The Isle of Wight Council’s Eco Island vision (that we’ll be carbon neutral by 2020), means it’s definitely the year for the Isle of Wight Festival to review its green policy.
The event gets underway in Newport’s Seaclose Park on 13 June. When singer Lily Allen dropped out of the music festival, which this year is headlined by The Sex Pistols, The Police and the Kaiser Chiefs, promoter John Giddings vowed to use the money to ‘green’ the festival instead. He has teamed up with environmental consultants Proper Productions, to look at ways of running the weekend event in a more ethical and responsible way. Recyclable waste will be collected and donated to Medina High School’s Green Teams, for them to sell for profit to part-fund their annual education trip (which this year will be to Japan). Left over carpet from some of the tents will be used on the Island for tree mulch. Some campers will be offered free corn starch tent pegs. As the festival continues past 2008, the plan is to limit the waste it creates.
SUZANNE WHITEWOOD