We’ve lived on planet Earth for quite a long time now, and we’d like to stay here a bit longer. Some of us have even multiplied and have our own little Leopallooza team members running around, so want to keep it green, nice, and full of dolphins for them too.

So it’s important we do our “bit” – independently of course, but also as a business, as a team, and as friends – to make sure we’re not screwing it up for those who’d like to enjoy our lush little valley in the future, both near and far. We also believe that you, as ticket buyers (and therefore investors in the festival’s future), should be assured that you’re not putting your money into something that’s knowingly damaging the environment behind the scenes, both locally and in a wider, worldlier sense.

There are several things we do here at Leopallooza to minimise our festival footprint, listed below. It’s not an exhaustive list, but then there are still things we’re pretty sure we could do better. So we are always looking to improve, and always looking for new and innovative ways to enhance our eco-standing, wherever possible. But here’s where we’re at so far:

1.  We’re zero waste. We have a 0% landfill policy – with 90% of our waste recycled and the remaining 10% being converted into fuel pellets.

2. We were the first festival in the UK to ban single-use plastic drinking cups, and fully embrace the reusable Stack Cups at our event (if you’ve been to Leopallooza in the last few years and bought a drink, you’ll know what these are – so clever!) thus reducing a huge amount of unnecessary plastic waste.

3. We don’t sell plastic water bottles, and all traders at our events are told not to sell them either – instead we have free drinking water across the site and bars.

4. As a rule, all traders across our events must use 100% biodegradable packaging.

5. Since 2011, we’ve used bamboo straws instead of plastic.

6. Old tents have a new purpose. We’re proud to partner with MARTIN DOREY, author, activist and creator of the #2minutebeachclean .
   Martin, who lives locally, will be collecting up any abandoned tents which will be turned into bags by sustainable local clothing company ROOTEDOCEAN. Those bags will be used to collect litter during the beach clean initiatives.

7. All the buildings within the festival grounds are built using reclaimed and recycled materials wherever possible, with much of the wood sourced from our own sustainable woodlands. Even the main stage is made from reclaimed wood and motorway sidings. We build to last, and we source materials with care and creativity.

8. If, as we occasionally do, we have to remove a tree on the site, we replant three elsewhere. We now have a lovely little woodland.

9. Following our festival weekend, the space is completely litter-free within two days.

10. We encourage car-sharing wherever possible. This year we’ve introduced a nominal charge per car to try and encourage this further (unless you have 4 or more in the car- in which case we salute you for carpooling, and you can park for free!).

11. Wherever possible we use local contractors for event builds, and everyone is from Devon or Cornwall. This includes lighting, fencing, and toilets.

12. All the lighting is LED, reducing overall power consumption.

13. The tin cladding on the roofs and sides of our bars is reclaimed from a shed up the road a bit that blew down in the wind. (N.B. If any police happen to be reading this; it honestly blew down in the wind, officer. Honestly.)

We may be little, but we have big plans. This isn’t where it stops.

Soon we’re aiming to scrap the vast majority of our diesel generators, and have renewable energy powering all but the mainstage one. And we’re working on ditching the chemical portaloos (yuck).

No doubt we’ll think of more ways to cut down on our footprint. We’re a small team of real humans, and when we have a bright idea, we like to make it happen. We’re trying, and we’ll keep trying, because we bloody love this planet.