Oc need & importance

The Importance of Environmental Sustainability in

Festivals and Events
The Events industry is fast becoming one of the top economic industries, becoming bigger and
more popular, however all of this has negative and positive impacts on the environment and its
surroundings, (David, L 2008) with so much influence on the world and such a large audience,
festivals need to take it upon themselves to consider the impacts they have on the environment,
and build awareness of these influences.
Although Festival managers feel its a costly change, there are many advantages of making a
greener festival, and reducing environmental impact of UK festivals is increasingly on the
agenda (Atkin.S, 2012. BBC news) this is supported by Esty 2006, who suggests that the
country will go into a Green Boom, as more businesses look at eco friendly strategies to adapt
to the company.

Environmentally Friendly Events and Festivals

It is clear that all events, especially festivals have massive implications to there surrounding
environments, and there are three areas in which are influenced the most; economic and social,
cultural and political; and environmental. With climate change being a hot topic on everyones
mind, the environmental aspect is key as Griffin, K.A (2009) explains, Events need to identify
their impacts on biodiversity, cultural heritage and scenic landscapes, and understand that
quality and assurance have been perceived as an urgent management issue.
David, L (2011) Identified major impacts that festivals have on the environment, these being
festival transport, accommodation, meals, energy, water consumption and waste. Making a
festival more environmentally friendly is a difficult task and needs everybody on board with
principles and policies, including the audience. These are all clear issues and have simple
solutions, and should be thought through more thoroughly as these can later have detrimental
affect on the site, company, event and environment, and that land and air pollution can impinge
on the capability of future managers to create events on that site.

Environmental Management Systems and Sustainability

Policies for Festivals
Ways to measure, adapt and change are through sustainability policies and integrating
Environmental Management Systems in place, this system attempts to confine environmental
issues of an organisation and continue to expand and develop environmental performance. The
most common and professional EMS is the ISO 14000 series of standards established by the

International Organisations for Standardisation. (ISO 1996) ISO claims its framework provides
for continuous improvements of environmental performance, (ISO, 1998) and it has achieved
worldwide acceptance.
Financial savings has proved to be the major sway towards a greener future, however not only is
being greener the influence but the opportunity for the business to become more sustainable, as
reducing waste and increasing recycling is important to a festivals financial as well as
environmental sustainability. It is also noted there are other beneficial impacts of introducing an
EMS, these benefits include reduced cost of waste management, savings in consumption of
energy and material, lower distribution costs, and an improved corporate image among regulators,
customers and the public

Corporate Social Responsibility

A good corporate image is vital for a festival, and an encouraging one is even better, taking
accountability of the impacts their event have on the environment and on society is known as
CSR (Corporate, Social Responsibility,) this not only ensures that the event is leaving no trace,
but creates massive competitive advantage in their image and they way consumers look upon the
event.
Sustainability is a pressing issue; as precious resources are being exhausted, the air is being
polluted and space is running out in landfill sites. Companies, large and small, need to step up
and take the lead in designing effective policies that are dedicated to achieving sustainability.
There is a global and national importance to implement a level of sustainability, with various
styles of management systems being developed and introduced for many different industries.

The Events Industry and The Environment1

The events industry in particular has a massive impact on the environment, and it was found that
waste, co2 emissions and water consumption were the major issues concerning the environment
especially festivals, which also have a large impact on biodiversity. It is apparent that it is a great
importance for festivals to also implement a sustainability policy, not only to support government
legislation, but also to create awareness, financial benefits and to create a competitive advantage
by taking a lead in the market.
Additionally it has been found that there are a range of opportunities and systems to implement,
maintain and monitor sustainability and environmental issues. A number of standards, national
and international have been developed for industries to achieve a sustainable status, for festivals
in particular; there are various organisations that offer help and advice that lead to being BSI
compliant. Larger festivals such as Reading and Leeds and Glastonbury, already have several
green initiatives in place and are compliant with a range of different standards, which is a forward
step for other festivals to up their ante.