As Glastonbury festival gets underway, new research reveals that 70% of people who have bought a tent admit they have used it just once.
Looking ahead, over half (52%) admit they are likely to buy a tent and use it for just one event, such as a festival, suggesting that polyester tents are the single-use plastic everyone is overlooking.
It is estimated that 250,000 tents made of polymer-based nylon or polyester are abandoned each year, creating fields of ‘tent trash’, contributing to 900 tonnes of waste, and in effect creating ever more single-use plastic.
The research, by sustainable packaging provider DS Smith, found that a fifth (18%) of adults thought that the worst single-use plastic item for the environments was tents.
Despite this, a fifth (19%) of tent owners have never considered the environmental impact of tents.
Paul Clarke, Managing Director for UK & Ireland Packaging Division at DS Smith, said: “Festivals are at the heart of British summertime, but we’ve all seen the shocking images of their aftermath; abandoned polyester tents as far as the eye can see.
“Most people may not know that the tents they buy are very hard to recycle and end up as litter, in landfill, and can lurk in the ground for up to 200 years.
“We are used to replacing plastic from supermarket shelves but in creating cardboard tents, we’re talking about something completely different – we shifted the way we thought about design to protect a person, not a product.
“When we met Tayla, we knew that cardboard could have a different and really important role to play in replacing plastic and reducing tent trash, and we are really excited for the difference we can make together so people can create less waste and have a guilt-free festival.”
In contrast to what people might expect of cardboard, the EnviroTent does not go soggy in the rain. It withstood four weeks outside, in the winter, it blocks out light and is quieter than polyester tents and is warmer when it is cold, and cooler when it is hot – thanks to the corrugated cardboard insulation.
When an EnviroTent reaches the end of its life, and the clean-up of the festival begins, the tents are recycled into something new – such as boxes.
Tayla Evans, Managing Director, and Founder of EnviroTent, said: “The UK festival scene is amazing. But it’s also an annual source of single-use plastic pollution, and increasingly, that is something people feel rightly uncomfortable about. Festivals should be guilt-free and fun. I would love festival organisers to think carefully about how we can help festival goers avoid tent trash – that is what EnviroTents is all about.”
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