Plastic Tides @ Grassroots festival
Grassroots festival of Music and Dance
This week-end, I went to Grassroots Festival as a Plastic Tides representative to document plastic consumption. This festival, that attracts hippies from across the country is known to be sustainable – I went to find out how.
Firstly there are a dozen little tents with volunteers sorting compost, recycling and trash.
“we’ve been here for four hours and the trash can is only a quarter full!” says one volunteer. With ~60,000 attendees, I have to say that is rather impressive!
How do they keep garbage at a low?
- All the food vendors are obligated to distribute compostable utensils that will undoubtably end up in the compost bin due to the volunteers sorting
- General attendee environmental awareness: use of personal ‘sporks’, cups and plates
- Education: presence of a ‘What is compost?’ tent
volunteers raising awareness At Grassroots, volunteers obtain a free ticket
With my Press Pass I was able to sneak behind the scenes and I discovered with delight that the plastic cups inevitably used there were named
Aside plastic consumption, this festival undertakes great efforts to keep the carbon footprint low. I saw:
- solar phone-charger trailers
- environmental groups (talking about wind turbines, watershed protection, Lake ecology etc.. )
- organic and health food vendors selling kombucha, kimchi, garden vegetables…
I also enjoyed a yoga session under the shade, drum circle dancing and Kava tasting.
What’s Kava?
Kava leaf (photo credit: wikipedia)
Kava is a plant from which the roots are harvested to produce a drink with sedative and anaesthetic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia. Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. Some all it an ‘alcohol alternative’
Kava is traditionally served in a coconut husk (Photo credit: http://www.jaunted.com)
Kava ceremony (Photo credit: http://www.janeresture.com/)
