Low-waste Efforts

The Festival on the Green is a low-waste event.  Each year, Festival organizers work to reduce the amount of waste generated at the event and to divert a greater percentage of waste from being sent to the trash incinerator.  The goal is to divert 90% of the waste.

Festival organizers took several steps to achieve a low-waste event.  First, through a generous donation from Willimantic Waste Paper, all of the food vendors were provided with compostable cups, bowls, plates, and utensils.  The plates and bowls are made of uncoated paper.  The cups, forks, spoons, and knives look like plastic, but they are actually made of corn.  With the cooperation of our food vendors, a major portion of the trash generated at the Festival was composted.

Another way in which the Festival on the Green committee strives to create a low-waste event is to work with all of the vendors in the planning of their activities.  Vendors were encouraged to have activities that created little waste or used recyclable materials.  Some examples of low-waste activities from the 2009 Festival include a variety of games, face-painting, origami, “recycled art” bookmarks (using paper and magazine scraps), a jump-roping challenge, and storytelling. 

Finally, visitors to the Festival on the Green found that, instead of garbage cans around the grounds, there were waste stations with bins for recyclables (aluminum foil and cans, plastic bottles), compostables (food scraps, paper plates and bowls, corn-based utensils and cups), trash (plastic chip bags, wrappers, and straws), and returnable bottles (Hosmer Mountain Soda bottles).  In 2009, volunteers from Southeast Elementary Green Thumbs Club, EO Smith Green Teens, UConn EcoHuskies, UConn Green Grads, Juniper Hill Village Green Team, and the Town of Mansfield Solid Waste Advisory Committee staffed each station to assist visitors in properly sorting their garbage.

With the assistance of the volunteer groups, the cooperation of the food vendors, and the participation by Festival visitors, a record 88% of the waste generated at the Festival was diverted!

Of a total 340 pounds of trash generated throughout the event,
            213 pounds was composted (63%)
            84 pounds of plastic, glass, and metal was recycled (25%)
            43 pounds was sent to the incinerator (12%)

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership thanks everyone who helped to “Keep It Green!”

The Sixth Annual
Festival on the Green
Sunday, September 13