Reversing the ‘Bring it and bin it’ culture at the Roskilde Festival

For just 100 kroner guests can have their camping gear delivered to their doorstep, but it’s catching on slowly

History is littered with classic cases of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Jeffrey Dahmer becoming a Christian three years before his final meal on Death Row – human flesh was off the menu this time – is a good one.

As messy as a stable floor
And now you can add the new Roskilde Festival initiative ‘Bring It Home’ to the list, which enables guests to pay 100 kroner for all their gear to be delivered to their homes, instead of dumped at the site.

While the festival organisers are hopeful it will catch on, 2,400 tonnes of tents, mats, damp clothes and other apparently disposable possessions have been left behind and will now be incinerated.

Not exactly bolting to use it
Still, Hans Jessen, the festival’s waste disposal team leader, has said the initiative is a success – but only among the older attendees.

“This year, the campaign has worked really well for the slightly older participants, but the youngsters have not been caught by the trend of taking their stuff home,” he told DR.

“There will always need to be a clean-up when you’ve had 100,000 people at a garden party, but compared to the size we have today, we will have far less waste volumes 10 years from now.”




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