FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18th, 2008
News Release
London Green Festivals
Greening the Festivals
Home County Folk Festival introduces more green initiatives
Following the successful introduction of the Greening of the Festivals at Sunfest earlier this month, the committee responsible for the initiative is excited to announce the next phase of the program.
This weekend, at the Home County Folk Festival, visitors will see new green festival initiatives, as well as improvements to those introduced at Sunfest.
New: Bring your own, reusables, & dishwashing station
The message from Home County Folk Festival is to "bring your own" dishes, cutlery, mug and water bottle. A dishwashing trailer has been installed in the park and the staff working there will gladly send the dinnerware through the machine for cleaning. For those who may prefer to rent, the dishwashing station will also carry a supply of plates and cutlery, which will be available for a small returnable deposit fee. In celebration of their 35th anniversary, the Home County Folk Festival will also be selling reusable water bottles and mugs at their info booth. Reusables and the dishwashing station are firsts for the Green Festival project and will be tested this weekend.
Improved: More locations to fill up your water bottle
In addition to the three permanent water fountains installed for Sunfest, there will be a water trailer to provide more access to free municipal water. This will help reduce the reliance of festival visitors on single-use plastic water bottles.
Improved: EcoStations
The EcoStation, first introduced at Sunfest, is where visitors go to dispose of their waste and sort it into the various bins for recyclables, compostables or landfill. Responding to feedback from visitors to Sunfest, the EcoStations will now be easier to find and use. They will be marked with green flags flying high overhead and new signage promises to make the process of sorting waste easier to understand.
The Greening of the Festivals is a partnership between the City of London, Home County Folk Festival, Sunfest, Ribfest and Waste Free World. As Catherine McInnis, Home County Artistic Director and member of the Green Festival partnership, explains: ÒAlong with the goal to introduce waste diversion to these three major London events is our hope that visitors will be encouraged to continue good environmental practices at home as well as at their own summer get-togethers and celebrations.Ó
Contacts:
Home County Folk Festival, Catherine McInnes, cathmcinnes@sympatico.ca 519 661-9116
Waste Free World, Maryanne MacDonald, wastefreeworld@gmail.com 519 636-9233
City of London, Scott Stafford, sstaffor@london.ca 519 854-3207
or
Dianna Clarke dlclarke@london.ca 519 617-1648
On other Green Festivals:
Sunfest, Bob Fletcher, rfletcher8626@rogers.com 519 471-8626
London Rib-Fest, Don Donner, ddonner@bgclondon.ca 519 434-9114
