Vojtech Vosecky’s Post

This kind of thing is what inspired my book #howwegathermatters

Disgraceful on many counts... 1. failure of organisers to put in place measures, have enough facilities for recycling, disposal etc not to mention humans to help out, sort, steward... 2. failure of individuals to think beyond their own needs, of wanting to get home ASAP, inconvenienced by taking their OWN stuff home... 3. failure on government, national and local to promote circular/systems thinking...and embed it into societal consciousness, not to mention the procurement and the contracting for these events... Where to begin... ?

THERE ARE TWO REALITIES OCCURRING AT FESTIVALS: The first reality, the invisible one, is lived by the staff working the festival. The second reality, the visible one, is the one lived by the festival goers. I never work harder in my life than the work I put in at festivals. Festival work is seasonal. Many professional festival workers work past the breaking point through the season, then take several months off to recover. It is not for those with a weak physical and mental constitution. At the end of last year's festival season, I really questioned if all this round-the-clock labor is worth it. Ticket prices for festivals are increasing, attendance therefore is starting to slow. Waste management efforts are super intense and get more intense as festival partiers, even those with the best of intensions, start to slack in their diligence as the alcohol and drugs take hold. You can immediately see a shift in the collective personality of the partiers when this happens. There are two answers to this problem and they are both extreme: 1) Cancel all festivals forever. 2) Go all in on behavioral design. I believe behavioral design is the only way to get waste management to scale. It's counter intuitive because most in this space assume, and therefore deploy, solutions rooted in technology (smart wrist bans, scanning QR codes on individual cups or pieces of tableware, RFID tags...). Behavioral design does not put a value judgment on behavior. The below post has shown up in my feed many times, with comments accusing those leaving all that litter behind as "lazy, disgusting, irresponsible." It is effortless to come to those accusations, rooted in the emotion we feel when we look at all that trash. But lobbing insults is never going to solve the problem. The effort and work and discipline lies in remaining agnostic to the reality that this is going to happen every year, unless you install a system that intrinsically changes behavior from the individual human perspective. I have said this one million times and I will say it one million more times: if relying on the individual to do the right thing works, it would already have worked. Ozarka B.V., and our partners, is the only company who can solve this issue at scale.

This is rather concerning...

#Climate #Sustainability #Festivals Festivals have been a waste generating activity for as long as I have attended them. It is clear that many - not all - people carry a lot of food, drinks and camping items to festivals and find themselves unwilling to take them back home. While there are several companies who focus on reducing this unnecessary recurring waste pile, it is still here with us. With Decathlon 's tent return programme, to FestiTent and KarTent among others focusing om tents, how can we take these initiatives to the next level? It has become clear that behavioural change with behavioural economics is required to leave no trace behind. Question is: will it be through fines or rewards?

GARBAGE TAKEBACK OBLIGATION When asked "what gives you hope?" older people often respond that younger people give them hope, as their actions, demonstrations, etc, have helped get more political priority for addressing problems like climate change and biodiversity loss. And to a certain extent I agree. And it is definitely great to see so many young people now at conferences on carbon management, CCS, CDR, etc. But there also seem to be many examples of where the younger generation is busy undoing the good that their contempories are trying to achieve. The video below is a good example. Judging from the comments this is not an isolated case. And then there are the travel habits (flying more often and further than previous generations), online ordering, eating out, ready made foods, influencer jobs, coaching jobs, etc. Wrt festival terrains: I would say, no one leaves until the fields are empty and clean. Garbage in the bins or take it with you. If you want to leave early you pay a 200 Euro cleaning fee. Social pressure should do the rest 😉 😎 #garbagetakebackobligation

I recently came across this video showing the aftermath of a festival—piles of trash, single-use plastics, and discarded tents and mattresses. It’s disheartening to see such disregard for our environment, especially from a generation that prides itself on being environmentally conscious. This highlights a crucial need: our students must be more deeply connected with nature. Outdoor programs play a vital role in fostering this connection. By immersing students in the natural world, we can help them understand and appreciate what our planet should look like, free from pollution and waste. Outdoor education isn't just about adventure; it’s about instilling a sense of responsibility and respect for our environment. It’s about teaching the importance of sustainability and showing that leaving no trace is not just a practice, but a way of life. We need to ask ourselves: since when did it become acceptable for items like tents and blow-up mattresses to be single-use? How can we inspire our communities to be better? The answer lies in education and example. Let's leverage our outdoor programs to educate students on the importance of preserving our planet, making mindful choices, and understanding the impact of their actions. Let’s inspire a generation to be the change-makers our world desperately needs. At The Outdoor Education Group, we are dedicated to providing these transformative experiences. We invite heads of schools to get in touch with us to plan and implement programs that not only enrich students’ lives but also foster a deeper respect for our environment. Together, we can make a difference. Let’s start by fostering a deep, genuine love for our planet in the hearts of our youth. #OutdoorEducation #Sustainability #EnvironmentalAwareness #LeaveNoTrace #Nature #TheOutdoorEducationGroup

#makecompostmainstream Let's talk about human poo and wee, shall we? . We currently flush billions of litres of drinking grade water down the drain with our poo, wee, and myriad other items of detritus that have no place in a sewer drain. This, in sewerage systems that are clearly no longer fit for purpose and run by people with more care for profit than life. Every day now we have news of more rivers and coastal waters being killed by discharges of untreated sewage. None of this is necessary. Poo and wee are incredibly nutrient rich resources and it is a criminal waste that we flush them 'away' (*spoiler* there is no 'away') so readily. Composting is a valid and practical alternative for a huge proportion of that resource. If only we invested in the hyper-local infrastructure. This film was made over 15 years ago and compost loos have moved on apace since these Heath Robinson times of simple 'bucket and sawdust' facilities. But listen to what these people have to say. No smells, no flies, a more pleasant experience of pooing and weeing and emptying, no harsh chemicals, more in tune with the spirit of the festival, virtually free compared to portaloo hire, creating a usable resource at the end of the day. There are always concerns about pathogens and pharmaceuticals with composting but there's nothing insurmountable there. A hot, aerobic compost process will render many pathogens harmless, the time to compost fully can interrupt life cycles of parasites etc. It just needs care and attention and clear boundaries on safe use. Have a read of Joseph Jenkins" Humanure Handbook ( now in it's 4th edition at least) to find out more. Could you change your mind about poo and wee?? https://lnkd.in/eQyiehMV

Happy Wednesday from myself & Taylor Swift. This lunch break, you deserve to kick back and find out what food waste reduction solution you should try based on your favorite Taylor Swift album (or the reverse -- pick your favorite food waste solution to find your perfect Taylor Swift album). Comment what you got! #foodwaste #TaylorSwift #sustainability