Today, the first of the new biodegradable pegs were ceremonially banged into the Worthy Farm grass by festival organiser Michael Eavis as the 'Love the Farm – Leave No Trace' initiative for Glastonbury Festival was officially launched. A message that Eavis says is what life for him on the farm is all about. The pegs are completely reusable and Festival goers will be encouraged to take them home with the rest of their camping equipment.
The biodegradable tent pegs were supplied to Glastonbury Festival and Millets by GreenStake, who have been manufacturing and developing similar products for 20 years. A further 5,000 packs will be available to buy in Millets stores nationwide priced at £2.99 for 10. Over 100,000 packs of the eco-friendly tent pegs, made from natural material derived from wheat and potatoes will be distributed at this year's event - every Festival-goer with a tent will get a free pack of ten as they arrive on site.
"We are really pleased to have worked together with Millets to develop a unique eco-friendly solution to the metal tent pegs that are dug up after the festival," said Festival Organiser Michael Eavis who has thousands of metal pegs left behind on his farm after each festival. "I'm really excited about today's launch of the biodegradable tent pegs. First because they're guaranteed to disintegrate naturally in the soil, and this will reduce the risk of injury to the cows, who can die if they eat bits of metal tent peg that have been turned into spears by the harvesters."
Eavis is proud that the Festival has been highlighting new and at times unpopular ideas about environmental issues for a very long time now. He says on the Glastonbury Festival website, "Glastonbury Festival has always been the first to host 'alternative' solutions to environmental concerns, and over time, we've watched as those 'alternatives' have become mainstream. In fact, to me, one of the greatest benefits of Glastonbury Festival has been in giving people the chance to 'open their eyes' and see something better, even if it is only for one weekend in the year." To that end Glastonbury Festival has released its initiatives for 2008:
Glastonbury Festival's Environmental Initiatives
We have to work as hard as we can on the practical things: today, we are releasing a whole list of environmental issues that we are addressing on site, from encouraging people to travel by public transport right through to great new initiatives on recycling and more efficient ways of powering the festival activities.
These are some of the ways in which we are trying to make Glastonbury one of the greenest festivals held in a rural location.
Transport: Total of 47,500 people arriving by public transport equals about a third of public Festival attendance. This includes those with tickets linked to coach and rail travel (25,000), special train services to Castle Cary with free shuttle bus to the festival site (16,000) and National Express services (7,500). Aim is to seriously reduce the number of cars which come to the festival. We also encourage everybody to car share.
Waste: 15,000 bins around the site labelled for different types of recyclable materials. About 50% of rubbish is recycled, better than most UK towns.
Energy: Aim to increase the number of generators using biodiesel sourced from waste cooking oil. In 2007 the Park, Kids Field and Greenpeace areas all used biodiesel. Green Fields are powered by solar and wind energy.
Programme bags: Everybody arriving at the Festival is given an unbleached cotton bag to keep their programme in, rather than plastic.
Tent pegs: Everybody with a tent will be given 10 tent pegs (total = 1 million) made from a biodegradable material which starts to break down in the soil after a few weeks. This will avoid the use of metal pegs, which are dangerous if eaten by cows.
Materials: Target for as much as possible of the wood used on site to be from FSC (Forest Stewardship Certified) sources.
Traders: All cutlery used by market stalls must be wood not plastic, all cups made from a compostable material. Truck movements reduced by having on site wholesale market. Energy-saving light bulbs encouraged. Annual Green Traders Award.
Green police: Over 100 green police patrol in comic costumes to encourage everyone to respect the farm and its environment, including not to piss in the streams.
Conservation: Wildlife sanctuaries created on the site to protect birds and animals over the Festival period. Surveys show an amazing variety of species and plants.
Organiser Eavis added, "Our aim is to get 40,000 people travelling to Glastonbury by coach and train this year – nearly a third of all Festival goers. If we can get people to think about how they are using their cars for the rest of the year too we'll have taken another step forward."
As Eavis says, "Today, just as much as in 1970, we have to work hard on our message. Glastonbury Festival is a Midsummer celebration of life and joy, but we must not lose sight of our undertaking to achieve the best possible balance of nature and resources." It's a message that we hope many festival goers take notice of this year.
The deadline for Glastonbury's pre-registration scheme ends tomorrow night, midnight on Friday 14th March.
Registration, involves filling in a simple form and supplying a passport photograph, and full details can be found at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.
Please note that anyone who registered last year will still need to register again this year. Festival goers can now tick a box to enable their registration for this year's event to also be eligible to buy tickets in 2009 and 2010.
If you've registered for Glastonbury, then why not enter the eFestivals' competition to win yourself a pair of tickets here!
To get the best idea of the acts you'll see over all the stages at the festival in June make sure you keep an eye on our Glastonbury 2008 rumours, which will build up into the most comprehensive list available anywhere before the full line-up announcement is made at the beginning of June.
Tickets for Glastonbury will go on sale on 6 April, either online or through a free phone call from a normal landline.
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