Sustainability & accessibility
We believe sustainable entrepreneurship is a mindset. With the right mindset, making sustainable choices often happens as a matter of course. Helped by this mindset we are, with our festival, one of the leaders in the field of sustainability. We are very proud of this, but also find it necessary in today’s society. When we are talking about sustainability, this is in both ecological and social terms.
In our objectives we do not mention percentages or ambitious figures. We constantly monitor and measure our performance and whenever the figures are relevant for improvement we take action. We do not want to waste energy, but save energy instead, also in terms of policy. Brief, powerful, efficient but most of all effective. Sustainability is not a marketing tool, we focus our policy on areas where real gains can be made.
We want to raise awareness amongst our visitors that together we can achieve a great deal when it comes to sustainability. At our festival we as organizers make sustainable choices, but we hope that we can also convey this to you, the visitor. Both at the festival and afterwards, in daily life. A few ways in which you as a visitor can contribute are set out below.
If you have any question about our sustainability or accessibility, please send us an email: [email protected]
How you can contribute as a visitor?
Recycle token: your drink cup is no longer waste, but a raw material
Within the next few years it will be common practice at most festivals to return your cup or bottle to the bar and no longer throw them in the trash. We “upcycle” the cups, which means that we will make an equivalent product from the material during the recycling process. There is more to this type of upcycling than you might initially think. It is only attainable if the cups are clean, made of PET-plastic and not printed. This leads to a method of separating plastic waste which can be very different compared to the way you might be separating plastic at home: we separate our festival cups from other plastic materials. At our festival this is the most sustainable way of working, and you will also be sure to always have a fresh, clean cup in your hand.
To ensure that cups are returned appropriately, we work with a recycle token. Upon entry you will receive a recycle token from us. You hand in this token at the bar when you order your first drink. If you return your empty cup/ bottle to the bar, you will again receive a token. Of course, you can also immediately order a new drink when returning your empty cup/ bottle. Want to get rid of your empty cup but not walk to the bar? Keep an eye on our mobile intake-teams. They will be easily identifiable and walking around amongst the crowd, and they will exchange your cup for a token. If you come to the bar ordering a new drink without returning your cup/bottle or without handing in a token, you will pay half a coin extra. In short, please contribute and hand in your cup!
What is more, our recycle tokens are made of old fishing nets, this way we prevent these nets from ending up in the sea and we will give a new purpose to old fishing nets!
Separating waste: a small effort, but a big impact
When you are at the festival you will only have little waste, for example cigarette or chewing gum packaging and the carrying trays that we distribute at the bars. That is why we can keep it simple in terms of waste separation. We separate cardboard and residual waste on the entire festival site, only at the “food courts” do we separate compostable material and residual waste. All plates, cutlery and napkins are made from a biologically degradable material. So please help the environment and throw them away in the compost bin!
In case it starts raining we will distribute ponchos at the bars. When the rain is over, you can deposit the used poncho in special containers that will be placed next to all bars.
Are you choosing the vegetarian option?
Our range of products at the “food courts” already consists of more than 70% of vegetarian dishes. These are just as tasty as the meat variants and, moreover, they are not more expensive. Do you want to contribute to a better environment by choosing vegetarian dishes? The choice is yours!
We love your ears!
You too? Bring your own ear plugs or buy special party plugs from Alpine at our merchandise stall at the festival.
These party plugs are reusable and are sold in a small case.
Traveling by public transport or by bike
In order to reduce emissions by vehicles as much as possible, we encourage visitors to travel by public transport or by bike. A large bicycle parking is set up at the entrance of the festival, we also have a shuttle bus service that will drop you off at the entrance and will take you back to Sloterdijk station at the end of the festival. A return ticket for the shuttle bus is only a few euros and the bike parking is completely free of charge.
Free parking for fully electric cars
We also encourage the use of electric cars! Therefore, we offer a free parking space for our visitors arriving in a fully electric car. There is thus no need to pay for parking, but you will need to show the vehicle registration certificate so that the traffic controller can check that your car is fully electric.
Sustainability behind the scenes
Much more is happening behind the scenes. You might not notice what is going on, but it is sustainable!
Energy
Energy reduction is in our opinion key in terms of sustainability. For what is not consumed in energy does not have to be generated. This might sound logical, but unfortunately it is still very common in the festival world to continue running aggregates during set-up and dismantling or at night while they are not at all or barely used.
Since our first festival in 2012 we have been driven by sustainability concerns to reduce our emission. We do this for example by using energy-efficient equipment such as LED lighting, the use of battery cells loaded with green electricity and we use biodiesel in cases where fuel is still needed, for example for the forklift trucks. We keep a close eye on our energy consumption and measure this every year in order to be able to make the festival more and more energy efficient. We also ensure that transport to and from our festival runs efficiently. For example, we mainly select suppliers from the region and we try to transport as many materials as possible in one transport so that there is as little transport movement as possible. We also stimulate our suppliers to drive with fuel-efficient (freight) trucks.
Circular economy
Our view on waste has changed over the past years. Instead of single-stream recycling we now separate multiple streams of waste behind the scenes, such as compostable materials, consumption coins, glass, wood, paper & cardboard, PET plastic, caps and “PMD” (plastic packaging, metal packaging and beverage cartons).
In addition, we also look for materials that can be reused within our decoration. Almost all of our decorations at the festival are reused or are made from reusable material.
Accessibility
We want our festival to be easily accessible to everyone. Regardless of whether you are a visitor with reduced mobility or not. For wheelchair users, there are accessible toilets and there is a widened entrance gate which is clearly indicated. This year we will also have our festival tested on wheelchair accessibility, we will evaluate any suggestions for improvement and address these in our preparation for all of our following festivals.
In addition, we have also made several other choices in order to make the festival as accessible as possible to everyone. Most paths are paved and there is wood flooring in front of most of the stages. Emergency exits are free of obstacles such as stairs and curbs. We lay extra road plates over cable protection ramps so that they can be “bridged”. If you have a disability and are arriving at the festival by car, please email us in advance, we will inform you about the best place to park or to be dropped off. In case you have not emailed us, please speak to one of our traffic controllers and we will try to find a suitable solution. Support workers, as well as friends, acquaintances or family members that act as personal assistants, must be in possession of a valid admission ticket.
We are not in favor of bringing guide dogs and assistance dogs to the festival. We are concerned that the high sound volume and crowds together with dogs might not be a beneficial combination.
Mobility scooters are not allowed on the festival site for safety reasons, electric wheelchairs are allowed.
In addition, we also want our catering to be accessible to everyone. This means that we offer a wide range of different dishes whereby we have also tried to take into account possible allergies you may have.
Participation
We work together with various creative entrepreneurs, creative breeding grounds, schools and foundations to make our festival a success. We are of course always open to more collaborations!
Promoting the festival & informing visitors in a sustainable way
Also when it comes to promoting the festival we consider the environment. For example, it is a conscious choice to work with as little printed material as possible: we only promote the festival by using posters along the road.
Regarding on-site information for visitors: we do not give out flyers, timetables or maps at the festival. Instead, there are information banners with timetables and maps which visitors can consult. Also, no gadgets will be handed out nor any other items that usually end up being thrown away and left on the ground.
The cleanup
During the festival and afterward we carefully clean up the festival site and often leave the park cleaner and tidier than how we found it when we arrived. The cleaning products we use are biodegradable, just like the liquids in the toilets and the toilet paper.
Accessibility
All the measures we have taken to improve accessibility can be found here:
English: Accessibility
Nederlands: Toegankelijkheid
