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A "Green" Festival on the Green

Mansfield's Festival on the Green. It is a small community event that celebrates the best of Mansfield, Connecticut. And one of the best things to celebrate about Mansfield is its willingness to be on the leading edge of waste reduction and recycling. Come to the Festival and look at the waste stations, you will understand what I mean. The trashcans are diminutive compared to the containers for compost and bottles and cans recycling. The signs above each container with its lists and attached samples speak loudly about Mansfield's environmental leanings. 

The Town of Mansfield is located in the “quiet corner” of eastern Connecticut and the home of the University of Connecticut. Mansfield’s population fluctuates between 15, 000 to 25,000 residents, depending on whether UConn is in session. Oddly enough, with the University as the primary industry, the Town lacks a business district. A project has been underway, through the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, to create a traditional New England town center that features living quarters and shops clustered along narrow streets and a village green. To showcase the vision of this Mansfield downtown center and celebrate the businesses and artisans of the community, the Festival on the Green was borne five years ago. At that time the Festival Committee - made up of residents, town officials like myself, Downtown Partnership staff and board members - agreed to make the celebration a low-waste event. Very fitting, especially since sustainability design guidelines have been adopted for the envisioned town center.

The Festival on the Green is patterned after successful low-waste fairs in other parts of the Northeast. Both the Common Ground Fair in Maine and the Lowell Folk Festival in Massachusetts compost and recycle 90% of the waste coming out of their multi-day events. The Festival committee decided that if these much larger events can do it, certainly we could pull it off during this five hour event. For the past five years, we have done the footwork and made adjustments to create a successful low-waste festival. The following pictures document the evolution of the our efforts.

2004 Results - 55% composted & recycled
- Borrowed University of Connecticut’s 55 gallon barrels – heavy to move and cumbersome to set-up
- Purchased ClearStream® recycling containers (clear bag and laundry hamper style frame) for recycling cans and bottles
- Supplied food vendors with compostable forks and spoons
- Volunteers stand by each waste station (10 waste stations & 28 volunteers )

2005 Results- 72% composted & recycled
- Purchased ClearStream® containers for trash – much easier & faster to set-up and take down
- Used small cans for composting
- Reduced waste stations to 6
- Continued using volunteers at each waste station

2006 Results- 85% composted & recycled
- Had “Keep it Green” signs made
- Constructed free standing sign boards for each waste station
- Made 11" x 17" signs—attached samples
- Added compostable plates, bowls, & cups to what was supplied to food vendors
- Used ClearStream®  container for compost rather than for trash
- Used the small cans for trash rather than for compost

2007 Results- 72% composted & recycled
- Experimented with not having volunteers stationed by each waste station
- Signage remained the same

2008 Results– 87% composted & recycled
- Made larger signs—18" x 24" - for sign board
- Had environmental organizations adopt a waste station for the day
- Worked directly with participating vendors to choose low-waste producing activities at their booths

What Worked

1. Large Signage
In 2006 11" x 17" instructional signs were made listing the products to go in each container. In 2007 we experimented by eliminating volunteers stationed by each waste area. We thought the signs, with their attached examples, might be directive enough. We were wrong in our assumption. We observed that fair goers, distracted by the festivities, took little notice of the signs and pitched their trash in the closest open container. For the 2008 Festival the signs were enlarged to 18" x 24". We found that as people approached the waste stations, more stopped to read the signs. Larger signs allowed more products to be attached to the signs.

2.  Adopt-A-Waste Station
From our 2007 experiment we learned that it is necessary to have volunteers by the waste station the whole time. Not just any community service minded volunteer, but someone with an environmental interest. We asked environmental groups to be in charge of one of the six waste stations for the duration of the event. By "adopting" a waste station, our community's environmental groups made their own volunteer arrangements for the five hours of the Festival. The organizations that we enlisted were senior housing Juniper Hill Village's Green Team, the UConn graduate student Green Grads, the UConn undergraduate EcoHuskies, members of the Town's recycling committee, Southeast Elementary School's Green Thumbs Club, and EO Smith High School's Cool It Team. Because these volunteers valued the low-waste effort being made, they were not bashful about helping fairgoers dispose their waste.

3.  Small Trash Cans
By using the large ClearStream® containers for the compostable and recyclable fraction of the waste stream and a small trash can for everything else, we matched the can sizes with our intentions.

4.  Vendor Cooperation
The committee's low-waste goal is stated in all the correspondence that we send out to participants. But how many of us read ALL the information that is included in correspondence or bills? We have taken the time to contact all vendors and participants. Out of these conversations we have learned about the products vendors wish to sell or give away and offer practical guidance on low-waste alternatives. 

5.  Food Service Supplies
Each year the Festival Committee seeks out sponsorships. Through Willimantic Waste Paper's donation, the region's materials recovery facility, the committee has been able to provide food vendors with compostable cups, plates, bowls and cutlery. Doing this makes everyone happy—the food vendors save money, those of us in charge of the low-waste effort know what to expect in the waste stream and can  make the waste station signs specific with attached examples, the guesswork is removed for the waste station volunteers and the community can take pride in a successful effort.