Positive Policy

The positive policy aims to build action, change and partnerships in climate, carbon, local causes and air pollution.
The Positive Policy debuts at this year’s festival creating positive actions in an effort to help our ecosystem and change the way in which live music events take responsibility for actions towards our planet.

We have set of strict rules around already:
 Bury zero waste in landfill
 Leave no trace of litter
 Ban single use plastic across the site
 Only use compostable plastic and cutlery
 Only provide ethically sourced food
 Operate a cup deposit scheme that doesn’t rip fans off
 Recycle all trader & back of house waste
 Only permit biodegradable stage effects
 Eco-toilets
 HVO Fuel
+ much more

The Positive Policy recognises that the entertainment industry could do more towards the climate, carbon and air pollution. We aim to find solutions that can make festivals carbon neutral, give support to local causes and not create any air pollution.

Working with Climate Change and Pollution experts, we will conduct an in-depth study on what can be improved with a full transparency report being created and shared with the public and industry to show what impact the festivals have on our planet. The reports will be open-sourced, allowing the learnings and research to be shared across the entire entertainment industry. By showing a clear picture of what we use will allow us to source and find solutions to becoming a planet ready festival of the future.

The debate on whether climate action should be taken by industries, governments or individuals is a topic that could go on forever, and we think it should be done by all. Less debate and more action are needed now. The carbon footprint being left by each individual in Europe is around 8.4 t CO2 per year and it has been recommended that we need to achieve 0.600 t CO2 per person to halt climate change – the change needed by us all is massive.

Wide Awake is hosting a Climate Café with It’s Freezing in L.A! at the festival to run alongside the positive policy. The Climate Café will host a day of talks, interactions, debates and music, with ethically
sourced food and drinks. We all want to do the right thing, and we hope the Climate Café will help us all digest what that is.

We have started the process and over the next 3 years, we will be making more and more changes to our festival. The Positive Policy is open to good ideas, technology breakthrough, clever insight and help from the people who also recognise that we all must change now.

Positive policy team:
Wide Awake Festival Team
Jeff Boardman – Project Lead (BUREAU)
Amelia Slinger – Project researcher (BUREAU)
Robbi Parks PhD – Earth Institute