Michael Eavis, founder of the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival, will receive a Green World Award at the MIDEM international music market in Cannes, which runs Jan. 18 to 21.
The award, to be presented Jan. 19, recognizes the annual Glastonbury event’s significant and long-standing commitment to preserving the environment.
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was founded in 1970 and has since grown into a major event. It now brings together 137,500 music fans plus those working on the site.
Eavis and his team have developed their environmental strategy in order to both reduce the event’s carbon footprint as much as possible and to use its public profile to raise awareness on environmental issues.
Eavis’ initiatives include waste recycling; using biofuels; sourcing power from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind; employing Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood; distributing biodegradable disposable plates and cups, wooden cutlery and biodegradable tent pegs; running campaigns to raise awareness among festival-goers; organising schemes to promote car-sharing and collective means of transportation; and organizing sanctuaries for local wildlife during the event.
The first Green World Award, presented at MIDEM 2008, recognized the organisers of Live Earth, the Roskilde Festival and the Paléo Festival Nyon.
