The Festival Cleaning-up Their Clean up

Rhythm and Alps’ and McDonald’s NZ partnership reduces festival  camping waste by 50%

Each year an appalling amount of Kiwi festival goers exit the event without their tent or camping equipment. But Kiwi festival legends, Rhythm and Alps, proved this year that a little carrot (or burger) goes a long way to creating change.

Rhythm and Alps, joined forces with McDonald’s New Zealand to showcase better choices when it comes to camping and to incentivise more eco-conscious behaviour. Together, they created the Macca’s Camp Out 2023, which showcased cardboard and recyclable tents, and provided a few lucky punters  with a sustainable camping experience.

And for the additional 2,000 campers at the festival, the incentive of a Big Mac was offered for simply taking their tent home with them. The result was an incredible 50%  reduction in  camping waste compared to the previous year.  

“The waste audit results from 2022 showed us that behaviours needed to change,” says Harry Gorringe, General Manager of Rhythm and Alps.

“The unsustainable mindset of our event attendees when it comes to their own rubbish was so disheartening, there was literally a sea of debris as punters raced to secure a ride and a hangover cure”.

The waste review by Waste Management expert, Closed Loop, revealed that 70% of waste generated at Rhythm and Alps by its 10,000 attendees was predominantly tents and camping equipment left behind. This also took a total of 200-man hours (over eight days) from Rhythm and Alps staff to clean up post-event.

 “We needed something that would incentivise them to do better. Turns out that a Big Mac was all it takes,” says Gorringe.

The offer of a Big Mac encouraged a shift in campers behaviour as hundreds more chose to take their tents with them. This one incentive helped reduce the clean-up time for the Rhythm and Alps team by a day and a half, meaning they could clock-off early to enjoy the start to the new year.

“This awesome partnership with Rhythm and Alps strived to help our consumers make better choices and recycle where they can. The Macca’s Camp Out was a super fun way to draw attention to this and it is clear we rewarded attendees with the perfect feed to end their festival.” Says Luke Rive, Director of Marketing at McDonald’s New Zealand.

{R&A to include other results? Diversion from landfill and increased recycling numbers?}

Rhythm and Alps is set to continuously promote sustainability at their events going forward following the impressive results from their efforts with their 2023-24 New Year’s Eve festival.

-ENDS-

About Rhythm and Alps

This event has gained itself an international reputation for its diverse line-up, top-tier production levels and positive vibes. Rhythm and Alp’s is the South Island sister-festival to the North Island’s Rhythm and Vines. R&A began in 2011 in mount Hutt, before relocating to the gorgeous Cadrona Valley in Wānaka in 2013 where it remains. Rhythm and Alps’ annual attendance sits at roughly 10,000 good humans from all around the globe.

For more information visit https://rhythmandalps.co.nz/

Check out Rhythm and Alps on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Rhythmandalps or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rhythmandalps/