Sustainability

Green Team Ethos

Melters, we’ve got this. Because you care about being green, we’re going to create and maintain a beautiful, clean, responsible festival this year. Our green team works hard to make sure the event grounds not only stay clean of all waste, but are left better than they’re found after our amazing weekend of art, music, workshops and fun. But, they can’t do it without your help.

So:
Help us keep the dance floors clean
Help us keep MOOP (matter out of place, or trash!) off the grounds
Help us make sure the natural environment where this amazing event happens stays as beautiful as it is now
Help us to create the best music festival ever

Here are some easy things you can do

Leave No Trace! This means not leaving anything behind at the festival site, either at your campsite or at Summer Meltdown in general. This is extremely important, even one piece of trash left behind by thousands of participants = a lot to clean up.

Pack Smart!

Remove unnecessary packaging before departing for Summer Meltdown
Reusables for camp: don’t bring 1 time use items like solo cups, plastic plates and utensils, or solo cups
Bring reusable utensils, camp cups, plates and bowls
Being a reusable water bottle, and plan on not losing it

Sort Your Waste
Pre-sort your camp trash, recycling & compost as you go. Bring a bag for each! Use the designated stations throughout the event to sort your materials. Make sure that you bring your materials to the stations during the event on Sunday, so that you are able to pack up camp and go without having to sort last minute when you are tired and ready for a real bed.

MOOP (Matter Out Of Place)
If you see anything on the ground, pick it up! MOOP sucks, it attracts more MOOP, and no one wants it around. Be a part of the solution!

Show the Stages Some Love
Help clean up the dance floors at stages in between sets and when the music stops. Bring the materials you pick up to the nearest bin station on your way to the bathroom, or on your way to the next part of your night. Thus, the stages remain clean and clear of any rubbish, and we can all dance without MOOP getting in our way.

Remind others
Encourage others to keep Summer Meltdown clean if you see them doing something against the eco-ethos, such as littering. That’s lame.

Get Involved with Green Team
Come to the Green Team HQ booth to learn more about Summer Meltdown sustainability and how you can join our efforts more effectively and efficiently.

Volunteering
If you want to volunteer with Green Team and you know you like the work, sign up online, or just come join a shift and find out what it takes to be on Green Team! We manage all post consumer byproducts that are consumed and used at the event. This means that all landfill, recycling, and compost generated onsite is collected, hauled, and sorted by us before it leaves site for a processing facility. Our goal is to divert as much waste from the landfill as possible.

Thank you! You’re awesome.

Here are some things we are doing:

Meltdown will not permit any vendors to bring single use plastic on site, which includes water bottles, straws, plates, and cutlery. We aim to greatly reduce our waste footprint by eliminating plastic!
Our vendors will be allowed to bring compostable single use items, but only those from a list that our composting company certifies will break down in a suitably fast manner! Please choose reusable, though!
Our longer term plan involves eliminating all single use (compostable) cups at the festival over the next few years, and eliminating single use (compostable) plates and cutlery after that. We’re making some great strides this year by introducing stainless steel cups to our Beer Garden, Merch Booth, and Market, as well as washing stations for whatever cup you use.
Our Green Team works incredibly hard to separate ALL festival waste. They recycle everything possible and compost as much as we can capture from our campers and vendors.
Instead of plastic garbage bags to move garbage from the trash cans to the larger receptacles, our Green Team will be using Super Sacks – Large reusable bags that can be cleaned off and used over and over. This will keep many plastic garbage bags from going to the landfill.
We have compost and recycle bins at all waste stations around the venue.