Punters enjoying the music at Tora Bombora. Photo / Dane Scott
Punters enjoying the music at Tora Bombora. Photo / Dane Scott
A Wairarapa music event is hoping to make partying sustainable again with what's believed to be the country's first carbon-positive festival.
From its inception a few years ago, Tora Bombora has held sustainability as a core value, but this year festival director Louis Murphy-Harris is hoping to make the event even more climate-friendly.
"We were gonna make this a carbon-neutral festival, but we just thought why don't we make this a carbon-positive festival."
The sold-out event has been sponsored by Forever Forests - which means all emissions from the festival, including attendees transport too and from the site, will be offset.
Festival director Louis Murphy-Harris. Photo / Supplied
"Every entity produces carbon, everyone produces carbon, so one way to offset that is by planting more trees or managing forests that will last forever."
As well as this, Murphy-Harris told the Herald guests are asked not to bring soft plastics and said buying poor-quality single-use goods is not acceptable.
"The whole policy of Tora's waste is bring your own and take your own. So we don't have any rubbish bins on site."
Murphy-Harris on stage at the last Tora Bombora. Photo / Dane Scott
Attendees are given a compostable cassava root bag on entry, and any waste they generate they're asked to take with them.
"It's just the right thing to be doing, really. If we don't change the way we consume, act, live and behave around others, we won't be experiencing the beautiful environment that you and I are lucky to have."
Forever Forests manager Adrian Loo said they decided to partner with the festival because of its sustainable ethos and Murphy-Harris' desire to protect the environment.
"We've gone through and done the calculations and made sure everything [carbon-generated] is overestimated," Lou said.
He said they toyed with the idea of just being carbon-neutral, but they decided against doing just the bare minimum.
"A lot of people focus on off-setting and a one for one of undoing the bad. But I kind of describe it as if you've got this big hole and there's someone at the bottom and if every time they dig a shovel load of dirt out someone at the top throws a shovel load back in you're not really making any progress."
Guests are encouraged to think sustainably when packing for the festival. Photo / Frances Scrimgeour
Due to its size and target demographic, Murphy-Harris said Tora Bombora was easier to manage sustainability-wise than larger festivals.
"Massive mainstream festivals are all doing fantastic things to, slowly, try and reduce their footprints, their emissions and alter the behaviour of their attendees. Which is super cool. It's just a long hard battle especially when people are pretty drunk or just want to party - it's hard to get them to pick up their waste."
He said it was feasible to do sustainability on a larger scale, but it's up to the festivals to market the fact and drive it into attendees well before they come on site.
• The Tora Bombora festival runs from January 22-24 and the line-up features local acts including There's a Tuesday, Soaked Oats and Hummicide.
