KNBA proudly sponsor's Salmonfest 2017. Be a part of the effort for a Zero Waste Festival!
Cook Inletkeeper, ReGroup, and Kachemak Bay Conservation Society team up to reach towards Zero Waste at Salmonfest 2017
Salmonfest, Alaska’s biggest festival weekend gets help from Cook Inletkeeper and ReGroup to minimize waste at this year’s festival August 4-6 in Ninilchik. 2017 Salmonfest features Jewel, Railroad Earth, Rusted Root, Rising Appalachia, California Honeydrops, to name a few; and the biggest selection of Alaska’s bands. Some of Alaska’s most dynamic art and crafts, special brews, tasty food, and this year the new Zero Waste Stations to help clean everything up. Every year we work to make the festival more enjoyable, more music, more art, more fish, love and music! And to help reduce the overall impact of the Kenai Peninsula’s largest festival, local community groups Cook Inletkeeper and ReGroup have teamed up to focus on waste reduction at this year’s Salmonfest.
“From the start, we’ve taken a lot of steps to reduce waste at the festival,” said Salmonfest Producer, Jim Stearns. “The reusable cups in the beer gardens are not only collectable but they help reduce the need for thousands and thousands of single-use cups during the event. We’re excited to take it to the next level this year,” Stearns added.
This year Salmonfest attendees will notice something new at the festival. Instead of trashcans, Zero Waste Stations will stand out at the fairgrounds. The new Zero Waste Stations pair recycling and compost bins with every trash can and will be staffed by a member of the all-volunteer Zero Waste Crew to help festivalgoers know where to toss their materials – from compostable food scraps and paper plates, to recyclable water bottles and aluminum cans.
“There’s always been some recycling available at the festival, but this year we want to make it really obvious and easy,” said Cook Inletkeeper Director Carly Wier, “and since so much of our waste stream is made up of biodegradable, compostable material, we think we can reduce the amount of trash going to the landfill by more than 50% this year.”
This year, Soldotna-based recycling advocacy organization ReGroup and Cook Inletkeeper have teamed up to add more recycling options and compost collection bins. The recyclable materials, like plastic and aluminum will be recycled through the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s existing recycling program, and compostable materials will be composted into soil amendment at Matti’s Farm in Kenai.
“It takes a lot of hands to make this happen,” said Cook Inletkeeper’s volunteer coordinator Natalia Mulawa, “and we can use some more people to help us turn this vision into reality.” Volunteers who work a 4-hour shift get free admission to the festival that day and a green tie-dye Zero Waste Crew t-shirt to keep. To volunteer on the Zero Waste Crew, contact Natalia at natalia@inletkeeper.org or 907-235-4068, ext. 20.
Salmonfest is supported by and benefits The Kachemak Bay Conservation Society with support from Cook Inletkeeper. KBCS is a longstanding Homer-based non-profit organization that seek to educate the public, and both protect and promote Alaska’s fish-filled waters.
Don’t have your tickets yet? Visit Salmonfestalaska.org and Salmonfest on Facebook to buy your tickets and for more information.
Salmonfest, 3 days of fish, love and music
For more information, contact:
Jim Stearns, Festival Director/Producer, Salmonfest
jim@salmonfestalaska.org 907-435-7371
Sally Oberstein, Assistant Festival Director/Producer, Salmonfest
sally@salmonfestalaska.org 907-235-2228
Susan Kaplan, Festival Media Liaison, Salmonfest
