Nolan Park with Bob & Neil Plastic Waste

Lazairus

Hello

I was recently attending bob and neil young and i was amazed by the amount of plastic waste generated by the concert attendees .

i tried to enjoy the concert but people kept drinking and dumping there used plastic cups on the ground.

Why do we not have a 2e surcharge on all plastic cups and deposit scheme when people are entering.

I mean it was disgraceful. what do you think?

thanks

Laz

Mickolution

It stopped you enjoying the gig?

It's not like they were just going to be left there.

Lazairus

Hello

Thanks for your reply.

yes but that not the point, why cant likes of aiken and diageo do more to cut down on plastic waste

It was impossible to avoid it, people were tripping over it by the end of the night.

Cheers

bodhrandude

All you can do OP is do your own bit, some gig goers are careless toward the environment. I always look for the bins when I'm in the main arena of a festival and lob my empties into the bins. Its only through education that the sheeple will learn or hopefully learn. On a positive note Pip Sheridan and his crew helped clear up the campsites at festivals donating tents left behind to the refugee charities. I thought there was a vast improvement with the main camping area at Body&Soul festival this year. Single day events they need to start hammering out that message more on the side screens, the state of Slane after the Metallica gig this year was ridiculous.

grimm2005

Lazairus wrote: »

Why do we not have a 2e surcharge on all plastic cups and deposit scheme when people are entering.

Something like this is definitely the way forward imo, many people unfortunately don't give a sh!t and the organisers need to do their bit to change this as well. Even if the punter puts his disposable plastic pint glass in the bin, chances are it'll end up in landfill anyway.

We seem to be pretty behind the continent in this respect, when I went to Pearl Jam in Berlin they had a deposit scheme where you were charged an extra €1 or €2 for the first pint and once you came back with a cup and a token the next pint is cheaper or if you're finished you can give them back in for the €2 back.

I also went to Sziget festival in Budapest and again, you got a token and a nice collectible cup per pint and they would give you a fresh one each time with a token and when you're done for the day or for the time being, just hold on to the token so you're not walking around with a cup. The benefit of this also is that you get a proper cup rather than the crappy thin plastic cups you get at events here.

I think it will happen in the near future but we're definitely lagging behind.

fillup

Body and Soul only sold recyclable plastic cups at their bars this year and there was a refund policy going on (5 cups for a euro I think)
This meant that there was no single use plastic at play and feck all cups discarded.
So while we like to beat ourselves up, being the good Catholics we are, about how far behind the rest of the world we are sometimes we do get it right.

Bummer1234

When i was at tomorrowland the first pint would be €8 in tougher harder plastic glass and then if you went for a second it was €5 on return of the plastic glasses and carry on then with returning the plastic glass, Worked well there now and the place wasn't cluttered in plastic glasses.

At the end of the evening there was a separate stand you could get your 3 euro back.

Now that was 2012 so could be changed since.

mrk75

Must admit to dropping my empty plastic beaker on the ground but I guess that was on the assumption there'd be a clear-up afterwards and in the hope the rubbish would be sorted into recyclable and otherwise. Certainly there were no receptacles around that I could see.

The Trinity series seemed to have a good approach in that there were folk going around through the gig picking up litter and I think that made people think about just leaving stuff on the ground. Lots were helping them and handing their litter over to them.

The reusable cups are certainly the way forward. The U2 Joshua Tree gig in London had these as standard and they were a pretty nifty little souvenir too so I took a few home with me. But the Croke Park gig didn't seem to have the same approach for whatever reason.

Come the E&I gig at the 3 Arena they had the cups again but it was only an option. There was maybe one guy at each bar trying to encourage you to go for the reusable option but they didn't really push it.

More to do really on this front, I'd say...

grimm2005

fillup wrote: »

So while we like to beat ourselves up, being the good Catholics we are, about how far behind the rest of the world we are sometimes we do get it right.

Not sure if this was meant as a pop at me but I wasn't suggesting we're behind the curve in everything (smoking ban, plastic bag levies/ban etc we were well ahead) but we definitely are when it comes to disposable cups at gigs and events. Fair play to B&S but I go to a lot of big gigs and B&S are definitely the exception rather than the norm. Nothing about Catholic guilt etc, just an observation versus similar events elsewhere.

RINO87

Electric picnic had the deposit/proper cup scheme years and years ago. I even remember it being used at one of the oxegens. They made for great souvenirs.


.....it was also gas to see people trying to gather stacks and stacks of the cups in return for free beer, 6 returned cups, got you a beer, there was nothing wasted, shame it was abandoned.

bodhrandude

Electric Picnic 2009 Eco Cup.

RINO87

bodhrandude wrote: »

Electric Picnic 2009 Eco Cup.

Class, I've got one of those and the 2007 one with the rising sun with a face on it stashed away somewhere!

bodhrandude

RINO87 wrote: »

Class, I've got one of those and the 2007 one with the rising sun with a face on it stashed away somewhere!

I have that one too but I used it so much that the print is practically worn away.

fillup

grimm2005 wrote: »

Not sure if this was meant as a pop at me but I wasn't suggesting we're behind the curve in everything (smoking ban, plastic bag levies/ban etc we were well ahead) but we definitely are when it comes to disposable cups at gigs and events. Fair play to B&S but I go to a lot of big gigs and B&S are definitely the exception rather than the norm. Nothing about Catholic guilt etc, just an observation versus similar events elsewhere.

Apologies Girmm2005 - deffo not a pop aimed directly at yourself. More about how we Irish (generally) like to think we're the worse in the world, wear the hairshirt n sackcloth and self flagellate.

Give me a bin and I'll place it in there every time- but the natural assumption has been for many years, dump your plastic "glass" on the ground, that's fine, it's all factored into the price of your evenings entertainment- we've people who will pick it all up after.

So, more bins, a refund scheme, people picking as you throw- all of the above- problem solved.

it's not really rocket science but it wouldn't spoil my evenings entertainment- been to a cinema lately? Sticky floors? Popcorn everywhere?

Lazairus

Thanks for all your replys, it seems that more and more waste is been generated from plastic recently as opposed to 10 years ago, also I prob much more aware of this fact.

The problem is that plastic is not easy to dispose of and recycling, in my opinion does not work.

The 8 euro cup scheme, it wouldnt take much to make it work.

Laz