SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
Solshine is proud to be a sustainable festival. We’re taking the necessary steps to reduce our carbon footprint, support local Illinois businesses and reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as we can. Learn all about our sustainability initiatives and to discover how YOU can help keep olshine a clean, beautiful, and earth friendly event below.
AIMING FOR ZERO WASTE
Minimizing waste being sent to the landfill is a huge undertaking, yet a top priority for Solshine Reverie. Lessening our environmental footprint in this way means we need the right systems in place and the right people overseeing those systems in order to maximize our recycling and composting efforts. That’s why Solshine Reverie is expanding our partnership with Zero Waste Event Productions to get the job done!
Since 2017, Zero Waste Event Productions has successfully diverted 68,228 lbs of recycling and compost from Summer Camps past within their sorting center. This year you can find their systems in place all across the festival grounds! Zero Waste will be managing, collecting, and sorting all material generated on site for the duration of the event. This means recyclables and compostables have the highest chance possible of being recycled into new products or composted into rich fertilizer.
LOOK FOR THE COLOR CODED WASTE COLLECTION STATIONS
Throughout the entire festival grounds including stage areas, food vending areas, and campgrounds Zero Waste will have their waste collection stations in conveniently located places. Look for the big “Waste Station” flags to help guide you to your nearest waste stream receptacles. There you will find three different color coded bins: Blue for Recycling, Green for Compost, and Black for Trash. Please do your best to properly sort your materials into the proper bins! Most stations will also be outfitted with informational signage to remind you what types of materials go into which waste streams.
You may notice that all recyclables go into a single-stream bin. That means all plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard go into one bin, but fret not! All of these recyclables will be hand sorted into separated streams inside of the Zero Waste Sorting Center before being sent off to local recycling facilities.
COMPOSTABLE SERVICEWARE FROM FOOD VENDORS
All serviceware given to you by an official Solshine food vendor IS COMPOSTABLE! Yes! That means your plate, bowl, cup, utensils, napkins and any other serviceware item provided to you with your order. Please place all these food items into the proper “Compost” labeled bins at our waste collection stations. All other food scraps may be placed into this bin as well (including food scraps from your campsite!).
A little about PLA (#7) plastic:
All serviceware items are ordered directly through Solshine Reverie to ensure everything will break down in a commercial or industrial composting facility. Compostable materials may include wood & wood pulp, plant fiber, paper, and PLA plastic. Eco-Products provides all of these items for the festival, and this information about PLA plastic is pulled from their website:
Polylactic Acid (PLA) is derived from plants like corn, sugarcane, or cassava. These plant-based starches are processed into a biopolymer that looks, acts, and performs like a traditional petroleum-based plastic. With the circular benefits of being made from renewable, plant-based materials and being compostable in commercial composting facilities – this versatile raw material is a fan favorite for earth-loving fans.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Each year Summer Camp brings in a large group of nonprofit organizations to educate attendees on keeping our environment clean and green. Organizations educate on issues of sustainability, reusable energy sources, carbon offsetting, and much more! Take some time to check out their booths and learn more from workshops, demonstrations, discussions, and even acoustic performances at the SOULPATCH Garden that highlight each group’s goals and accomplishments!
PARTNERING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES TO KEEP IT CLEAN AND GREEN
In addition to Zero Waste Event Productions providing on-site waste management, collection, and sorting services (who hail from only two states away in Athens, OH), there are other local players that are a part of this waste reduction game!
X-Waste (Pekin, IL) handles all hauling of material off-site to local facilities. They provide all of the dumpsters needed on site as well as the packer trucks that you may see making their rounds throughout the grounds. X-Waste ensures that all sorted material (be it compost or recycling) end up at the correct facilities where all materials will live on again in new lives.
One of those facilities is local all-star Better Earth Compost (Peoria, IL). All food scraps and compostable serviceware items will go through a breakdown process at their facility where everything will eventually be turned into soil-amending compost. This compost is then sold to local farmers, landscapers, and gardeners! We love a closed-loop system!
PLAYING YOUR PART
We want everyone to be involved in all of the goodness and greenness that emanates from Solshine Reverie, and there are plenty of opportunities to do so! Following all tips on how to be more waste conscious while enjoying Solshine is a great start. Check out the tips below! Beyond that, participating in the Field Day Big Butt Challenge and other Zero Waste games and competitions is a great way to engage with your fellow festy fam to keep the scene clean and green. Look for our litter sweeping competitions at select shows throughout the weekend (there are fun prizes involved, too)! Sharing with your friends how Solshine is Aiming for Zero Waste and the tips you’ve learned to help accomplish this waste diversion goal is a huge help! Lead by example during your festival experience and spread the enthusiasm to all of your friends and neighbors. Finally, if you love it all and just can’t get enough, volunteer with Zero Waste! Head on over to the volunteer application portal and find the Green Team application.