Zero Waste & Waste Education

“…how we express ourselves and how we imagine ourselves. And what we leave behind to define our passing.”

Vision
Canaan Downs Festival is a story. The story is a journey.  A journey into the heart of a culture. The culture of the land and the people of the land. It is a story about who we are, who we want to be. It is a story about us, how we express ourselves, and how we imagine ourselves. And what we leave behind to define our passing.

Concept
Canaan Downs Festival is a blend of dance and rock, of the old and new, of youth and age, bought and borrowed, wrapped and unwrapped. Of plastic and glass, of metal and paper, of reusable and WASTE. It is this blend of the world we need to get right. An exploration of what we leave behind in a contemporary festival surrounded by nature and ancient tribal ritual & rhythm. In this confluence of the ways of the past and the ways of the future we can achieve and celebrate Zero Waste.

Process
RESPECT - respect Mother Earth, our lovely festival site & yourself, ensure that you dispose of everything you bring in a respectful way and leave the land happy and healthy.

REDUCE - reduce the amount of waste you will create during the festival. Think about what you will bring and what impact your waste may have on the environment and others. On average, festival goers create half a kilo of waste per day, which amounts to 0.4 kg of CO2. By reducing waste you can pull your weight, and contribute to global environmental health.

REUSE - use materials that can be used again wherever possible.

RECYCLE - We encourage you to take your own recycling and waste with you when you leave, this reduces the amount of work and money needed to dispose of your waste. This is one way you can help keep ticket prices down and creat a Zero Waste Festival. There will be limited facilities on site for recyclables, compost and waste to landfill, please don’t use them!

What does this mean?
Zero waste is a concept that means all waste products are seen as resources and returned to a usable form. Of course for some materials this is difficult, so use of these materials will be minimised wherever possible. The aim for zero waste is to eliminate and not just manage waste. Before coming to the festival plan what you are bringing and what will happen to things when you are done with them.

The full Zero Waste Brief PDF can be downloaded here.

Thank you for contributing to keeping Canaan Downs site beautiful.