Leave no Trace

[Boomtowner]

Monday morning, saw two men in their late 50's dumping a single mattress in one of the rubbish points in CVE. It really spoilt my final morning, to see two grown men acting like fucking teenagers. Absolutely selfish c**ts. Surely if you bring a mattress in a van, you can take it home. 

[DeanoL]

22 minutes ago, Festival Liam said:

What's the general consensus on the best thing to do with our neatly made up bags of rubbish (plus any larger items that might have e.g. broke and won't fit in a bag)

Can't answer the first bit, but for the second bit the answer is "take it home and dispose of it there" - just because it's broken doesn't mean you should leave it - I'm sure many of those who used to abandon tents now take them home and just bin them at home.

[Dave_c]

14 minutes ago, maelzoid said:

I'd obviously like to see less litter, but the issue is not as simple as 'put it in the bin' even though I do that. We all saw loads of overflowing bins all weekend long. So then you need more bin emptying, which then means more bin lorries cruising around a site with no roads and full of pedestrians. It is a logistical nightmare.

It's a shame that the reusable cup thing did not catch on, and paper cups are the norm again, but from a speed-of-service and H&S standpoint, I understand the reasons.

 

The litter crew were going around the bins in West Holt's and half emptying them into bags, then carrying the bags away with them. Good idea I thought to keep them reasonably empty until the lorries can come a bit later when the crowds die down.

[Festival Liam]

9 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Can't answer the first bit, but for the second bit the answer is "take it home and dispose of it there" - just because it's broken doesn't mean you should leave it - I'm sure many of those who used to abandon tents now take them home and just bin them at home.

Yes I agree of course, just take it home. Although there always seems to inevitably be stuff left by friends/acquaintances at your camp site, or people camping near you, that it is just impractical to take back home ourselves. 

I wonder if the pull out and try and re-use, for example, the millions of air beds people seem to buy from the camping shop inflated and then leave/throw in the bin areas on leaving.

[Jay Pee]

8 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Can't answer the first bit, but for the second bit the answer is "take it home and dispose of it there" - just because it's broken doesn't mean you should leave it - I'm sure many of those who used to abandon tents now take them home and just bin them at home.

 

9 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

32 minutes ago, Festival Liam said:

What's the general consensus on the best thing to do with our neatly made up bags of rubbish (plus any larger items that might have e.g. broke and won't fit in a bag)

Can't answer the first bit, but for the second bit the answer is "take it home and dispose of it there" - just because it's broken doesn't mean you should leave it - I'm sure many of those who used to abandon tents now take them home and just bin them at home.

Yes, this.  The accepted norm is to segregate as you would at home and leave the bags on site for the recycling staff / centre to deal with bur leaving chair's / tents and a MATTRESS is not ok.

Take the stuff home and dispose of as you would do normally. 

Dumping broken camping kit in the rubbish points is a bit shit.

[PassingCloud]

The litter team after they did a remarkable job on Monday morning. 🙏 Amongst the many heroes of GF.
My biggest gripe with the festival is the littering. I saw people who looked respectable and old enough to know better but they still just chucked stuff on the floor or pissed wherever suited  them  🤬the second pic of the spotless green fields.

Edited June 28, 2022 by PassingCloud

[Tranquility of Solitude]

I was chatting with the travellers in T&C. Apparently they go "tapping" (scavenging the site on the Monday for items they can use or sell on). They do this with Michaels blessing. Whilst it's disgraceful so many people leave stuff, this struck me as a great example of reuse and recycle at work. Also just one more bit of proof of what legend Michael is.

[PassingCloud]

The bad…. 

[PassingCloud]

And, I suppose, the comical….

[Pipine]

It was my first year working on the pyramid stage litter crew and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of litter on the field every morning.  It really wasn’t that bad, definitely nothing like that stock photo.

We did a bit of a litter pick in the campsite above the pyramid once we’d finished the pyramid field and found a huge tent had been abandoned along with airbeds, brand new wellies and a huge pile of random stuff.. whoever’s camp that was obviously had more money than sense/manners but I think that’s the exception these days.. a lot of the empty spots had been left clean.

[DeanoL]

3 minutes ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

I was chatting with the travellers in T&C. Apparently they go "tapping" (scavenging the site on the Monday for items they can use or sell on). They do this with Michaels blessing. Whilst it's disgraceful so many people leave stuff, this struck me as a great example of reuse and recycle at work. Also just one more bit of proof of what legend Michael is.

This does happen but they only want/can carry so much stuff. The problem some years back was because people knew this, more people left their stuff.

Hammering home the "leave no trace" message means the amount of stuff left is then manageable for the tatters and litter pickers.

[PassingCloud]

15 hours ago, willgooneday said:

That is absolutely shameful. There needs to be some sort of fine for leaving stuff behind, god knows how you'd do it though. Not sure designated pitches would be feasible. Although its also an old pic. 

I think if you’re caught littering or pissing anywhere other than toilets then they take down your wristband number and black list you from buying future tickets. 

[moogster]

It really didn't look that bad but I didn't see the campgrounds on monday. Made a point of sticking my empty cups on the side of my bag if in a crowd but I understand people dropping them if in the middle of the pyramid crowd or something.

BUT those f*cking metal NOS things all around. Come on don't tell me you can't put them in a pocket.

[Alvoram]

There is no excuse for it... Almost everyone had a bag, just put your shit in the bag until the set has finished and you pass a bin!

[giantkatestacks]

I have been on the recycling crew for many years and I have never seen so little litter on the Pyramid all weekend. We only did one sweep per shift which is absolutely unheard of. 

At other points the site was mucky - especially the Park on Thursday but generally people are beginning to get the message. 

One new piece of irritating non recyclable litter: throwaway vape equipment. 

[moogster]

2 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

I have been on the recycling crew for many years and I have never seen so little litter on the Pyramid all weekend. We only did one sweep per shift which is absolutely unheard of. 

At other points the site was mucky - especially the Park on Thursday but generally people are beginning to get the message. 

One new piece of irritating non recyclable litter: throwaway vape equipment. 

I was amazed at the amount of throwaway vapes: is it people who just did it for the fest or is it a thing in the UK?

[CaledonianGonzo]

4 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

I have been on the recycling crew for many years and I have never seen so little litter on the Pyramid all weekend. We only did one sweep per shift which is absolutely unheard of. 

At other points the site was mucky - especially the Park on Thursday but generally people are beginning to get the message. 

One new piece of irritating non recyclable litter: throwaway vape equipment. 

Great to hear and agree that it generally seemed tidier this year.

[verrymerry]

48 minutes ago, PassingCloud said:

I think if you’re caught littering or pissing anywhere other than toilets then they take down your wristband number and black list you from buying future tickets. 

They should do this, but your wristband number isn't linked to anything, unless it's changed since 2017

[Alvoram]

3 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

I have been on the recycling crew for many years and I have never seen so little litter on the Pyramid all weekend. We only did one sweep per shift which is absolutely unheard of. 

At other points the site was mucky - especially the Park on Thursday but generally people are beginning to get the message. 

One new piece of irritating non recyclable litter: throwaway vape equipment. 

we commented on this, as a vaper it was very frustrating and completely against the whole idea of reducing waste. There is absolutely no reason for them to exist other than to rid people of their hard earned money and create more waste!!! 

I've had the same rechargeable battery for over a year now, and the same tanks for months, the coils can be changed weekly / fortnightly and the tank topped up with liquid... Costs me about £5 per week to vape... and is kinder to the planet. Why on earth would anybody want to use disposables?

I do hope they weren't being sold on site, and if they were I hope the festival immediately put a stop to their sale... Sell E-liquid, batteries and atomisers instead!!!

[PassingCloud]

Saw a a fair bit of litter in the car parks next to where cars had been parked. I think that’s probably the height of c**tishness not to just take it home. 

[maelzoid]

2 minutes ago, verrymerry said:

They should do this, but your wristband number isn't linked to anything, unless it's changed since 2017

I don't know either way, but it is certainly doable. When your ticket is scanned and you receive the wristband, it's not a great technical challenge to link the two. I think if people knew this was the case and the consequences of being caught, it would actually go a very long way to reducing awful behaviour.

 

[PassingCloud]

18 minutes ago, moogster said:

It really didn't look that bad but I didn't see the campgrounds on monday. Made a point of sticking my empty cups on the side of my bag if in a crowd but I understand people dropping them if in the middle of the pyramid crowd or something.

BUT those f*cking metal NOS things all around. Come on don't tell me you can't put them in a pocket.

No excuse to drop anything ever! (unless it’s accidental and you don’t realise or can’t get to it). 
Fuck the fake-hippy NOS balloon bastards. The worst. 

[PassingCloud]

10 minutes ago, verrymerry said:

They should do this, but your wristband number isn't linked to anything, unless it's changed since 2017

I don’t think would be that hard to link the wristband number to your ticket number. Makes sense to do and surprised it isn’t. 

[sinhala]

I was speaking to one of the re-cycling crew supervisors in the acoustic bar on Thursday. He asked us to leave our litter on the ground at the stages because otherwise he would be out of a job. Bit extreme but I get where he is coming from. Am afraid to say that we put all our cups & cans in a plastic bag and dropped them at the bins on the way out, so hope he still has his job next year !

Footnote - definitely less squashed cans at the pyramid. 

[giantkatestacks]

Post-shift on Monday morning