Jun
22
Posted on June 22, 2011 by Jen2010
With festival season well and truly upon us – we’ve been out style spotting and eyeing up this year’s fashion must-haves — from Pixie Lott’s floral playsuit at the Isle of Wight to Fearne Cotton’s Leopard hat at Radio 1′s Big Weekend. Add to that floral headbands, Barbour jackets, and of course the ubiquitous wellies…
So, how do Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, Read more…
Thousands of you are heading home or flying abroad for Easter – but, did anyone remember that today is not only Good Friday but also Earth Day? Yes, it’s that time of the year to profess your greenness and get involved in saving the planet. Feeling guilty that you forgot it yet again? Well, if you don’t have time to hit an Earth Day event, at least you can green up your summer festival plans.
Check out which festivals are doing their part to shrink their carbon footprint here. And, use our environmentally friendly tips below.
Travel
Use public transportation whenever possible as audience travel emissions to and from festivals account for more than half of the music events’ carbon footprints. Coach travel is between four and six times more environmentally friendly than taking a car to a festival. Check out The Big Green Coach to get to your next festival. Individual festivals also run buses to and from stations – enquire with them directly.
If public transportation isn’t an option, use a liftshare web site to share the cost as well as CO2 emissions. Zimride is integrated with facebook and twitter and can even calculate the route from a driver to sharers and on to the festival to save on petrol. Also check out liftshare and freewheelers.
Tents
The Green Tent Company is the first tent manufacturer in the world to create a fully recyclable tent. Prices range from 15.99 for a two-man dome tent to 69.99 for a four-man two-bedroom dome tent. They also have package deals that include sleeping bags and eco ground mats. Best of all, you can order your kit online and pick it up at the festival of your choice! The tents last for several uses and the guy ropes are luminous, making your tent easier to find as you stagger back to the campsite at the end of the night.
Don’t forget to pick up some biodegradable tent pegs.
Myhab actually isn’t a tent at all, but the latest in festival accommodation made from recycled plastic and toughened cardboard. The pods are built for two, have an original look, and you don’t even have to pitch it yourself. Simply find a festival at which Myhab operate and book yourself in. They even come with soft bedding, a lockable box, and access to special showers and toilets in the eco-friendly Myvillage. Only downsides are that they cost between 200 and 400 pounds and are only available at Glastonbury, Oxegen, T in the Park, Latitude, Reading, Leeds, and Electric Picnic.
Accessories:
The FreeLoader is a portable solar charger that can power most hand held devices, including phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, sat navs, iPods, PDAs and PSPs. Can power a mobile phone for 44 hours, a PSP for 2.5 hours, and a PDA for 22 hours.
Check out the range of eco friendly wind up lanterns, head lamps, and torches as well as recycled day packs on sale at The Ethical Superstore.
Portable ashtrays are a great way to help the environment because the cigarette butt is made of a type of cellulose acetate, the same substance you find in plastic bags and bottles. Depending on environmental conditions, it could take up to 18 years to biodegrade. Check out My Ashtray’s stylish colorful little pouches, or Roll-Ups’ black chrome pocket trays, or Keep Britain Tidy for several more innovative options.
The Ploo – We’re not entirely convinced of this one, but The Ploo is a portable recycled cardboard toilet with bio-degradable “poo bags” you can bury. It’s supposed to be good for the environment and stops you having to queue for the loo.
Feb
11
Posted on February 11, 2011 by Sarah Peppermint
Hey guys,
Here’s an amusing promo video from Vodafone featuring Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as they turn their hand to preparing for a festival and making a complete horlicks of it!
Reckon you’d beat them in a flat drag race in your hot hatch? Almost definately not.
But at least you can put up your tent better than them!
We found it amusing… Let us know your comments or feel free to share on myfacetwittblog below…
Until next time
Sarah x
There are few things in the UK at the moment that can get close to that summer festival experience, especially when the country has essentially ground to a halt with some of the worst weather we have seen in 6/60/600 years (I forget).
With thousands stranded on the floor of BAA’s “hotels” in Heathrow, Gatwick and others – it would be easy to dismiss the prospect of:
1) traveling abroad right now
2) experiencing a music festival in November next to the warm Caribbean ocean with an ice cold rum cocktail…
Well, the Virgin Atlantic sponsored Barbados Music Festival pulled it off this year once again with an eclectic mix of local talent and international bands including the Dub Pistols Soundsystem, The Martin Harley Band, Rodney P and upcoming Bajan talent Alex Mills to name but a few.
Based at Surfer’s Bay on the South coast and the whole trip priced at a reasonable £600 (which includes flights, hotels, transfer and tickets into festival) it’s easy to see how so many decided to let the UK to lick it’s winter weather wounds and head off into the Caribbean sunset whilst enjoying the delight of Barbados’ national treasure: Mount Gay Rum. It’s organised by Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Montgomery who lived in Barbados for almost a decade and Steve Campbell who runs the Surfer’s Cafe just down the road from the festival venue.
Tickets each day are a snip at BB $25 (about £8) with warm-up and post festival parties happening either side and if you’ve ever been to the island and searched out Harbour Lights or the Boatyard – our Bajan friends are no strangers in partying well into the night…
I wonder how many of us will be tempted for next year, or shall we stay and watch the “Big Freeze” 3rd time round…?
© Peppermint Events 2011
