More than 60 festivals across the UK have band together to help put a stop to single-use tents. The group is urging major retailers including Argos and Tesco to halt marketing such items.
An estimated 250,000 tents are left at festivals across the UK each year, according to a report, amounting to 900 tons of plastic waste every festival season. If these tents were donated to charity it would be one thing, but the reality is much of these barely-used tents go straight to the landfill.
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) speaks on behalf of festivals like Shambala, Boomtown Fair and Boardmasters. All of which support the initiative to stop single-use tents and other plastic waste. 
In 2018, these music festivals pledged to cut down on plastic at events, resulting in a drastic cut to other single-use items like plastic straws, drink cups and more. A glitter ban was also instated across the 60+ festivals.
AIF CEO Paul Reed said: “We call upon major retailers to stop marketing and selling tents and other camping items as essentially single-use, and profiting from disposable culture.”
“The message here is not ‘buy a more expensive tent’… festival audiences can take positive action and reduce their carbon footprint simply by taking their tent home and reusing it, ensuring that it doesn’t become a single-use item this summer.”
Here in the states, Electric Forest is making an effort with eco-friendly tents — but it’s a rather pricey option. Hopefully in the future we’ll see more of these at a more affordable price.
In the meantime, if you buy a tent for a music festival — Please, please use it until it wears out or make sure it’s donated. Tents aren’t trash to leave behind.
Source: Sky News
