9699 Larkspur Lane, Suite 204, Monterey, CA 93940 Phone: (831) 373‐3366 

Fax: (831) 373‐0244 E‐Mail: jazzinfo@montereyjazzfestival.org 

Web: Montereyjazzfestival.org  

Sustainability in Action: Jazz Festival 2012 Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report Created by: The Offset Project 

October 3rd 2012   

Our Commitment 

The Monterey Jazz Festival is committed to environmental sustainability. Set in the heart of the ecologically sensitive and uniquely beautiful Monterey Peninsula, the Jazz Festival is interested in sustainability initiatives and environmental stewardship as it aspires to design responsible cultural events. The Jazz Festival represents an ideal platform for embedding sustainable programs on the Peninsula and beyond. Acting on this, the Festival has implemented a public outreach component in 2012 to educate participants on their roles in waste management. The Jazz Festival is committed at the top management level, which lends itself to long-term program development. The venue already has experience from previous years in sustainability initiatives, which it continues to expand upon.

Zero Waste Initiatives and Deliverables  

The Offset Project (TOP), an area nonprofit, diverted 3,760 pounds of food waste from back-of-house vendor areas and public eating areas during the 2012 Jazz Festival. This represents a 50 percent increase over 2011. The weight of the food waste also does not accurately capture the volume of waste diverted as compostable food ware products weigh much less then actual food waste. TOPʼs zero-waste team educated vendors, volunteers and stewarding staff in food waste diversion practices to ease program implementation and improve diversion.

Due to the effectiveness and consistency of such small pilot initiatives, Monterey City Disposal Service has developed a permanent food waste program and in 2011 purchased a 20-yard food waste container. The overall cost to facilitate food waste diversion was $309 for the food waste dumpster and $3,150 for staffing (including pre- and post-event), funded by a Monterey Peninsula Foundation grant and the Monterey Regional Waste Management District. The management of food waste is critical as it releases methane emissions — a potent greenhouse gas roughly 23 times more devastating to the climate than CO2 emissions.

In 2007 Ecology Action of Santa Cruz established a grant-funded program known as the Five Star Recycling partnership. Ecology Action and grant partners have implemented a comprehensive beverage container-recycling program, including hundreds of bins, signage and staff training, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. The bins are also used during all venue events to reduce waste and reuse scare natural

resources. The recyclables collection The Offset Project sorts through compostable products during the Festival to avoid contamination. 

program funds are used to purchase tools for the Monterey County Fairgrounds maintenance department.

A public outreach component was also developed to engage guests in the Festivalʼs positive waste management practices. Volunteers positioned at each zero-waste station helped guide guestsʼ disposal choices and answer any questions they may have about the Countyʼs sustainability efforts or about the food waste program at the Festival.

The Jazz Festival, in association with family-owned Marin County business U.S. Pure Water, implemented a self-service filtered water program to eliminate the need for single-use plastic bottles, which produce excessive solid waste and use valuable resources like petroleum.

The Jazz Festival has introduced a vendor food ware policy which states that vendors

are prohibited from carrying service ware that cannot be composted or recycled, particularly Styrofoam (banned in Monterey in 2009). Violation may result in up to a $1,000 fine and/or vendor removal from Festival grounds.

The Jazz Festival, in cooperation with the Fairgrounds and Monterey Green Action,

provided a bike valet parking service to encourage nearby residents and hotel patrons to save carbon emissions through bicycle transit.

The Monterey County Jazz Festival suggests that Festivalgoers plan the culinary portion of their trip using the Eat Well Everywhere mapping tool (by the Eat Well Guide), which allows users to search for locally grown and sustainably produced food. This reduces pollution of air, water and soil.

Indirect Benefits    

This year the Monterey County Fairgrounds Staff displayed sincere interest in the zero-waste and sustainability projects implemented by TOP. There was a high degree of cooperation, for example if TOP needed extra bags for recycling or gloves for sorting trash the staff was quick to respond. Additionally the staff was interested in where the waste was going, in sorting properly, and in possible plans for next year.

Public interest in the festivalʼs sustainability initiatives was very high this year as well. Every volunteer reported positive experiences with the festivalgoers. The most frequent comments described how happy festivalgoers were that the event had A Festival volunteer educates a festivalgoer in 

proper sorting of compostables and recyclables. 

such progressive waste policies in place. Many guests were also very interested in the process of compost and where the waste was going.

Challenges and Moving Forward  

Although the vast majority of initiatives at the festival were a sweeping success, volunteer shortages remained a persistent problem. Due to the progressive nature of food waste management at events, many guests were unfamiliar with the proper method of disposal. Volunteers at the waste stations are critical for guest participation and there were times during the festival when there were not enough volunteers to operate each station. Volunteer sorters were also not provided. Friday required one sorter, while Saturday and Sunday required two full-time sorters.

Further coordination between TOP and the fairgrounds staff is required in the future so bins are not placed in redundant locations. Critical zones in the fairgrounds were covered, but there were times when waste disposal bins from the fairgrounds would be adjacent to TOPʼs bins. This creates confusion for festivalgoers and likely reduces diversion rates. A simple solution will be to meet earlier and create a simple agreed upon map of the festival area to establish where bins should be placed.

Contamination in vendor food waste bins continues to be problematic. Compliance rates were higher than in 2011, but there still seems to be a lack of care during separation due to the fast pace of vendor kitchens. Again, the simplest solution is to continue to spend time with the vendors before the Festival to explain the purposes of the policies and proper sorting. Habits will change over time. The reoccurring issue of non-compostable cutlery also contributed to vendor bin contamination. Going forward there should be more discussion with the vendors about purchasing only compostable products as many continued to buy foam coffee cups, plastic cutlery, and paper plates lined with plastic. Ideally vendors could target their purchases to a few compostable brands, which would vastly improve sorting efficiency and increase diversion rates.

Overall the food waste management at this yearʼs Jazz Festival was a huge success. As time goes on and all parties become more acquainted with these new practices, diversion rates will continue to increase, creating a better triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) for the Jazz Festival. The simplest solution to the problems that did occur is increased communication between all parties before the Festival to ensure adequate

The Offset Project trains zero‐waste station volunteers before the Festival kicks off on Saturday. 

volunteer staffing, efficient bin mapping, consistent purchasing and informed food vendors.