Three Rivers Arts Festival Unveils Plan to Reduce Environmental Impact With Help From Colcom Foundation
PITTSBURGH - Over the course of the next three years, the Three Rivers Arts Festival will dramatically reduce the amount of waste it produces. Thanks to a generous grant from the Colcom Foundation, the 2008 Festival will introduce large-scale composting in its food vending area in collaboration with partner company Restorative Events, LLC, a local company devoted to producing environmentally-friendly public events. At the end of the three-year initiative, the Festival and Restorative Events will introduce standards that may become the equivalent of LEED certification for large-scale public events.
"The Three Rivers Arts Festival is the largest public event in the city of Pittsburgh, and as such, has significant public and environmental impact," said Carol Zagrocki, Program Director of the Colcom Foundation. "Greening the Festival has the double benefit of reducing the environmental impact of the event while educating a large audience about the importance of environmental sustainability."
"This new initiative allows us to invest in Festival patrons a sense of personal responsibility for their impact on the environment," said Richard Sieber, executive vice president of the Festival's advisory board. "We are immensely grateful to the Colcom Foundation for giving us this opportunity."
According to the EPA, in 2000, 97.4% of food waste in the US was needlessly sent to landfills. The 2008 Festival will introduce fully compostable starch-based products, including paper and pulp based napkins and plates; cups, straws and lids made from cornstarch; and cutlery made from potato starch. All of these products and the additional food waste from the food stands will be collected and composted at an industrial composting facility. This waste will eventually be turned into soil, the end result of the composting process. There will also be some recyclable products at this year's Festival including aluminum foil, soda bottles and large lemonade cups. This initiative will not affect food prices.
To enact change, there will be enclosed waste stations at the food court and stage areas of this year's Festival. Each waste station will have 3 clearly marked waste cans, and volunteers at the station will explain which waste products go in which can. Casual estimates indicate that up to 20 cubic yards of waste per day, or 50% of all waste, will be composted, a statistic that will only improve in the coming years.
Restorative Events Founder and Principal Ryan Walsh stressed the importance of community participation to the success of the initiative: "We'll need approximately 50 volunteers each day of the 17 day Festival to maximize the impact of this initiative, to truly make a difference." Interested individuals and groups can volunteer on the Three Rivers Arts Festival website, www.artsfestival.net.
Download this press release
"The Three Rivers Arts Festival is the largest public event in the city of Pittsburgh, and as such, has significant public and environmental impact," said Carol Zagrocki, Program Director of the Colcom Foundation. "Greening the Festival has the double benefit of reducing the environmental impact of the event while educating a large audience about the importance of environmental sustainability."
"This new initiative allows us to invest in Festival patrons a sense of personal responsibility for their impact on the environment," said Richard Sieber, executive vice president of the Festival's advisory board. "We are immensely grateful to the Colcom Foundation for giving us this opportunity."
According to the EPA, in 2000, 97.4% of food waste in the US was needlessly sent to landfills. The 2008 Festival will introduce fully compostable starch-based products, including paper and pulp based napkins and plates; cups, straws and lids made from cornstarch; and cutlery made from potato starch. All of these products and the additional food waste from the food stands will be collected and composted at an industrial composting facility. This waste will eventually be turned into soil, the end result of the composting process. There will also be some recyclable products at this year's Festival including aluminum foil, soda bottles and large lemonade cups. This initiative will not affect food prices.
To enact change, there will be enclosed waste stations at the food court and stage areas of this year's Festival. Each waste station will have 3 clearly marked waste cans, and volunteers at the station will explain which waste products go in which can. Casual estimates indicate that up to 20 cubic yards of waste per day, or 50% of all waste, will be composted, a statistic that will only improve in the coming years.
Restorative Events Founder and Principal Ryan Walsh stressed the importance of community participation to the success of the initiative: "We'll need approximately 50 volunteers each day of the 17 day Festival to maximize the impact of this initiative, to truly make a difference." Interested individuals and groups can volunteer on the Three Rivers Arts Festival website, www.artsfestival.net.
Download this press release
