Music festival Splore is being celebrated for being one of the first of its kind in New Zealand to be certified as carbon-neutral.
The three-day event kicked off on Friday and is one of the only music festivals to go on around the world right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the 2021 event, the festival was certified for carbon-zero event operations and revellers are full of praise.
"I think that's epic... always good to leave no trace," one festival-goer told Newshub.
"I appreciate that they care and it's zero waste," said another.
The event has all the colour and culture of Splore, but festival director John Minty said it comes without the environmental cost.
"It all comes down to where we've analysed what carbon we produce for our operations. So we've actually analysed that and did an audit, and then we can basically offset that, by planting native trees."
The festival also has recycling bins as far as the eye can see and a dedicated team to sort and separate each bag of trash.
"Seventy-five to 76 percent is recycled and diverted from waste, for an event that's amazing," he said. "I mean America, England get to maybe 30 or 40 percent at most of the big festivals."
All vendors at Splore use compostable plates and utensils, and festival-goers are given reusable cups.
There's also solar-powered PA systems and even part of the event wristbands are made from bamboo.
Splore is also encouraging festival-goers to offset their own emissions by using a travel calculator. They just have to input their travel method and the city where they came from, and it'll tell them how much to donate to the Native Forest Restoration Trust.
For our Newshub vehicle to get to the festival, it's $1.46.
"You're going to produce around 26 kilograms of carbon, and you would need to plant one tree to offset that," said Splore sustainability director Anna Mathieson.
With 10,000 people at Splore this weekend, that's a lot of trees.
