Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/20/uks-indie-music-fests-vow-to.html
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The ability to carry your water into a venue should be a universal human right. It’s inhumane to put tens of thousands of people in a giant field in the sun and not provide safe, clean water and the ability to reasonably transport it, or at least allow them to carry their own. I don’t know how venues in the UK behave generally, but in the US the treatment of festival-goers is criminal.
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Well, that sounds kind of fishy. Is 91% of all plastic not recycled, or just 91% of the plastic used in bottles? Is the plastic not recycled because it is not diverted to appropriate facilities, or is it completely unrecyclable for other reasons?
For that matter, will a ban on plastic straws have the same effect as, say, a ban on plastic utensils?
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I think it is a legal requirement to provide safe, drinkable and free water sources in venues in the UK, after several deaths in the 1990s. The reality back then was that you will end up buying a bottle of water anyway to hold the free water in later, as you will not be allowed to carry in a bottle of your own (the excuse given was that they didn’t know if there was drugs/alcohol in it, but I thought that was bullshit).
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Yay, just what we need, Sting at more festivals.
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Wow, that’s great. It’s certainly not in the US. The norm is to see bottled water going or $5+ for a small bottle and you can’t keep the cap.
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I see what you did there. 
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Bothered me too. I think they got that number by misunderstanding this study http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782 when it states that 91% of plastic is never recycled
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This is a good idea in principle. The real life problem is that one of the factors in the use of plastic at venues & festivals is it’s safety compared to glass containers. Metal containers won’t smash but can still be an injury issue when filled with urine and hurled across a crowd for dubious lolz or as a visceral form of music criticism…
Shouldn’t happen very often if the perps are promptly beaten to death.
Reusable plastic gourds and glasses are an option too.
I’m a volunteer on a smallpress festival, few years ago we switched from plastic cup to reusable plastic glasses, you have to pay 1 euro to have a cup and keep it or return the cup to the bar and get back your money.
It’s a great way to make goodies and people keep them because they look nice.
Drawing by Marcus Oakley
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But surely, BrexitTM will fix the issue?
Don’t know if it’s actually better, but we have deposit on plastic bottles here in Germany.
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Most of all, metal container are expensive.
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