By Jenene Grover
MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Bonnaroo has long been known as America’s most environmentally friendly music festival with Planet Roo being at the focal point to combat their carbon footprint.
All around the festival, you can see their climate goals with the various food stands having bamboo cutlery, recyclable cups, water cans instead of bottles, and so much more.
“With Bonnaroo, I think they’ve just consistently continued to try to push the envelope more and continue to do more, and they’ve really done an amazing job just incorporating all the non-profit aspects,” said Emily Roden, a volunteer for We Are Neutral, a non-profit with the goal to offset people’s carbon footprints.
Bonnaroo is sponsored by a brand called Liquid Death, a water in a fully recyclable can with the words “#DeathToPlastic” written on the side of the can. Scattered around the event are recycling cans that are filled with Liquid Death cans.
Even with the cans of water, Bonnaroo provides water refill stations, encouraging attendees to bring hydration packs or refillable water bottles.
In Centeroo, guests can find a stand encouraging guests to recycle the cups they get from vendors and to enter a Rock & Recycle raffle by taking bags of cans to the table. Connected to each trash can around the Farm are compost bins and recycling cans.
Also located in Centeroo is Planet Roo, a place that welcomes sustainability with various environmental action booths, including We Are Neutral.
“We give Bonnaroovians a chance to come in and donate $5, and we have determined that that is how much it would take for us to pull tons from the atmosphere to offset the attendee travel,” said Roden.
Two areas of grass in Planet Roo are taken up by two solar panels in a tent shape with charging ports, encouraging guests to write kind messages for others and the environment.
“We have worked with Bonnaroo now for eleven years, and we have done low-income energy upgrades for homes all over Tennessee. So, we have gone and trained local residents how to be more energy efficient,” said Roden.
Outside of We Are Neutral’s tent is a giant globe with a sign near it asking attendees to “hug their mother.” The tent also has a wood wall that says “What kind of world do you want to live in?” providing guests with markers to write their responses.
Located in Planet Roo is the solar-powered How Stage, a community garden, and a scavenger hunt that encourages campers to leave no trace behind at their campsites.
To encourage guests to help their efforts, they invite Oxfam and Eat for Equity back each year to put on BonnaROOT Community Dinners full of locally sourced food every night.
On the Farm, there is a permanent solar array and a compost pad; through all of Bonnaroo’s efforts since they began in 2002, they have offset 10,102 carbon tons. Also through their efforts, they have diverted more than 4,000 tons of trash from the local landfills.
“I think that more festivals should try to aim for carbon neutrality. I think it’s really important. It’s hard to do, I know there’s a lot of factors that go into it, but it’s so important that they take that step to take responsibility for it,” said Roden.
To learn more about Bonnaroo’s sustainability efforts, visit bonnarooworksfund.org/sustainability.
Jenene Grover is a staff writer for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact News Editor Kailee Shores and Assistant News Editor Alyssa Williams, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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