37 replies to this topic

[cejx]

oooh, litter.  My favourite topic.

There is no reason not to use bins - even if its that vile one which is always overflowing by Pieminister - at least make the effort to add to the overflow rather than lazily leaving it where you sit.  I hope that they empty bins more often as it is pretty vile.  The day they sort out a reusable 'glass' system a la Latitude etc, I'll be a happy bunny.

Still, its good to know that everybody on these boards will be leaving litter free campsites when they leave after the festival.     

PS - feckin balloon canisters. Bin those feckers too.

[rachmac]

cejx, on 16 June 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

oooh, litter.  My favourite topic.

There is no reason not to use bins - even if its that vile one which is always overflowing by Pieminister - at least make the effort to add to the overflow rather than lazily leaving it where you sit.  I hope that they empty bins more often as it is pretty vile.  The day they sort out a reusable 'glass' system a la Latitude etc, I'll be a happy bunny.

Still, its good to know that everybody on these boards will be leaving litter free campsites when they leave after the festival.     

PS - feckin balloon canisters. Bin those feckers too.

Not possible at Glasto due to the logistics trying to store and shift all the dirty/clean cups and there are vehicle restrictions during the day so the bars only have small windows to deliver goods.

[budvar]

The thing that I think is a real shame is that when the bins get full to overflowing people ignore what "type" of bin it is i.e. whether it's for recycling or for other waste.

It always concerns me that this impacts on the amount of recycling that's possible if it's all been mixed in together.

[KingOfSnake]

budvar, on 16 June 2011 - 05:30 PM, said:

The thing that I think is a real shame is that when the bins get full to overflowing people ignore what "type" of bin it is i.e. whether it's for recycling or for other waste.

It always concerns me that this impacts on the amount of recycling that's possible if it's all been mixed in together.

Another very good reason for the emptying of bins to be more frequent.


* lightbulb moment *
Maybe the bins could be put over the top of large underground tanks - longdrop stylee.
And a network of tractor size tunnels connect them to the recycling area.
Voila! No visible rubbish at all, so long as people use the bins.

Ok maybe not.

[cejx]

rachmac, on 16 June 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

Not possible at Glasto due to the logistics trying to store and shift all the dirty/clean cups and there are vehicle restrictions during the day so the bars only have small windows to deliver goods.

Nothing is impossible!

[cejx]

grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Edited by cejx, 17 June 2011 - 10:20 AM.

[KingOfSnake]

What was the reason given for not doing the 10p deposit on the beer/cider paper cups?

[paulo999]

cejx, on 16 June 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

The day they sort out a reusable 'glass' system a la Latitude etc, I'll be a happy bunny.

It was looked into a few years back. The only place capable of making enough cups for Glastonbury, and then doing the washing afterwards, was in Germany. Monster carbon footprint. The wax cups are recyclable. The only issue is they look messy when trampled into the floor, but that's only in front of a few of the bigger stages. And they get picked up again and dealt with.

Deposits for wax cups works and is easy when you have a single alcohol concession. Glastonbury doesn't, so I'd assume that's been ruled out for logistical reasons.

So, instead of either of those, we have litter pickers. It's not ideal, but it's environmentally sound even if aesthetically undesirable.

[cejx]

KingOfSnake, on 17 June 2011 - 10:26 AM, said:

What was the reason given for not doing the 10p deposit on the beer/cider paper cups?

I was unaware that there was a scheme suggested.  Festivals such as Latitude have a deposit scheme.  You buy a plastic pint cup for 2 quid.  Each time you get a pint, you get a fresh clean cup.  At the end of the festival, you can either keep the cup as a souvenir, or return it and get your cash back.  Thus no piles of squished paper cups everywhere.  I know there is a logistic issue at G - being vastly larger than Latitude, but if anyone can overcome this, G can.

[Kyelo]

The deposit scheme is better although people would be fooling themselves thinking 10p per cup is going to clear the whole site up, most people don't give a sh*t. Think about it you drink ten pints a day for 5 days and hand all the cups in: £2.50, your not even going to get another pint! Festivals I go to that do that you tend to see kids or scruffy looking sorts(students )going around with huge towers or bin bags of them.

Every little helps though I suppose.

Personally I am in the habit of whatever is closest I'll use be that an empty bin, an overflowing bin, a litter collector or a cup collector. At Field Day in London though they use that plastic cup idea although I went to the after party and I wasn't going to carry the damn thing around with me all night in such a drunk state haha

Edited by BenchBuddah, 17 June 2011 - 10:53 AM.

[ukslim]

I reckon the difficulty with any deposit scheme, unfortunately, is crime.

For example. take the obvious approach:

• the festival charges 10p "recycling tax" on every beer sold (so when WBC sells you a beer, they pay the festival 10p, probably by charging you an extra 10p).
  
• the festival runs cup return stalls, where you can take your cup and swap it for 10p

Sounds brilliant, doesn't it? Perhaps a lot of people will still drop their cups on the ground, but kids would collect them up for pocket money, or skint festivalgoers would collect them up to raise enough for a meal.

But there are loads of problems.

• How do you ensure that bar staff record every sale properly? What's to stop a barman from not recording the sale, and pocketing the 10ps? Then when the cup is returned, the festival is out of pocket.
  
• You end up with massive piles of returned cups. How do you prevent someone from nicking a stack of them, and taking them back to the stall for more money?

These can be solved, but not easily or cheaply.

[ukslim]

BenchBuddah, on 17 June 2011 - 10:51 AM, said:

Festivals I go to that do that you tend to see kids or scruffy looking sorts(students )going around with huge towers or bin bags of them.

They still get returned though, at the end of the day -- it doesn't matter who does it.

I'm on a reasonable salary -- but even I, if I saw I could pick up 100 cups in 5 minutes, would probably do it for a tenner.

Look what people did *for fun* last year. The picture doesn't show how long this snake was.

Beer cup snake by ukslim, on Flickr

[Storm_NL]

KingOfSnake, on 17 June 2011 - 10:12 AM, said:

Another very good reason for the emptying of bins to be more frequent.


* lightbulb moment *
Maybe the bins could be put over the top of large underground tanks - longdrop stylee.
And a network of tractor size tunnels connect them to the recycling area.
Voila! No visible rubbish at all, so long as people use the bins.

Ok maybe not.

You may scoff at your bright idea.....  

...but this is exactly what happens in my neighbourhood.
Except with the network of tunnels.  

Every week, a big lorry comes along, cranes the underground container out, out empties it.
Of course, even that does get full at points. And even then, some people can't be bothered to walk the 30 metres to the next one, and just dump the bags by the bin entrance. No matter what you do, you just can't account for the laziness of some individuals!  

[cejx]

BenchBuddah, on 17 June 2011 - 10:51 AM, said:

Personally I am in the habit of whatever is closest I'll use be that an empty bin, an overflowing bin, a litter collector or a cup collector. At Field Day in London though they use that plastic cup idea although I went to the after party and I wasn't going to carry the damn thing around with me all night in such a drunk state haha

Funnily enough, its amazing how possessive you become of that plastic glass!  Though as I've only experienced this at Latitude, people were still chucking them on a ground - and after an hours work, my mates son came back with 30 quids worth!  Not a bad hourly rate eh - particularly for an 8 year old!

I know it was looked into some years ago, but lots have changed, and if the massive logistics of drainage and poo storage has been sorted, I'm sure the washing of cups can follow suit.

[The_Spoon]

Maybe it's to simplistic a view on things but has anyone considered..... bigger bins?

[Kyelo]

cejx, on 17 June 2011 - 11:07 AM, said:

Funnily enough, its amazing how possessive you become of that plastic glass!  Though as I've only experienced this at Latitude, people were still chucking them on a ground - and after an hours work, my mates son came back with 30 quids worth!  Not a bad hourly rate eh - particularly for an 8 year old!

I know it was looked into some years ago, but lots have changed, and if the massive logistics of drainage and poo storage has been sorted, I'm sure the washing of cups can follow suit.

So true about being possessive about the plastic cups, I was gutted the girl with us only had a tiny handbag lol gave mine to some scene kid who gave me a bemused, if a little thankful look haha

[LondonTom]

The_Spoon, on 17 June 2011 - 11:14 AM, said:

Maybe it's to simplistic a view on things but has anyone considered..... bigger bins?

This would be most logical, bigger bins some collection rate!

[camperman]

Monorail, on 16 June 2011 - 04:01 PM, said:

What a stupid comment.  If the bins are overflowing then where are you expecting people to be putting rubbish.

Moron ever thought about taking it with you and putting in an empty bin.