Festivals and sporting events need to clean-up

17th February 2007
From Sunday Herald (Scotland)

Edinburgh festivals told to clean up or risk losing everything

EDINBURGH'S WORLD-FAMOUS festivals,whichfrequently featureenvironmental themes, have come under fire for failing to curb the huge amounts of waste and pollution they create.

Someenvironmentalistsareeven suggesting that international festivals may have to be abandoned to help save the planet from the disasters threatened by global warming. Major cultural and sportingeventsare"unsustainable", theyargue,becausetheyencourage thousands of people to travel by air.

Though the Edinburgh festivals are not about to accept their own demise, they have all been prompted to start thinking about their green credentials. And some are thinking harder than others, an investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed.
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The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) said they were taking environmental issues seriously.Buttheyprovidedfew examples of their commitment, beyond a little recycling.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival(EIBF)insistedithadgone further, but it has nevertheless attracted some strong criticism. As a major forum for innovative environmental thinking, it should be taking the lead in greening the festivals, critics argued.

"Progress on environmental issues beyond recycling is poor," said Les Wallace, who was the book festival's recycling co-ordinator for the past four years. Although the festival had been "very supportive" of recycling schemes for paper, bottle and cans, it had done little else, he added.

Wallace is so frustrated by the lack of progress on reducing the use of energy, water and other resource that he has told the festival's organisers that he will not work with them again this year. "It could take the leading role in greening the world's largest arts festival," he argued.

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