Sustainability

We are working hard to ensure our festival is environmentally friendly, ethical, and globally conscious. We are currently working to measure our carbon footprint and better understand what we are doing well and in which areas we need to improve.

By having conversations around sustainability in the early stages of our festival planning, we are putting environmental consciousness at the forefront of our operations. We are working with our artists and performers to monitor and reduce their impact, creating a diverse programme that provokes debate, and building relationships with key partners to help us on our sustainable journey.

Want to find out more? Click on the links below.

Arts by the Sea Sustainability Policy

Arts by the Sea Sustainability Action Plan

Arts by the Sea Artist – Green Rider

While we are working hard behind the scenes to make sustainable changes, we can’t do this alone. Our audiences have a huge impact on the footprint of our festival, from how visitors get to the festival to what they consume while they’re enjoying our performances.

You can make a difference!

Travel to the festival

Did you know that in England, around 60% of 1-2 mile trips are made by car? We’re working with More Bus and Beryl Bikes to make travelling to our festival site even easier. Click here to find out more.

Eat and Drink

The UN has recently revealed that meat and dairy farming accounts for around the same amount of greenhouse emissions as the exhausts of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet!

There are loads of great eateries and cafés around the festival site serving plant-based and locally-sourced food & drink. Making a small change in what you consume contributes to a big impact!

Buy local

Buying from local businesses and creatives often means there’s a smaller footprint on the products you purchase! While you’re at the festival, why not pop by South Coast Makers Market. You can browse all sorts (including hand-made homeware, jewellery, prints and gifts!), meet the people behind their creations, and grab something yummy to fuel you while you shop.

Reduce, Refill and Reuse

It is estimated that 4.9 million metric tons of plastic is placed on the market in the United Kingdom each year. Of this total, around three quarters becomes waste. We’re asking you to please reduce, refill and reuse where you can. This could be buy bringing your reusable own coffee-cup or water bottle to the festival, or opting to eat in to reduce plastic waste. We’ve partnered with Litter Free Coast and Sea to promote their amazing Refill scheme to make reusing even easier.

Recycling is tricky in the town centre as bins often become contaminated by unrecyclable waste. In 2018, Bournemouth Council’s Seafront team introduced 200 new bins along the prom with clearly marked Recycling and General Waste labels. Please recycle in the new bins along the prom with clearly marked Recycling and General Waste labels, or do your bit by taking your waste with you and recycling at home. Find out more information here.

Check out our handy map for refill points, bike stands, electric charging points and key bus stops:

In 2019 BCP Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency, later incorporating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into its Corporate Strategy. There are many local organisations in the BCP area that share this sense of urgency and are working to promote sustainable behaviour changes. Amongst other sustainability accreditations, in 2014, Bournemouth gained Fairtrade Town status. Fairtrade Bournemouth and our community works together in supporting and promoting the work of the Fairtrade Foundation.

Every year, we host a range of these local organisations at our festival Green Hub. They offer a range of interactive activities for all ages so that you can get creative while learning more about how we can be kinder to our beautiful planet. We have hosted wonderful organisations at our Green Hub, including Beryl Bikes, Dorset Scrap Store, the RLNI, the Green TLC, Dorset Wildlife Trust, and more!

If you’d like to be part of our Green Hub, please get in touch.