Green Chief operations had been painstakingly crafted over six months to meet the constraints of scarce regional resources and the festival budget, and we certainly met our share of obstacles once on site. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and we were presented with several unique opportunities for innovation! Our large-volume bins showed the audience capable of keeping on top of separating recyclables in bulk. The centralisation of campsite waste collection points was also a great success, and further proved that campers are willing to travel and to still separate their recyclables when the infrastructure is cleverly designed. We were also forced to introduce ‘participatory dance floor clean ups’ as we have come to call them, due to a lack of human resources.

This inclusive system was a fascinating development, as it highlighted one of the unspoken assumptions in our line of work – that the space must be spotless before the audience gets out of bed. We realised how much we were still working within the prevailing paradigm, and our journey outside the box revealed how much these assumptions work against us. After some tweaking and encouragement on our part, we found the community more than willing to contribute to maintaining their space both at dawn and throughout the day. Two days in and the idea had spread of its own accord - we found spaces that we hadn’t targeted left in pristine condition, and daytime dancers enthusiastically pitched in when our Pick-It-Up Pixies came out to the dance floors. The feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive – it seems we are denying them a chance to be involved when we whisk away their trash in the dark, they simply never knew and were grateful to be included in caring for their space.

Collaboration was the key in putting together the Eclipse festival, from the participation of the audience to the incredible mutual support and camaraderie between the international events crews. We were struck by the beauty of what can be achieved when so many people work together. It was a landmark event, by all accounts a profound festival experience, and definitely something we are proud to have been a part of. But it was all about the solar eclipse – two minutes of awe and majesty as the moon moved in front of the sun, forming a surreal vision in the dawn sky that can hardly be described. To witness the eclipse was a gift. To be a part of enabling that experience for so many was truly an honour.

How inspiring it is to be offered help from the larger festival community, as well as the local community.

North Stradbroke islanders in particular have a ‘can do’ attitude, most noticed in this years composting process- often a tribulation that is difficult to force to fruition as it requires both space and time, both of which many festivals working on a temporary site do not have over the course of a year. Point Lookout Bushcare were willing to house the valuable organic resource, with a longterm view to help in their battle against dune degradation. At the end of the festival 8 cubic meters of organic waste mixed with wood mulch as a starter culture were delivered as a willing team of volunteers piled sugarcane mulch bales (another ‘waste’ product of the festival) into walls. The aim was to create a hot compost, achieved by regular watering and regular turning, to aid the breakdown of PLA cups, bowls and plates. The temperature was monitored over the following months to keep it close to 70+ degrees. The result has been a decrease in size and production of a rich compost, with final turning of the pile happening in the upcoming weeks.

Data collection is often the key to improving sustainability initiatives. After all, without measurement how is it possible to know if improvements have been made? As part of the A Greener Festival awards scheme, electricity and water meters have been decoded and biodiesel usage has been submitted to the Julie’s Bicycle Ig tool to provide an accurate carbon emissions footprint. Data from the transport survey highlighted an increase in car sharing-averaging between 3 and 4 people per car and more people using public transport than ever before. All in all it’s true to say that coordinating the whole event’s sustainability is an honor and a continuous learning experience. Certainly an experience we’d like to be part of at our other regular festivals-environmental sustainability touches every part of an event, if you let it.

Aside from a little recycling and bin hauling Amie got to plant a few trees, learn to weave and spend a couple of memorable nights by the campfire, drinking mulled wine and  listening to some tear-jerking jigs on the fiddle. A pleasure to be a part of, Woodfordia, we love you.

Gathering to plant our first trees

Essie took her first role as shift supervisor and managed to do a stirling job, rousing the troops and getting them into the field to inform and educate. James was in charge of ute collections and made sure there were no overflowing bins at any time. Kudos. Reuse solutions were found to the non-refillable kegs that had supplied the cider, the many milk and bread crates left on site and a variety of scrap metal and random clothing going to local sources. Even cardboard from the awesome Box Wars guys was carefully cleared up, proving that all participants of an event, even the performers, can take care of their own waste. We look forward to Boogie 7 next year where a couple more initiatives can be trialled and the eco credentials raised even further.

All was pretty straight forward in the waste management department, despite Maitreya goers still proving to be some of the messiest on our summer touring list with a dozen bins at the main stage standing half-filled and un-loved among piles of cans and debris on the dance floor. There was a big improvement in the campsite thanks to many more people doing the right thing when packing up (after a pep-talk from their conscience), though it did still seem too hard for some campers to put their trash in the huge skip bins provided.

After a relatively cruisey event, complete with a backstage spa bath provided by one of the stallholders, the cherry on the cake was thank you letter from local recycling centre praising our attention to detail. Thank you to all our volunteers and the punters for being onto it!

In spite of a sceptical landowner, the crowd took heed of our online and on-site ‘Leave No Trace’ messages and reduced the average waste per person by one-third compared to last year. Our colourful ‘Pick it Up Pixies’ did a wonderful job spreading the word among the campsites, complemented by our dear friends the Garbage Grannies who toured the festival with a picnic of tea and scones. Nonetheless, there’s always room for improvement, and the Earth Frequency community spoke out for even more communication on what to do with their waste. It’s reassuring to see our enthusiasm for education matched by the audience- we do need your help to spread the message!

Green Chief had made so many good friends at Woodford that we decided to kidnap some of them for our Rainbow Serpent road trip. Essie Thomas and JR joined the sustainability management team, while a gaggle of Woodfordians shone in roles for other departments. Members of our local team from Beaufort stepped up into supervisor roles as Fi took on the job of market liaison and Emma Wasson rejoined us for an RSF reunion. Good staff make all the difference – Amie even swindled a rare day off!

We got to play with a few new items in the green team inventory, most notably a beautiful, shining sorting table made for us by our new pal Jon to save our backs. Our other prized possession was the massive on site composting bay that was built this year. JR and crew crafted a beautiful hot compost heap with regular watering and turning, breaking down all those corn-starch cups and reducing the huge volume of green waste by swathes even as the festival continued. The finished compost will be used on native bushland regeneration on the property.

Clean up saw a big mess left by the big crowd, including entire campsites abandoned and expensive gear left in the fields. Gladly we had some heavy machinery to help deal with the waste and we saved time by recycling straight from the camp sites into an ex-council garbage truck.

With the influx in audience numbers shown in a corresponding amount of trash, even the punters thought this year was a bit too messy. Springing up post festival, a facebook litter shaming group sparked online debate, with discussion focusing on every single person’s responsibility to participate in a clean festival. Try as we might behind the scenes, a truly green culture needs each of us to take part in reducing our impact.

Waste wise, we saw a lot of compostable materials end up in the recycling as the compost collection only took place behind the scenes. Maybe next year we can collect more of this for the wonderful on-site worm farm managed by our illustrious colleague Gerry, to put all those biodegradable cups and plates to good use.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the strong Woodford culture come to the fore when it was time to clean up and go – the campsites were left in almost immaculate condition! This just goes to show what a difference it makes when the community feels a sense of ownership, of returning to a place that’s special to their hearts. The people of Woodfordia walk the walk when it comes to respecting their home.

While the days were spent trying to stay on top of waste volumes, we did manage to squeeze in a few nights out on the town to see the sights and bond with our new Woodford family. It is an honour to be involved with this world class event and be welcomed into their tight-nit culture.

Back on site at Festival of the Sun, the sold-out audience crammed into the campsite like sardines and had one hell of a party. Our bin monitors out in the crowds had a whale of a time, making new friends while making a difference – and at one point making a human pyramid! Who says this job is no fun?

The festivities in the campsites lasted long after the stages closed, and the rubbish they left behind was a testament to the ruckus. The Green Chief Loot Ute and campsite rovers had to work hard to keep the punters on top of the mess in the middle of all the hijinks. Sadly we saw a lot of camping gear abandoned and piles of cans and trash left behind. However, with the directors looking at more permanent infrastructure for next year, our hopes are buoyed.