Folk Festival Sustainability Initiatives
The Ottawa Folk Festival is committed to taking a leadership role in promoting greener festivals within the Ottawa area. We have taken many steps towards sustainable practices and programming. Here are some of our initiatives, past and present, including the first ever bottle-water free festival in the region in 2009!
OFF / Jake Morrison
- Plastic bottle free zone with no plastic water bottles being sold or distributed on site in partnership with CUPE-SCFP and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. We’ve diverted over 13,250 plastic water bottles since 2009, using hydration stations to refill water bottles with clean, City of Ottawa drinking water.
- Reusable dish program diverting 15,675 disposable plates each year since the 2007 annual festival, as well as over 34,000 disposable forks, knives and spoons at the 2011 festival.
- Compostable Beer Cups and Cup Suckers on garbage cans to keep cups out of the landfill.
- Recycling and compost stations throughout the festival site!
- An amazing Green Team of festival volunteers that help keep the site clean.
- Mr. Something Something concert powered through bicycle-generated power in 2009!
- Promotion of green transportation through bus service promotion, and supervised bike park providing secure bike lock-up.
- EnviroTent and other environmental programming such as learning about how to Go Solar and Make Money, Wild Edibles, The Clean Energy Future and more!
- Sharing our reusable dishes with other organizations, such as the Community Cup and MEC Paddlefest, as well as our TD Water Source Water Station, to promote sustainable community events made possible by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
Rent a TD Water Source Water Station
Do you have an upcoming event or festival and need an easy way to get water to hundreds or thousands of people? Save plastic water bottles from the landfill and rent a water station! Our water stations are available for rent year round, but please book early to ensure they are available for your event.
For more information on cost, as well as practical info like how to transport, how it works, etc., please contact:
Victor Bousada: vbousada@ottawabluesfest.ca
(613) 230-8234 x234
Learn More about our Greening Efforts!
At the Ottawa Folk Festival, we are dedicated to reducing our ecological footprint and to inspiring our festival goers to integrate green thinking into their daily lives. However, we would like to do more: to encourage other festivals and events to broaden their environmental initiatives, as well as to learn from you how we can improve upon our own greening practices. We have produced the following documentary with financial support from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation to display our greening activities during our 17th annual festival in August of 2010. We hope you enjoy and will share with us your experiences and ideas!
TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Wrap-up Reports
Check out the following links for the Ottawa Folk Festival’s reports regarding funding from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
For more information about our green initiatives, take a look at our TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Grant final reports from 2009, 2010 and 2011. Take a look here for information on how to green your festival!
Ottawa Folk Festival 2009: Went Unplugged and Unbottled!
Clean water is the foundation of the health and well being of every community. The Ottawa Folk Festival the first Ottawa Festival to say no to plastic water bottles and yes to public water!
Without the expertise, dedication, and generous support of our water partners, this initiative would certainly not have been possible. A heartfelt thank you to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Grant, Ottawa Riverkeeper, CUPE, CUPE 503, Council of Canadians, The Water Store, and Life Without Plastics. We did it, folks!
Download and read the full Water Initiatives Report from our 2009 Festival:
Water Initiatives Festival 2009 (PDF 81kb)
OFF / Julie Stern
