I see what you are trying to achieve and I see all the effort that you put into it. Many thanks to everyone who is involved in making Boomtown (and any other festival, community, the planet in general) a cleaner space! However, as a regular festivalgoer in Germany I hate to say that me and my friends were actually quite shocked when we saw the amount of litter and rubbish in all places. German festivals definitely have their own problems and not everything is perfect there, but we felt that Boomtown was on another level in comparison (I do lack experience to compare it with other European festivals though). A group of people (in their mid 40s I would guess) left behind almost their whole campsite next to us, including not only their tents and airbeds, but also insulation boxes for their drinks, a wheelbarrow and I don't know what else. Apart from many more of these "abandoned campsites" we felt that many people threw away anything that they did no longer need right were they were currently standing, even if garbage bins were close by. We camped in a spot with afternoon shade, and obviously many people came there during the hot hours. After they left, (half-) empty food boxes, cans, wet wipes and various other stuff around our campsite stayed. Not only is this an unfriendly gesture against your fellow co-campers who lived there for a few days, but we also fail to understand how such a valuable thing as a clean shady grassy space to lay down and actually relax during the day meant so little to some (or many?) people. After the first or second day, the "infield" was plastered with empty cans (especially those hidden in the sand on the forest stages...) and in the big food court, left-behinds were stacked on tables and benches, even though there were bins literally five steps away. I fear that this "don't care" mindset might be the biggest challenge for Boomtown to actually become what it wants to be in terms of cleanliness.
Love the free shop. I use it every year and saves me having to lug camping chairs and beds to site and back. Great bunch of guys who run it as well. They did so well even in the scorching heat this year. Keep it up guys 💚
I wish I had known about the free shop before :0. We actually brought our camping chairs all the way from Germany on trains, busses and whatnot (and of course took them back with us after the festival). Especially for people who try to travel light this is actually a huge plus in comfort (which could be an incentive to be more ecological as well, I suppose).
I see what you are trying to achieve and I see all the effort that you put into it. Many thanks to everyone who is involved in making Boomtown (and any other festival, community, the planet in general) a cleaner space!
However, as a regular festivalgoer in Germany I hate to say that me and my friends were actually quite shocked when we saw the amount of litter and rubbish in all places. German festivals definitely have their own problems and not everything is perfect there, but we felt that Boomtown was on another level in comparison (I do lack experience to compare it with other European festivals though).
A group of people (in their mid 40s I would guess) left behind almost their whole campsite next to us, including not only their tents and airbeds, but also insulation boxes for their drinks, a wheelbarrow and I don't know what else.
Apart from many more of these "abandoned campsites" we felt that many people threw away anything that they did no longer need right were they were currently standing, even if garbage bins were close by. We camped in a spot with afternoon shade, and obviously many people came there during the hot hours. After they left, (half-) empty food boxes, cans, wet wipes and various other stuff around our campsite stayed. Not only is this an unfriendly gesture against your fellow co-campers who lived there for a few days, but we also fail to understand how such a valuable thing as a clean shady grassy space to lay down and actually relax during the day meant so little to some (or many?) people.
After the first or second day, the "infield" was plastered with empty cans (especially those hidden in the sand on the forest stages...) and in the big food court, left-behinds were stacked on tables and benches, even though there were bins literally five steps away.
I fear that this "don't care" mindset might be the biggest challenge for Boomtown to actually become what it wants to be in terms of cleanliness.
Love the free shop. I use it every year and saves me having to lug camping chairs and beds to site and back. Great bunch of guys who run it as well. They did so well even in the scorching heat this year. Keep it up guys 💚
Such a good plan Libby! x
I wish I had known about the free shop before :0. We actually brought our camping chairs all the way from Germany on trains, busses and whatnot (and of course took them back with us after the festival).
Especially for people who try to travel light this is actually a huge plus in comfort (which could be an incentive to be more ecological as well, I suppose).
Libby you flipping legend, super heartwarming to hear! It was some graft setting up in the heat and touching to know it's worth it. 💚
Make eco-bonds actually work next year yeah?
Definitely worth having the open I'd say, makes it muuuuch easier to use them 😂 especially if it's £20 now
Critical waste not part of this system?
That's what I thought, litter pickers are always the forgotten grafters. Especially Critical who are actually going through and separating everything!