Plastic pollution given a new life on stage at this year’s Glastonbury

#RoadToGlasto2019

09/05/19

Plastic that could have ended up polluting our oceans will instead be used to build Shangri-La’s 360-degree Audio-Visual Arena– The Gas Tower – at Glastonbury Festival next month.

Thanks to a ground-breaking collaboration between Orca Sound Project, Shangri-La and Keep Britain Tidy, volunteer #LitterHeroes in the South-West will, on Saturday, begin the process of collecting 10 tonnes of plastic – the equivalent of about one million plastic bottles – from beaches, parks and streets across the South-West.

The plastic they collect will then be processed by Exeter City Council before being recycled into materials to build the dance arena at Shangri-La Glastonbury Festival, where they will provide a backdrop for a line-up of world-famous electronic DJs and AV artists including Subfocus and Bicep.

Saturday’s clean-up, the first of a series on the #RoadtoGlasto2019, will see volunteers doing an extreme clean on the remote Stanbury Mouth beach near Bude in Cornwall, with support from Lister Charitable Trust, Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare project and South West Water.

This will be followed by clean-ups across the South West, from Somerset to Cornwall and London, but anyone in the South-West can join in with the #RoadToGlasto2019 by collecting plastic in one of Keep Britain Tidy’s Ocean Recovery Project ‘Dumpy Bags’.

Join us on the journey

Will you be one of the 100 #LitterHeroes from the South West - Somerset, Devon or Cornwall - to help us collect 10 tonnes of plastic?

We'll be distributing 100 builders sized 'Dumpy Bags' for our #LitterHeroes to fill with plastic.

Here's how you can get involved:

1. ORDER A BAG

If you think you can fill a bag, please email us at oceanrecoveryproject@keepbritaintidy.org - we'll need your postal address & contact number - before Friday 17 May.

Your bag will be posted to you and we will only contact you on the number provided if we have difficulty locating your filled bag when it comes time to collecting it.

Your data will always be processed in line with our Privacy Policy.

2. FILL YOUR BAG UP

Fill your bag with rigid or hard plastic (including plastic bottles, food trays, yoghurt pots, plastic straws and other hard plastics) that you find on your litter picks and beach cleans over the next few weeks. You have until the 27 May to fill your bag.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA

Don’t forget to take lots of photos and videos of your clean-ups in action. Use the hashtag #RoadToGlasto2019 so we can see your progress.

With your permission these images will be shown on video screens at the Glastonbury 2019 Shangri La Gas Tower stage, to show festival attendees what #LitterHeroes have achieved.

4. COLLECTION

We will then collect your filled bag, at the address provided, on the 28 or 29 May.

Please leave the bag in a suitable location for collection. Collections will start at 7am on both days.

“This ground-breaking project will see tonnes of plastic removed from our environment – where it has such devastating consequences on our wildlife and marine life – and put to good use.

By working together, we are showing the world that the plastic we no longer want or need can be recycled and turned into something that is both exciting and useful.”

- Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy CEO

“We are pioneering a global first, not only in terms of stage production and festival experience, but also community-building, strategy and awareness for a global issue – thanks to Shangri-La and Keep Britain Tidy.

We’re so excited for Orca Sound Project to be given this unbelievable global platform to raise awareness.”

- Orca Sound Project

“Team Shangri-Las are thrilled to be a part of this important, pioneering project. Through our collaboration with Orca Sound and Keep Britain Tidy we are able to continue our explorations into finding sustainable solutions for our work in the festival and creative industries. A total game-changer!”

- Kaye Dunnings, Creative Director of Shangri-La