Sustainability
The new amalgamated Dragon Dreaming Festival & REGEN Incorporated recognises that running the Dragon Dreaming Festival has a direct impact (both positive and negative) on the environment.
We believe that we have a responsibility to care for and protect the environment in which we operate and are committed to enhancing it through our operations wherever possible, and minimising any negative impact. We are fully committed to improving environmental performance across all of our activities, and will encourage our partners and members of the wider community to join us in this effort.
With REGEN incorporated bringing their 15 years of sustainable festival production experience, we commit to going further and leading the way in sustainable festivals. We have endeavoured to cover all areas in our commitment to sustainable practices, as set out below:
Power
Dragon Dreaming Festival is powered through sustainably sourced biodiesel power. Energy saving LED lighting is used as a priority. Music is programmed to enable sound systems and generators to be turned off for periods throughout the festival.
Waste Management
Avoiding rubbish going to landfill is an extremely high priority and all plastics, metal paper and glass are recycled. All food waste is composted on site with the compost later used for the revegetation area. An extensive team of volunteers are in place to collect and sort waste, as well as educate patrons. All caterers onsite are required to use bio-degradable and/or reusable food utensils and containers.
Transport
Public transport is strongly encouraged as a means of transport to the festival, and we provide an option to and from the festival site, more information available on the tickets page. Car pooling is also greatly encouraged and facilitated through online social media pages, forums and 3rd party car pooling websites.
Water Management
Free drinking water is supplied and patrons encouraged to bring re-usable containers. No single use water bottles are permitted to be sold in the market area. A trenching system is set in place to facilitate storm water drainage and prevent flooding. Market stall holders must use biodegradable detergents and all grey water runoff is captured and pumped off site. Toilets are composting.
Fair Trade
Dragon Dreaming Festival & REGEN Incorporated works with all suppliers and caterers to use fair trade/organic/free range products where possible. Environmentally friendly ethical and organic traders are given priority. Local suppliers are also given priority.
Community Education
Environmental charities and awareness raising groups are encouraged to provide information stalls at the festival and are assisted with infrastructure where possible. Environmental education workshops are conducted throughout the weekend on a wide range of topics. Patrons are encouraged to participate in the tree planting activities and learn about the restoration of the degraded land that is taking place at the festival site. Environmental documentaries are screened at the festival followed by discussion. Informative signage is located throughout the festival.
Wildlife and Land Protection
Dragon Dreaming Festival & REGEN Incorporated has paid a third party consultant to do a full Statement of Environmental Effects, to ensure best management of the festival and surrounding bushland and aquatic ecosystems. Music and camping is positioned to ensure minimal impact on biodiversity. Patrons are instructed to look out for wildlife on roads when entering and exiting the site. The local wildlife rescue group (WIRES) is liaised with to assist any animals injured by traffic. The local landcare group is consulted in regards with the restoration of degraded land on the festival site through revegetation, which enhances biodiversity and remediates erosion and salinity issues. The festival site is thoroughly cleaned and monitored post festival to ensure no contamination. A portion of ticket revenue is donated to local community and environment groups.
Office and Event Management
All printing of promotional material is done on recycled paper using vegetable based inks. Paper printing is kept to a minimum. All offices (where possible) run on green energy and implement strict recycling policies on paper, printer cartridges and IT equipment. D?cor and other building materials are sourced (where possible) from recycled/re-usable sources. Sustainable products such as bamboo are used extensively and can be reused for a decade in some cases.
Noise and Noise Pollution
Noise barriers are created around music stages to prevent sound spillage, mono directional sound systems are also used. Earplugs are provided for all patrons and staff. A quite family camping area is set aside as well as quiet chill-out spaces within the festival. Music is scheduled to incorporate breaks to alleviate any stress on the environment and also to save energy and increase the efficiency of energy use at the event.
Statement of Environmental Facts
Dragon Dreaming Festival & REGEN Incorporated has paid a third party consultant to do a full Statement of Environmental Facts to ensure best management of the festival and surrounding bushland and aquatic ecosystems.
Native tree planting Revegetation project
Dragon Dreaming Festival & REGEN Incorporated will be restoring the land that hosts the Dragon Dreaming festival adding to the 73,000 native plants, planted at REGEN Festivals over the past 15 years. For more info, check out our page on Tree planting.