Big Tent Recycle

Yup its here! The campaign of 2010!

Supported by Global Hand, one of the leading organisations in providing humanitarian aid, including unwanted tents and camping equipment to those in need across the Globe, The Big Tent Recycle Campaign aims to encourage everyone to accept some responsibility and involvement in becoming a greener community.

Have you ever stopped to have a look at a festival on the last day as you are leaving? The amount of highly reusable tents and equipment is sometimes astounding. Most of it is destined for landfull, but there are many organisations that can benefit from your unwanted tents and equipment, and with The Big Tent Recycle Campaign you can do your bit to get more eco-friendly.

Every year at music festivals across the UK, thousands of tents, sleeping bags and camping mats are left behind after festivals, many are set alight, trashed or soiled.  Up to 75% of left-over camping items are in a fit state for reuse, yet most have traditionally been sent to landfill at great environmental and financial expense.

The Big Tent Recycle is a campaign that encourages festival-goers to either take their camping items home or pack them up and donate them to charity, helping to bring together an exciting project that serves to bring about change in underprivileged children’s lives, whilst concurrently addressing the issue of waste and sustainability at festivals.

The Final Day

Festival goers pack up and hand in their unwanted items to designated collection points on Sunday Night/Monday morning and on Monday morning a team of volunteers will sort and check items before they are passed onto local organisations and International Charities for re-use.

Asking people to donate unwanted tents and sending them onto charities is not necessarily an easier or cheaper alternative to just scooping up all the leftovers and sending it all to landfill.  It is intended to be a socially and environmentally responsible solution to help festivals and festival goers improve their “green” footprint and prevent items that could benefit those in need from being wasted.

We are currently also researching and talking to organisations that might be able to use dirty or damaged items for recycling that aren’t suitable for re-use, to maximise the recycling potential of this campaign.

Keep an eye on the website for more updates on this exciting new B.F.G Campaign!