Tons of rubbish left after Electric Picnic

kneemos

AH has turned into a sewing circle.

All hope is lost I'm afraid.

Panthro

Boomtown fest take a tenner off ya when you buy the ticket. You can get it back if you fill one of their bags with rubbish.
Handy incentive to tidy up when you're flat broke and only dust in the wallet!

jobless

All of the campsites should be run like the eco campsite but the organisers won't do that... They'll pack as many in as the can into Hendrix and Warhol... They are increasing tickets by 2500 next year so it'll be worse if anything

Wrongway1985

Been at a number of fests abroad with a much higher capacity and sometimes more days than E.P, never saw such amount of rubbish after weekend from the photos. Other festivals have great incentives to promote recycling and E.P. should clearly look into it.

Music "expert" on Matt Cooper this evening actually defended the carry on saying you can't expect people like zombies cleaning up after weekend instead of wanting to get home...gobsh1te noone is saying so however it would make sense that an empty cans go straight into a recycling sack once used, don't leave crap on your own doorstep you then won't have to clean anything when leaving common sense ffs.

Dial Hard

My philosphy on littering is exceedingly simple - if you brought it with you full then you can sure as sh*t take it home with you empty. Anything else is scumbaggery, pure and simple.

Wheeliebin30

What’s that Simpson’s episode, can’t someone else do it?

Horrible self centered nation we have become.

For Forks Sake

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

What’s that Simpson’s episode, can’t someone else do it?

Horrible self centered nation we have become.

Rothko

NIMAN wrote: »

We live in a disposable world.

Same hipsters who left these behind will be out campaigning for re-useable coffee cups and less plastic choking dolphins soon.

Hypocrites

No, they won't

freedominacup

kneemos wrote: »

Who reared these "snowflakes"?

The crowd who burned the tents at the end of Feile back in the early nineties. I remember the photos. One in particular of some dreadlocked crusty staggering, slightly hunched over, dreads blowing in the wind through the small plumes of smoke which was all that remained of most of the tents in the campsite. He's bound to have had some offspring in Stradbally last weekend.

ToddyDoody

I hope the farmers don't throw it over the ditch in this case.

Hammer89

Star Bingo

wotswattage wrote: »

Picture This

Pkiernan

Collie D wrote: »

You're like a cartoon or something. Give it a rest, ffs!

How tolerant of you Mr. Marx.

Signore Fancy Pants

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I actually know people who clean up sited after a festival.
The issue isn't the big stuff. Pick it up put it in a bin/skip and they've grabbers/gloves/etc.
The main issue is with glass and bottle tops.

Id say theres loads of money, phones etc found too.

ontheditch2

Simple solution here.
Charge €20 extra for each ticket (it will still sell out) and put that money towards cleaning the place and recycling what they can afterwards.

freshpopcorn

Chewbacca wrote: »

Id say theres loads of money, phones etc found too.

Well they do post on Facebook about fairly good phone being found and for the owners to contact them.

gozunda

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

freedominacup wrote: »

The crowd who burned the tents at the end of Feile back in the early nineties. I remember the photos. One in particular of some dreadlocked crusty staggering, slightly hunched over, dreads blowing in the wind through the small plumes of smoke which was all that remained of most of the tents in the campsite. He's bound to have had some offspring in Stradbally last weekend.

"Teenage Mutant Binge in Thurles"

Cookie_Monster

Best solution here is to simply not allow permission for future EPs unless they put a proper plan in place to deal with the mess. Simply dumping it is not a viable solution.

BuboBubo

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Litter is a huge problem in Ireland. It's not a minority causing the problem

From this scenario to fly tipping, to litter on our streets - it's frightening. We are drowning in a sea of crap.

Cheap disposable crap is killing this planet, and nothing is being done to prevent it.

chite

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

We are, but we are not alone. It is as bad after festivals in the UK. They should weigh you and your gear on the way in and out and fine you if you are going home lighthanded.

This wouldn't work - people come in with slabs of drink and food which gets used up over the weekend. A system where you get a refundable deposit upon leaving if you came in with a tent (obvs not for pink moon campsite, people sharing tents etc.) providing a code or some verification that was given to you on entry with the tent on you. Lovely in theory but probably wouldn't work, could be a logistical nightmare, and tents could still be dumped in Stradbally outside EP.

Dakota Dan

Sal Butamol wrote: »

Litter is a huge problem in Ireland. It's not a minority causing the problem

I never said it wasn't but don't label everyone as litter bugs.

Bob Harris

It was all going into the bin one way or the other whether it was left there or brought home by each individual.

Bob Harris

wotswattage wrote: »

There are responsible people at Electric Picnic, the BYEco Camping section is left spotless after the festival. You just have to sign up for a pass and promise to be responsible. It's free and a pleasure to camp there.
No excuses for anyone else not to behave the same.

https://www.facebook.com/byecocamping/

The eco site on Monday morning 2017:


The normal campsite Monday 2017:

Sunny and bright in one pic, dark and overcast in the other. Hmmmmm

whisky_galore

Bob Harris wrote: »

It was all going into the bin one way or the other whether it was left there or brought home by each individual.

I'll dump a fridge in your garden so; it's going to fridge heaven either way.

pickarooney

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Times like this that make you realise that the "leave no trace" policy that Burning Man adopts is a massively underappreciated idea.

The 1000 dollar plus tickets probably scare off a lot of the undesirables too.

SteM

Was talking to a lad yesterday evening that lives on our road that was at EP. He was moaning about the cost of drink, €6.50 a pint he said. I asked him if he was one of the lads that left his tent behind and he said yeah that he always leaves it behind every year and buys a new one for the next year. Same with his sleeping bag. It makes it easier to get home he said (even though he drives down). When I asked why he didn't just pack up the tent and bag, use it the next year and save the money for the drink he was complaining about he looked at me like I had 10 heads.

Brock Turnpike

If it was the case that a sufficient number of bins were available throughout the campsite, would this even be an issue?

SteM

Bob Harris wrote: »

Sunny and bright in one pic, dark and overcast in the other. Hmmmmm

This is Ireland, it could have been sunny in one picture and raining in the other if they were taken 10 minutes apart. They obviously weren't taken at the exact same second so what's your point?

jobless

Bob Harris wrote: »

Sunny and bright in one pic, dark and overcast in the other. Hmmmmm

eco camping site is always spotless after the festival.... they hand out recycle bags and compost bags... and 99% of people adhere to the rules....
some people turned up this year that left **** behind **** last year and werent allowed once someone recognised them..

The whole place should run that way but it wont happen because theyd have to reduce capacity

Boom_Bap

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

If it was the case that a sufficient number of bins were available throughout the campsite, would this even be an issue?

Yes it would as people generally turn feral as soon as they hit the festival grounds

gozunda

Each tent should be tagged with an ultrvioltet ID linked to your ticket. Leave it behind you or dump it in the bushes and recieve a hefty littering and recycling charge.

I would love to know the age profile of the people attending EB. I remember concerts and gigs in the 70s and 80s where it would have been hard to find a single tent left after the event.

And yet the kids today have more information on the environment than any concert goer 40 years ago did. What gives?

Make it an economic deterrent. And the scotes won't be long picking up after themselves...

Wanderer78

'Consumption is good for our economy', you'd be surprised how powerful that statement is, but what many don't realise, it's actually bad for our environment and the survivability of our species. Age profile has changed for ea apparently, a lot more younger people

whisky_galore

Wanderer78 wrote: »

'Consumption is good for our economy', you'd be surprised how powerful that statement is, but what many don't realise, it's actually bad for our environment and the survivability of our species. Age profile has changed for ea apparently, a lot more younger people

They're still adults who should know better. I despair our future is in the hands of these selfish gits.

RasTa

It was the same in most of the big festivals in the UK this year.

One of the main problems being Halfords etc offering tents and chairs for £20

wakka12

Don't know how anyone finds this surprising

Tens of thousands of college students off their face drunk for 3 days straight in a field is going to leave a mess

Wanderer78

whisky_galore wrote:

They're still adults who should know better. I despair our future is in the hands of these selfish gits.

Our environmental issues are far more complicated than the actions of selfish gits

tylercheribini

When a pint at the venue is close to 7 euro and a tent from Argos can be bought for around 20 euro, or even less online, then it puts things in perspective regarding the "disposable generation." Im not excusing their actions but the glut of cheap, chinese goods that are readily available now compared to previous generations is a considerable factor.

pickarooney

Bob Harris wrote: »

Sunny and bright in one pic, dark and overcast in the other. Hmmmmm

Hello, Bob, and welcome to Ireland where the weather is known to change radically up to 12 times in a single day!

Lollipops23

I was at Altogether Now earlier in the summer and we simply bought a roll of binbags at the start, and kept them as our bins for the weekend. When they filled up, we brought them to the wheelie bins nearby. Simple.

However they could have done with the same amount of bins X 50, there clearly was not enough.

Bob Harris

pickarooney wrote: »

Hello, Bob, and welcome to Ireland where the weather is known to change radically up to 12 times in a single day!

Selective photography by someone trying to make a point.

xckjoo

wakka12 wrote: »

Don't know how anyone finds this surprising

Tens of thousands of college students off their face drunk for 3 days straight in a field is going to leave a mess

It's worth highlighting though. Some of them might make the effort to bring their stuff home next year if they realise it's an issue.

tylercheribini

xckjoo wrote: »

It's worth highlighting though. Some of them might make the effort to bring their stuff home next year if they realise it's an issue.

I can recall almost copy and paste articles on this issue for the past three years.

xckjoo

tylercheribini wrote: »

I can recall almost copy and paste articles on this issue for the past three years.

Good job. Might be twice as bad if it wasn't for that!

SteM

Bob Harris wrote: »

Selective photography by someone trying to make a point.

I know it's on the internet but not everything has to have a conspiracy theory behind it ffs. Your way of discounting something posted was to say the clouds look different, hardly forensic evidence.

PlaneSpeeking

wakka12 wrote: »

Don't know how anyone finds this surprising

Tens of thousands of college students off their face drunk for 3 days straight in a field is going to leave a mess

I live in Portlaoise and Jesus the state of some people getting the train down last weekend.

No way they were going to tidy up, scruffy useless t***s to a man.

Rachiee

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

If it was the case that a sufficient number of bins were available throughout the campsite, would this even be an issue?

There were sufficient bins there was also staff walking around with bags and punters collecting cups and bottles for refund schemes. I didnt leave anything behind the longest i had to walk to a bin was about 200 metres but most of the time it was 50m or just gave it to one of the hundreds of people with bags.

The vast majority of people at the festival were 17/18 years old in groups of ten or more. a pack mentality if everyone else is doing it its fine.

macwal

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

We are, but we are not alone. It is as bad after festivals in the UK. They should weigh you and your gear on the way in and out and fine you if you are going home lighthanded.

Bit harsh...

What if you've taken a particularly large dump right before you leave?

tylercheribini

macwal wrote: »

Bit harsh...

What if you've taken a particularly large dump right before you leave?

Should just randomly executed campsite inhabitants ala Schindler's List, everyone would clean up faster then

chite

Rachiee wrote: »

There were sufficient bins there was also staff walking around with bags and punters collecting cups and bottles for refund schemes. I didnt leave anything behind the longest i had to walk to a bin was about 200 metres but most of the time it was 50m or just gave it to one of the hundreds of people with bags.

The vast majority of people at the festival were 17/18 years old in groups of ten or more. a pack mentality if everyone else is doing it its fine.

There was a serious lack of bins on the campsites, did you walk through Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol or Oscar Wilde? They only had one recycling point each (the segregated different coloured nifty bins), and the odd Panda wheelie bin. There were Friends of the Earth volunteers going around the campsites handing out recycling and general waste bags to people with the incentive of winning 2019 tickets, VIP upgrades or merch bundles if they brought back bags of rubbish to the recycling points, though I wonder if many filled and returned their bags. There weren't any litterpickers at the campsites unlike the arena.

More bins were needed around the stages, there was food and rubbish dumped at the drinking water taps near the main stage. I was trying to collect this dumped rubbish and separating it into the 3 bin types near the food vendors (FotE volunteer here - the biodegradable plastic cutlery in the compostables bin was a nightmare to try to sort - they beyond to recycling, not compostable...) I have to disagree it was a hindrance if you were at an act and had to go on a walk through crowds when they should be more easily accessible bins. It was mostly young people who were coming to me to put their cups and compostable ware into my bags which was appreciated. True that they were the largest demographic at EP, but still not fair to paint them all with the same brush. It's not constructive to looking to blame someone/ a group of people when there were shortcomings in the provision of bins and waste management.