Hosting a bike film festival is a great way to strengthen your biking community and inspire more people to get on their bikes. Our “How to Plan a Bike Month” post highlights that a movie event can help foster inclusivity, fun, and the formation of new alliances thanks to the shared love of biking. Biking is not only an enjoyable activity or workout, but it’s also a great way to travel sustainably without affecting the environment. As such, taking a sustainable approach to a film festival can draw attention to the waste-free aspect of biking. Having little to no waste at your event can be more convenient for everyone involved, and it’s a great way to encourage people to make eco-friendly changes. Here are a few tips for organizing a waste-free bike film festival:
Provide proper trash receptacles
The venue of your bike film festival is crucial for ensuring an enjoyable and comfortable experience; managing trash properly is essential for minimizing waste and ensuring the area is kept clean. Instead of having general trash cans in the venue, you can provide separate and properly labeled receptacles for recyclable or compostable materials, allowing you to manage the waste more efficiently.
Before the event, you can also discuss the waste situation with your attendees, encouraging them to dispose of their trash in the proper bins or prevent them from bringing anything they may need to throw away. Before or after the film festival, a staff member or volunteer can help monitor the situation so the trash is thrown away and handled correctly.
Keep the event smoke-free
Smoking doesn’t only have a significant impact on health, but it affects the environment too. It’s unpleasant to see and smell cigarette smoke when trying to enjoy a film festival, so it’s best to keep smoking products banned. Fortunately, new products on the market produce less waste and don’t emit harmful or obtrusive smoke. Nicotine pouches are one such item; they release nicotine and flavorings when tucked under the lip instead of smoke. The ZYN spearmint nicotine pouches come packaged in ultra-slim cans that can easily slide unnoticed into a jacket or pant pocket, so users don’t have to worry about properly disposing of them. The pouches are smokeless and spitless, so there’s no need to worry about disturbances from using a nicotine pouch.
Nicotine patches are another example of preventing litter since they can be stuck onto the skin for up to 24 hours to deliver the nicotine. Perrigo’s NiQuitin nicotine patches allow users to discreetly get their nicotine fix without cluttering the venue. With various smokeless products gaining popularity, there’s no excuse for people to throw out cigarette butts around the area.
Use reusable or recyclable items
Food and drinks are necessary for many events and help make your bike film festival more enjoyable. However, waste can accumulate, especially in packaging, and materials like plastic and styrofoam contribute significantly to litter and pollution. Instead of using disposable packaging, it’s better to use reusable containers for food and drink. Research from the University of Michigan found that reusable packaging has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save on energy, water, and cost, mainly when used over and over again. Reducing the amount of single-use plastics can make your bike film festival more waste-free.
You can provide food in reusable containers and drinks in reusable tumblers to encourage people to bring and use them at home after the film festival. Another option is to ask people to bring their reusable containers to the event instead, allowing them to fill them up with the food and drink of their liking. That also helps prevent unnecessary waste if people can’t finish the snacks.