We were lucky enough to receive a couple of tickets to the Radio 1 Big Weekend down in Maidstone last Saturday. The sun was shining, the beer was flowing and everyone there was in high spirits, a really good day out.
Given the very high temperatures we had to partake of a few beers ourselves and it was nice to see some effort was being made to reduce the amount of waste our thirsty appetites produced on the day. Next to the main beer tent there was a recycling centre where 10p was given back for every paper cup which was returned. Just like when I was a young lad and used to return my neighbours lemonade bottles to the shop to buy sweets there was a double whammy of satisfaction knowing my paper cup was going to be recycled and I was getting my next beer for that little bit less. I actually took my recycling duties very seriously on the day and managed to collect between 10 and 20 paper cups off the grass every time I returned to the beer area.
As the day went by, everyone started catching on to the idea and come the late afternoon there were lines of people queuing up at the recycling bank to hand in the pint sized cups they had collected from all around the site. Such a good win-win idea. I’ve not been to any other festivals for a long time but it would be nice to think the same practise is in operation at other events this summer and I dont see any reason why it should’nt be extended to cans or bottles too. Perhaps for some on Saturday, the idea of cheap beer made recycling an attractive option but whatever the reason it was evident that given a little incentive lots of people are more than happy to get involved and do their bit.
