Patsy Murphy (2nd from right) and Amélie Peck (far right) at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals

Despite the musical distractions at the Calgary Folk Festival, Mountain Culture staff member Amélie Peck took note of stations with volunteers sorting recyclables and biodegradable waste to be composted. Fellow staff member Patsy Murphy encountered the same situation at the Canmore Folk Fest. Their keen eyes and interest led to the launch of the Towards Zero Waste program at the 2008 Banff Mountain Festivals, which diverted a total of 622 kilograms from the landfill – 93 per cent of what was collected.

“We let everyone involved know that this is what we want to do. Everybody got on board and really helped out,” says Peck. “The bar has been set for next year.”

The Banff Mountain Festivals is the latest in a series of special events in the Bow Valley that have committed to keeping at least 80 per cent of their waste from going to landfill disposal. To do so, a total of four Resource Recovery Centre stations were set-up around campus. “The idea was that people had to think about what they had to do with their waste. They had an item and they had to figure out which bin to place it in,”adds Peck.

The most recycled item throughout the nine day event was returnable beverage containers, weighing approximately 240 kilograms (almost 40 per cent of what was collected). Organics and compostable items, mixed paper, and cardboard each accounted for 15 to 20 per cent of the materials.

To manage the program, more volunteers than normal were needed to ensure that streams weren’t contaminated, and that bins were emptied and weighed. Along with Festival volunteers, Mountain Culture partnered with Banff Community High School’s Green Team. The Banff Centre custodial and food and beverage staff also played key roles. “It was a huge educational tool for everyone and we had a really good response,” says Murphy.

The program was organized through Peter Duck, regional Towards Zero Waste coordinator with the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission who was on hand to clear up any misconceptions. He said the most commonly misunderstood item was corn-based compostable food ware because it looks like plastic. “When people start talking about waste diversion at a high profile event like the Banff Mountain Festivals it creates a huge profile in the community,” says Duck. “The message gets out that this isn’t garbage anymore, there is a huge amount that you can capture and significant results can be achieved.”