Electric Forest’s culture of reuse, conservation and consideration for others was evident throughout the 2018 festival, and into the cleanup process. Today, Electric Forest (EF) 2018 reveals total numbers of food donated via the festival’s annual Roy Price Memorial Food Drive, and early results from the event’s 2018 Resource Recovery Program, which helps connect local non-profit organizations, businesses, and families to useful materials.
Electric Forest’s 2018 “Roy Price Memorial Food Drive” collected over 35,700 meals to be distributed to local Oceana County communities this year, setting a new festival record (over 15,000 meals more than the 2017 event). To date, Electric Forest has collected and distributed over 145,700 meals to local communities in need. Electric Forest’s annual Food Drive encourages patrons to donate non-perishable food items in exchange for a limited edition Electric Forest Food Drive Poster. Meals are donated to the Price Family Food Bank, which provides food locally to such organizations as Lebanon Lutheran Church, Rothbury Community Church, Wesleyan Church, Teen Challenge, and many others.
The festival is known for their commitment to leaving the festival grounds cleaner than before the festival. With cleanup now underway (large items are on track to be totally cleared from the campgrounds within the next few days, with “detail” cleaning - picking up the tiniest scraps of paper - to continue over the coming week) - results from the festival’s 2018 Resource Recovery program are starting to trickle in.
2018 Resource Recovery Donations confirmed thus far:
For the third year in a row, Electric Forest partnered with the Crystal Valley Care Fund to receive tons of gently used gear left in the campgrounds to support the local organization.
**** 4,000 square yards of gently used black AstroTurf donated to local Rothbury/Grant Township neighbors
**** 80 low-back beach chairs donated to Lewis Farm Market and the Claybanks Township Park
**** $4000.00 in brand new foam blocks were donated to a local gym
**** 16’ and 22’ palm trees were donated to local neighbors
**** Used cooking oil from Food Vendors and Staff Catering was captured for use by a local farmer who will convert the material into biodiesel.
With many more 2018 Electric Forest Sustainability and Resource Recovery program details still to be revealed.
In 2017, Electric Forest’s culture of reuse, conservation and consideration for others resulted in the mindful management of 134+ tons of materials diverted from landfill at EF17, including creative Forest art items (re)used by a local school’s theater department, 35 tons of compostable matter that enriched local soils, the donation of 14,700 meals to local teens in need, and much more.
Stay tuned for Electric Forest 2018 “Music In Schools” donation numbers and recipients to be announced in the coming weeks.
To stay up to date on all Electric Forest news, please visit www.electricforestfestival.com and the official Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube pages.
