With this year's event just 2 days away festival organisers Big Day Out Ltd and founding partners Tennent's Lager are proud to announce that not only is T in the Park the world's leading festival experience for music fans, it is now officially the world's largest CarbonNeutral festival.
The innovative move means that T in the Park has worked closely with The CarbonNeutral Company to measure the carbon dioxide (CO2) – the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change - produced from putting on the event, to look at ways to reduce these impacts and then finally neutralize or offset the unavoidable emissions that remain to reduce the events "carbon footprint" to zero and make it CarbonNeutral.
Says Geoff Ellis, CEO of festival organisers DF Concerts: "This is a huge step not just for T in the Park but for the outdoor live music industry as a whole and it is something that DF Concerts and our partners Tennent's Lager have been looking at for some time. I am really proud that T in the Park has taken such a responsible step to ensure that the festival's lasting legacy is a positive one for the environment and for generations of music fans to come."
George Kyle, Head of Sponsorship at founding partners Tennent's Lager adds: "It's testament to how far T in the Park has come that we are able to take the action to become the largest CarbonNeutral festival in the world. It's a fantastic extension to our partnership with DF Concerts and our involvement in the event that we have been able to co-fund this initiative. Hopefully other major music events will be able to follow in T's footsteps."
Jonathan Shopley, CEO of The CarbonNeutral Company comments, "With climate change now widely accepted as the most serious problem the world faces, communicating the positive actions we can all take to reduce our impacts is going to be crucial in tackling this global threat. The actions and leadership of an organization such as T in the Park in reducing CO2 emissions sets an excellent environmental example that will hopefully inspire others in this business sector as well as the tens of thousands of music fans attending the event."
T in the Park's CO2 emissions, which are generated by all the events energy use, waste, diesel and even the artist, crew and fans travel, will be offset through 3 sustainable forestry projects that work to reforest areas of natural woodland with local indigenous species that not only absorb CO2 emissions as they grow but also encourage and protect biodiversity in these locations. The emissions will predominantly be offset through the Carrifran Wildwood, Dumfries & Galloway, a bold initiative in ecological restoration, spearheaded by the Wildwood Group and aiming to reforest the Carrifran valley in the Scottish Borders.
The remainder will be offset internationally through 2 forestry projects under the global Plan Vivo system. One is Scolel Te, Chiapas, Mexico, a pioneering project set up to alleviate poverty by working with communities in Southern Mexico on a variety of afforestation and reforestation projects. The other being Trees for Global Benefit, based in south-western Uganda aiming to work with local communities to provide employment and a sustainable timber source.
In addition to the event's status as the world's biggest CarbonNeutral festival, T in the Parkers will experience several other new activities across the site this year including a partnership with Christian Aid in support of their Beat Goes On campaign, developments to the campsite entertainment zones and a cup recycling initiative.
Entertaining the 75,000 strong legendary Balado crowd at this year's festival will be an amazing line-up of over 170 acts over 11 stages. Acts include Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Editors, The Kooks and Sigur Ros.
A comment from Franz Ferdinand, whose recent number 1 album 'You Could Have It So Much Better' has CarbonNeutral status: It's great that T in the Park have taken these steps towards making the event the biggest carbon neutral festival in the world. I think more festivals should take their lead - such thought and that extra bit of effort are hugely worthwhile and beneficial to the environment."