Glastonbury Festival has announced it will not be selling plastic bottles at this year’s festival, as it joins the fight against single-use plastic.
Festival goers will still be able to take their own plastic bottles into the festival with them, but single-use plastic bottles will not be sold on site.
And it’s not just the regular festival goers who will be affected. The rule will also apply to the festival’s backstage, production, catering and dressing room areas.
More than one million bottles were sold during 2017′s festival and the massive clean-up operation after each festival shows just how much waste 175,000 people can accumulate during a five-day festival – even if there are plenty of recycling points on site.
When it comes to making sure you’ve consumed enough water each day – because cider doesn’t count, soz – festival organisers recommend bringing a reusable water bottle to the festival and refilling from one of the hundreds of free water taps around the site.
The site is also scattered with WaterAid kiosks where you will be able to refill your bottle. Free drinking water will be available from all bars across the site.
While admittedly an important move for the planet, any seasoned Glastonbury attendee will know how various ice cream vans stationed around the festival site can offer a refreshingly cold mixer to pair with the warm vodka in your backpack. But this honoured tradition need not end: instead of plastic bottles, you’ll be able to grab a canned soft drink instead.
In fact, canned soft drinks and canned Life Water will be available to purchase from all traders who previously sold soft drinks in plastic bottles. In 2017, almost 45 tonnes of aluminium cans were recycled after being processed by the festival’s on-site recycling centre and organisers expect this figure to rise significantly this year.
Emily Eavis said in a statement: “It’s paramount for our planet that we all reduce our plastic consumption, and I’m thrilled that, together, we’ll be able to prevent over a million single-use plastic bottles from being used at this year’s Festival. I really hope that everyone – from ticket-holder to headliner – will leave Worthy Farm this year knowing that even small, everyday changes can make a real difference. It’s now or never.”