Earth Day Weekend marks the arrival of Los Angeles’s first yoga and music festival. And while much of the focus of the Tadasana Festival has been about the incredible yoga instructors, musicians, speakers, charitable partners and organizations, there is one crucial aspect that has not been forgotten: sustainability. In an effort to leave as small a footprint as possible, the Tadasana crew has partnered with Santa Monica-based Sustainable Works in order to reach the high bar set by the event’s producers. The goal of this year’s inaugural event: zero waste.
“Through the implementation of an aggressive Sustainable City Plan enacted in 1994, Santa Monica is pioneering municipal sustainability through various policies, programs, services and education,” says Samantha Sommer, Community Sustainability Liaison at Sustainable Works. “Sustainable Works will guide the festival into a premier zero waste event that leaves no footprint. Sustainable Works will work with the festival and a volunteer team of zero waste ambassadors to divert 90% or more of all ‘trash’ from going to landfill through composting, recycling and education training programs.”
Throughout the three-day festival, zero waste ambassadors will manage the appropriate collection and sorting of all materials flowing through the event into compost and recycling stations positioned throughout the festival. All recycling and compost resources will be weighed and recorded to determine how many pounds of ‘waste’ were successfully diverted from going to landfill. In addition to this collection and weighing process, the organization will promote education about sustainability and use only non-toxic biodegradable products that do no harm to humans or the ecosystem.
“We all intuitively know that every day has to become Earth Day if we are to make strides toward real sustainability,” says festival co-producer Tommy Rosen. “The best Earth Day events are entertaining, educational and inspirational, so that an attendee comes away empowered with the knowledge, tools and desire to live sustainably the other 364 days of the year. Tadasana Festival is proud to partner with Sustainable Works to build and implement its comprehensive greening program in 2012, in which we are aiming for zero waste, or a minimum of 90% diversion of all materials from going to landfill. .”
Beyond zero-waste, there are many other initiatives over the three-day weekend to help promote sustainable living. These include:
- City-wide effort to carpool, bike, walk and use public transportation to get to Tadasana Festival. The festival will offer a free bike valet to all participants.
- Marketing Materials printed with soy-based inks on FSC recycled paper
- Zero-Waste Stations with Recycling and Composting
- Organic cotton used for Tadasana t-shirts
- Stainless steel water bottles sold on-site.
- Community Education Program: The Tadasana Waste Team will work with participants to understand the size of their carbon footprint and how to reduce it.
- The Daily Love Lounge Speaker Series showcases environmental topics from green business to everyday living by important figures in the world of sustainability, including Mariel Hemingway, Revenge of the Electric Car director Chris Paine and architect Steve Glenn.
As a festival and organization, one of the driving ideals of Tadasana has always been sustainability. From working with vendors and sponsors to helping them adopt greener methods of doing business to our process of resource management, the company always strives toward the goal of zero-waste events.
Sustainable Works, an environmental education and action non-profit organization, has worked in partnership with the City of Santa Monica to manage and deliver various programs and services to the business, student and residential community since 1998. Our programs focus on waste reduction and resource-use efficiency, as well as enhancing human health and quality of life. By focusing on the daily actions of businesses and individuals, we excel at the development and implementation of sustainable living, initiatives and policies.
Tadasana Festival was founded on the premise of producing a large-scale yoga and music festival in which there is direct interaction with incredible teachers and amazing musicians from around the planet. Never before have yogis been able to experience such a breadth of sonic craftsmen and movement specialists in one place: Santa Monica, the mecca of American yoga. The fully improvised collaborations between yogis and musicians, many of whom have never met before, are certain to produce lasting bonds and powerful experiences for everyone in attendance. Tadasana Festival takes place April 20th through 22nd beachfront in Santa Monica at 2600 Barnard Way, Santa Monica, CA 90405 near the corner of Ocean Park Blvd and the beach.