Ultra Music Festival (EEG) partnered with VolunteerCleanup.Org, Debris Free Oceans, and Surfrider Foundation Miami Chapter to reduce their impact at their new home at Historic Virginia Key Key Beach and Miami Marine Stadium.
Overall, we felt that EEG did an excellent job in reducing their landfill waste, increasing the capture of recyclable materials, engaging the attendees to protect the bay and park. Read the final report card on Ultra’s Sustainabiity Efforts here.
If you would like to green your event, here is a starting document to get you going.
Overall First-Year Sustainability Grade: A
Background: In November of 2018, EEG, Inc sought to relocate their Ultra Music Festival to Marine Stadium and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park (HVKBP). There were many concerns from the community about these environmentally sensitive areas, and EEG reached out to numerous local environmental groups to ask for input and assistance to minimize the impact of their festival. Three environmental groups – VolunteerCleanup.Org, Surfrider Foundation Miami Chapter, and Debris Free Oceans – engaged in order to protect Virginia Key, HVKBP, and Biscayne Bay. The environmental groups developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which EEG committed to a list of sustainability and environmental protection actions that are well beyond what any other festival or event of this scale, in the same venue has ever attempted or accomplished before. More impressive was that they integrated this sustainability program in less than 4.5 months.
We proceeded with this endeavor with 5 primary goals:
1) Protect our beautiful Biscayne Bay and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park.
2) Help EEG develop best practices for sustainable festivals and encourage EEG to replicate these practices in the other 40+ events they host around the world.
3) Leverage the prominence of Ultra in the Electronic Dance Music scene to set the bar for other festivals to work towards.
4) Educate festival goers on the importance of protecting our planet and ‘leave no trace’.
5) Have the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County build many of these same sustainability requirements into their Special Events Permits for other festivals and events that wish to host events throughout the city.
Overall, we felt that EEG did an excellent job in reducing their landfill waste, increasing the capture of recyclable materials, engaging the attendees to protect the bay and park. Read the final report.
Overall First-Year Sustainability Grade: A
If you are involved with a festival and would like guidance on Festival Greening, please email [email protected]. If you would like to green your event, here is a starting document to get you going.
