A new report from Belgian consultancy firm Tapio finds that Tomorrowland 2023’s estimated carbon footprint totaled around 150,000 metric tons (over 165,000 US tons) of carbon dioxide.
This estimate is primarily attributed to air travel and food service, with roughly 79% of the total emissions coming from transportation and 21% from on-site meals. The total estimate is equivalent to the yearly carbon emissions of about 9,300 Belgian citizens.
Tomorrowland did its best to live up to the “Love Tomorrow” portion of its “Live Today, Love Tomorrow, Unite Forever” slogan in 2023, enlisting Belgian company Camp2Camp to provide secondhand tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses and chairs to festival goers; and extending its electric grid to cut diesel generator usage by 50%.
The festival also hosted on-site sustainability workshops and provided recycling bins for separating compost and plastics from landfill waste. Some vendors even crafted edible cups and straws.
Staff and volunteers actively collected waste during both weekends; and attendees were able to earn prizes like reusable water bottles, recycled socks, and earplugs in return for picking up trash.
Tomorrowland, which has disputed the results from the Tapio report, plans to hire a separate consultancy for a second assessment and will publish data later this year.
Teresa Moore, director of environmental nonprofit A Greener Future discussed the topic with Bloomberg:
“Music festivals are like a mini town, in some cases even a mini city because of their scale. Those events who are already making these changes are ahead of the game. Those who have not started need to get going, because otherwise they will find themselves running to catch up.”
Featured image from Tomorrowland.
