{"id":100621,"date":"2018-05-25T16:52:21","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T20:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=100621\/"},"modified":"2020-01-14T13:32:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T18:32:56","slug":"wander-without-waste-greener-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/journal\/wander-without-waste-greener-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Wander Without Waste: A Greener Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you heard of\u00a0Plastic Free July<\/a>? It’s a thing. We’re proud that our talent and staff at Wanderlust Squaw Valley<\/a> will be participating by ditching disposable utensils, bags, and straws with our custom Wander Without Waste kit. Get yours on site at a festival this summer!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

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I thought that seeing Bob Dylan\u2014the self-proclaimed poet laureate of rock and roll\u2014would be the pinnacle of my concert-going life. The fact that I was seeing him perform at\u00a0Bethel Woods, New York\u2014where the original Woodstock Festival was held\u2014well, that pretty much just put expectation over the top. For a girl who grew up listening to him on vinyl in the basement of her Ohio home, seeing him play where it all began was an opportunity to bask in the peace-loving, Earth-protecting, hippie glory of cross-generational music appreciation.<\/p>\n

What I got instead was serious disenchantment and disappointment.<\/p>\n

Dylan was fine\u2014great, even. But as it started to drizzle and folks began to pack up and leave, my boyfriend and I found ourselves drifting in a sea of plastic. Plastic bottles. Plastic forks from waylaid picnics. Plastic wrappers. Plastic straws. Plastic everywhere<\/a>, despite the ample recycling bins at all exits.<\/p>\n

We’ve all be there: At an event in which mindful practices or belief systems are touted (whether overtly, like Burning Man<\/a>, or quietly, like a Bob Dylan concert) and then not respected. It’s disjointing and disheartening. After all, if attendees to a mindful event can’t be environmentally responsible, how can we expect anyone else to be?<\/p>\n

Wanderlust became a B Corporation<\/a> this year, and a big part of that is practicing what we preach. It’s one reason we’re rolling out our Wander Without Waste initiative at our festivals this year\u2014because no one should ever feel as disappointed as I did at that Dylan concert. According to Claire Bourgeois<\/a>, a founding member of the Wanderlust Green Team who’s heading up the initiative, Wander Without Waste is „a platform for\u00a0all our attendees, staff, and talent to work together to take personal and corporate ownership of our impact on the natural world. I am so excited to take the next step with the Wanderlust community in dissolving the line between personal wellbeing, and the wellbeing of our planet.“<\/p>\n

Claire believes that going the extra personal mile can actually have far-reaching positive outcomes. „It’s amazing what one choice can make,“ she says. „I’ve see it in the smallest choices I make! It sets off a ripple effect both within, and without, of inspired and environmentally conscious action.“<\/p>\n

So what can you do this year to\u00a0help us do right by Mother Earth? Let us count the ways.<\/p>\n

Sort your trash appropriately.<\/h3>\n

We diverted 70 percent of ALL waste generated at our events in 2017. Let that sink in! Less than one-third of all waste generated at our events\u2014attended by more than 100,000 people in North America alone\u2014ended up in landfills.\u00a0 This is made possible by our commitment to three stream recycling. We provide compost, recycling, and landfill disposal at all festivals<\/a> and 108s<\/a>, pending site availability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You don’t need to worry too much about mis-sorting your utensils, though: Starting for the 2018 season, we require that all food vendors use compostable service-ware. You also won’t find any plastic straws anywhere on-site\u2014we offer only paper or recyclable straws so you can sip in good conscience.<\/p>\n

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Make responsible choices.<\/h3>\n

Whatever you choose to put into your body, let it be chosen with care. If you choose to eat meat, consider how it’s raised, and the environmental impact raising animals can have. While we serve meat at our events, we give priority to vegan and vegetarian vendors. Our exclusive Wanderbowl\u2014served at all events\u2014is available in both vegan and vegetarian options. (We’re proud to announce that at Wanderlust Snowshoe this year, all vegetables used to make the Wanderbowl are sourced from a local farm co-op!) Want more farm-to-table? Join your fellow yogis at our farm-to-table dinner<\/a> at any of our summer festivals.<\/p>\n

What we eat isn’t the only mindful decision we can make when it comes to doing right by the planet\u2014we also have the opportunity to make intentional choices when it comes to the clothes we buy and the products we use.\u00a0Wanderlust private label apparel items are made with either organic threads, recycled polyester, or a blend of the two. They are dyed and printed with vegan, water-based colors. All products are made and produced in LA, with the actual production cycle of these items happening in a 10 mile radius from start to finish. Our 2018 adidas x Wanderlust spring line<\/a> is made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic\u2122 upcycled materials.<\/p>\n

According to Claire, making these choices can be helpful to help see ourselves as part of a bigger system. „I realized that the more I began to take actions with the planet in mind, the more connected I felt to our natural world. I realized the Earth is not something that can be healed independent of the humans who live on it,“ she says. „Nature is not ‚the other.'“<\/p>\n