An Honest Reflection on "Sustainability"
One of our primary aims for Beloved is to pioneer new ways to honor and respect our planet in crisis while we celebrate our ever-present connection with her. That said, we must be honest that camping festivals cannot truly be sustainable. "Sustainable Festival" is an oxymoron. We do not take lightly that we are asking for hundreds of people and tons of equipment to be driven for at least several hours. We are also setting up a temporary power grid and consuming hundreds of megawatts of power, generating nearly a ton of waste and using almost 10,000 gallons of water.
We want for Beloved to not only reduce it's negative environmental impact, but aim for the event to have a net positive effect on the battered Oregon Coastal Range ecosystem and on our planet's ability to survive the many and constant threats to her lfe. We are making special efforts to minimize our impact and to use these efforts as an educational platform for all participants.
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Our eletricity generation is a thoughtful mix of solar, biodiesel and grid power.
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As much of our greywater as possible is reused on the land.
- We print our flyers, posters, program guides, and everything else that we can on recycled or partially tree-free papers using soybased inks.
- We sort all waste thoroughly and send only a limited amount of garbage to the landfill; all other waste is either recycled or composted.
- In 2009, we worked with our food vendors to create a reusable plate exchange shared by all vendors.
- Ecological impact is weighed as one of the most important factors for every decision we make.
- During the months leading up to the event, our staff is powered by a mostly local, organic diet. We ride bikes or drive biodiesel/hybrid vehicles. We wear recylcled and/or locally produced natural fiber clothing. We share resources with friends and neighbors. We honor the earth as The Beloved. We are all doing the best we can to set an example for how to tread lightly on this small planet.
- We are asking for you to take note of these choices and to let us know if you have any ideas for how we can do a better job.
We aim to transform our culture's relationship with transportation. A tangible and attainable (with your help) step in acheiving this aim is to change how people get to festivals. Our goal, for 2010, is that 33% of all Beloved attendees arrive via a shuttle. We plan to document our success and assist as many festivals as possible in acheiving similar (and more ambitious) goals for 2011.
Dissolving the illusion of separation through
Music ~ Art ~ Workshops ~ Councils ~ Performances
Dancing ~ Camping ~ Kids ~ Yoga ~ Kirtan ~ Ceremony
