Sustainable tents and other eco initiatives at EMU

(2011 Eco Music Festival. All Rights Reserved.)

From June 30 until July 3, Snow Mass in Colorado will be home to eco-conscious music festival EMU.

This year's event will be headlined by The Disco Biscuits and includes tree plantings, bio-degradable bottles and the use of sustainable exhibition tents.

The festival runs several environmentally friendly initiatives including planting a tree for every ticket sold, which the organizers claim will offset 1.2 million pounds of CO2, using only bio-degradable plates and utensils throughout the festival and using 'sustainable' festival tents.

The sustainable festival tents being used are the result of a design competition hosted by EMU and design group the Neenan Company. The winning entrant was Ben Shepard and his creation the 'X' tent.

The sustainable nature of the 'X' tent features in the use of repurposed or recycled materials for its creation. Each tent is made with material from military surplus parachutes; reclaimed, fire mitigated or pine beetle-killed wood; and poles made from recycled scaffolding or bamboo.

EMU is one of several festivals taking place this summer with environmentally friendly policies; Roskilde in Denmark from June 30 - July 3 has introduced a refund system on plastic cups and will donate leftover camping equipment, while Glastonbury in the UK has employed a 'green police' and is running several schemes promoting recycling.

EMU- http://www.emufestival.com
Glastonbury- http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
Roskilde - http://roskilde-festival.dk/

Videos of the 'X' tent can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMkOPcs7AxE
                                                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPNFDhHAEuY