Banff Mountain Festival Embraces Green Initiative

By Kevin Duncan

Despite the musical distractions at the Calgary Folk Festival, Amélie Peck was able to notice stations with volunteers on hand sorting recyclables and biodegradable waste to be composted. Her Mountain Culture counterpart Patsy Murphy encountered the same situation at the Canmore Folk Fest.  Their keen eyes and intrigue led to the launch of the Towards Zero Waste program at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals, which diverted a total of 622 kilograms from the landfill — 93 per cent of what was collected.

“We let everyone involved know that this is what we want to do. Everybody got on board and really helped out,” says Amélie “The bar has been set.”

The Banff Mountain Festivals is the latest in a series of special events in the Bow Valley that have targeted keeping at least 80 per cent of their waste from going to landfill disposal. To do so, a total of four Resource Recovery Centre stations were set up around campus. “The idea was that people had to think about what they had to do with their waste. They had an item and they had to figure out which bin to place it in,” says Amélie.

The most recycled item throughout the nine day event was returnable beverage containers, weighing approximately 240 kilograms (almost 40 per cent of what was collected). Organics and compostable items, mixed paper, and cardboard piles each accounted for 15 to 20 per cent of the materials.

To manage the program, more volunteers than normal were needed to ensure that streams weren’t contaminated, and that bins were emptied and weighed. Along with Festival volunteers, Mountain Culture partnered with Banff Community High School’s Green Team. Custodial and food and beverage staff also played key roles. “It was a huge educational tool for everyone and we had a really good response,” says Patsy.

The program was organized through Peter Duck, regional Towards Zero Waste coordinator with the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission. Energetic and enthusiastic, Peter was on hand to clear up any misconceptions. He said the most commonly misunderstood item was corn-based compostable food ware because it looks like plastic.

“When people start talking about waste diversion at a high profile event like the Banff Mountain Festivals it creates a huge profile in the community,” says Peter.  “The message gets out that this isn’t garbage anymore, there is a huge amount that you can capture and significant results can be achieved.”

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Photo: Volunteers (in green), Patsy Murphy, and Amélie Peck going towards zero waste at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals.