Austin City Limits Waste at Festival

local
Written By Bernadette Toh

Zilker Park is a haven nestled in the heart of Austin with rolling green fields and mesmerizing views of the city skyline. But take a closer look and another sight emerges. Aluminum beer cans litter the front of the stage. Fragments of rubbish are strewn across the field. Cigarette butts and food remains stain the St. Augustine grass.

Austin City Limits (ACL), one of the biggest music festivals in the country, takes place here every fall and with it brings tons of waste.

To encourage cleaner practices at the festival, the Austin Parks Foundation kickstarted a volunteer-run initiative called the “Greening Program.” Founded in 1992 as a non-profit organization, the Austin Parks Foundation has partnered with ACL for 18 years to reduce the amount of waste at the festival.

“Large events like music festivals can generate a lot of waste, which can be harmful to the local wildlife, ecosystems and environment,” ACL volunteer Jessica Park said.

Major music festivals in the United States, like Coachella and Lollapalooza, generate around 100 tons of solid waste every day, according to the 2016 Final Environmental Impact Report for Music Festivals. Trash discarded by festival participants, such as bottles, wristbands and plastic cutlery, can be left in the environment for decades to come.

In 2017, ACL generated close to 200 tons of waste, of which more than half was successfully recycled. 

“Having projects like the greening program is good to reduce the amount of trash created,” Park said. “ACL is such a big part of Austin, so it makes sense that Austin Parks Foundation wants to get the community involved.”

The Greening Program has two main initiatives: Rock & Recycle, and Divert it! Rock & Recycle accepts bags of recyclables from festival attendees in exchange for a free t-shirt designed by artists as part of the Helping Other People Everywhere (HOPE) campaign. Meanwhile, Divert it! enlists volunteers to encourage and educate by helping them compost, recycle and send less waste to landfills.

“It is important that ACL feels like a community event,” Greening Program volunteer Alex Murphy said. “Having Austin locals helping with the events fosters that feeling.”

This year, over 700 volunteers took part in ACL greening initiatives to ensure the conservation of the surrounding environment. 

Speaking on her volunteer experience at the Rock & Recycle booth, Park said she was initially worried about a low participation rate, but was pleasantly surprised.

“We actually were running out of shirts to give because so many attendees were bringing in bags of cans,” Park said. 

Even with Murphy’s previous experience volunteering at the Rock & Recycle booth, he said he was amazed by the overwhelming response.

“It’s crazy to me how many guests are willing to pick up a lot of recycling,” Murphy said. “I estimated each bag to be filled with over a hundred cans.”

Another Greening Program highlight is the switch from selling single-use plastic cans to reusable cups. Participants can register for a cup to use throughout the festival and return it to the designated recycling bins at the end of the weekend, which signs them up for a lottery to win free ACL merch. 

When asked about the success of the greening programs, Murphy said guests feel good about helping reduce waste in the park and winning festival memorabilia in return. 

“Many people do care about ongoing efforts for Austin’s public parks and are keen to contribute to the foundation,” first-time ACL volunteer Alvin Teo said.

While he educated attendees on the importance of the volunteer opportunity, Teo noticed festival-goers were enthusiastic about being environmentally conscious.

Locals find purpose in conserving the city’s natural landscape because that is what makes Austin, Austin.

“I like how there are so many things to do while enjoying nature here,” Park said. “You can hike, kayak and bike around trails. Also, you can chill at one of the many public parks around the city.”

While the program helped reduce littering at Zilker Park, the dual-weekend music event still amassed a considerable amount of waste left behind. Simultaneously, the Greening Program and the community took huge steps forward in creating cleaner spaces.

After all, the fight against festival waste has only just begun.

Bernadette Toh
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