list but they must reach a minimum standard. They need at the very least to have a coherent transport and travel policy promoting public transport; they must consider ways to reduce waste and pollution; they must have recycling on site and they must protect the environment and protect wildlife. We also expect festivals to aspire to a 26 point action plan - our A-Z of going green - and by 2008 we really do hope that all UK festivals will have basic green policies and practices in place. Ultimately we expect all festivals to aim for a 'leave no trace' philosophy where their festival is totally green and leaves no impact on the environment".
Elsewhere in green festivals news, the Glastonbury Festival has announced it is supporting the I Count campaign which aims to combat climate change by encouraging individuals to reduce their carbon footprint. Representatives from the campaign will be at this year's festival to encourage festival goers to commit to making sixteen personal steps to reduce their environmental impact. Confirming their support for the programme, Glasto boss Michael Eavis told reporters: "We've put a lot of effort into focusing Glastonbury on the environment and climate change this year. We hope to see at least 100,000 new supporters sign up to the I Count campaign - and I'll be the first to put my name down".