COMMENT
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Speaking to Yours and Owls festival organiser Ben Tillman about his company’s decision to remove single-use plastic from the upcoming Stuart Park festival, I was impressed by his unapologetic stance.
Admitting it was going to be a difficult undertaking to remove so much rubbish from the type of event which usually leaves fields strewn with beer cans, bottles and other detritus, he was blunt.
“If people don’t like that they have to spend an extra five minutes learning a new process, maybe they shouldn’t be coming to the festival,” he said.
It sounds tough, but the Yours and Owls crew have decided that minimising their effects on the surrounding environment is important – and they are putting their money where their mouth is.
Their move will not only make punters have to buy and then hang on to a reusable cup or bottle for the day, it will also place extra requirements on stall operators, and take a lot of work at the end of the festival to sort rubbish so that it doesn’t all end up in landfill.
We need more business operators willing to do this – and willing to acknowledge that, by doing so, they may have to put themselves and their customers out a bit.
If only the major supermarkets had taken the same approach, instead of backtracking and mollycoddling the poor petals who couldn’t deal with having to remember to take a reusable bag or paying a few cents as their penalty for not doing so.
Clearly, not having plastic bags is more inconvenient than having them on tap whenever you like for free.
Not having plastic water bottles or throwaway cups at festivals – and having to make sure you think a bit to put your rubbish in the right bin – is more inconvenient than using something and chucking it away.
But for too long we’ve taken all these plastic conveniences – coffee cups, straws, bottles, bags, plastic food containers, excessive packaging, bin bags, plastic cling wrap, nappies etc – for granted.
Some people seem to think that long as they’re not the ones having to take responsibility for – or even think about – the increasingly inconvenient waste problem these create, then that makes it okay.
But as adults living in this world, we’re not entitled to have everything served up on a (plastic) platter just because it’s easier that way – reversing bad habits is going to take hard work.
Good on Yours and Owls – who have already made a huge difference to the culture of Wollongong – for realising this and putting it into action. – Kate McIlwain