PleasantvilleRecycles Expanding Zero Waste Initiative at Pleasantville Music Festival

PleasantvilleRecycles Expands Its Award-Winning Zero-Waste Efforts at the Pleasantville Music Festival on Saturday, July 13

Returning to the Pleasantville Music Festival for its second year, PleasantvilleRecycles, a Village committee, is enlarging its efforts to make the popular festival waste-free. The festival will be held on Saturday, July 13, at Parkway Field in Pleasantville.

“We are building on last year’s success in several ways,” explains Christin Simon Ogryzlo, a committee member. “We are expanding our reach by adding a new recycling and trash collection site.” Three of these sites will be in last year’s locations—two near the vendors area and one in the beer and wine garden—and the new one will be easily found on the north side of the stage. The waste generated backstage will be sorted and gathered as well.

Also, for the first time,

·      the audience will be able to use compostable wooden utensils, several thousands of which were donated to the festival by Birchware (http://birchware.com/). These utensils will be disposed of with food waste and will not go into the trash.

·      the recycling/trash collection tents will be easier to find, thanks to new, clearer signage made possible by RE/MAX Ace Realty (http://www.remax-ace-ny.com/).

·      recycling and trash collection will be more efficient and centralized. All disposal will be at PleasantvilleRecycles stations. The only other bins at the festival will be at the gates.

With more than a dozen additional volunteers, PleasantvilleRecycles members will staff each of the collection tents, helping festival goers sort their waste efficiently. “We will collect everything people want to get rid of, from food waste to recyclables to trash,” adds another committee member, Helen Meurer. “Having a zero-waste volunteer at each station helps ensure that everything ends up in the right place. It also gives us an opportunity to talk with people and answer their recycling questions.” 

PleasantvilleRecycles encourages everyone to bring refillable water bottles to the festival. Fresh drinking water will be available at all of their stations.

 

Last Year’s Effort

PleasantvilleRecycles was proud to receive an Earth Day award from Westchester County for initiating the zero-waste initiative at the festival in 2012. It reduced the waste typically generated by about 65%, down from 5.5 tons in 2011 to 1.85 tons. Pleasantville Music Festival Co-Executive Director Rich Sarfaty said that the committee “brought us a sound proposal, secured the funding for it, and implemented it flawlessly.”

For details on the Pleasantville Music Festival and to buy tickets, visit: http://www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com/.

 

About PleasantvilleRecycles

PleasantvilleRecycles is a Village committee committed to improving and expanding recycling in the community. It works to increase residents’ use of existing recycling programs through education and outreach; to enhance the village’s current programs; and to identify and develop new waste reduction, reuse, and recycling initiatives. Check http://pleasantvillerecycles.org/ and follow the group on their Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/PleasantvilleRECYCLES?fref=ts] for information on this and other events, and on recycling in general.