Happy Earth Day! Celebrated worldwide, Earth Day serves as a poignant reminder of our collective responsibility to safeguard the environment and champion a greener, more equitable future for us all.
We at Latitude want to be mindful of the environmental impact of running a festival of this scale. Our carbon footprint is shaped by a number of factors including but not limited to travel, energy usage, food and drink consumption, and the generation of waste. So for Latitude 2024, we’re asking ticket holders to take this into consideration when co-ordinating their festival plans. If each of us makes a small change to our festival plans, it will make a huge difference for the festival – and the local environment – as a whole, and help us reach our goal of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030.
Travelling to Latitude
According to The Show Must Go On 2020 report, emissions from travel make up a whopping 80% of a festival’s carbon footprint. We’d like to encourage festivalgoers to consider the following potential arrangements for travelling to and from the festival site.
Coach travel
Big Green Coach is the official exclusive coach travel partner for Latitude 2024. With plenty of space for punters and all their luggage and equipment, the coaches can pick up weekend campers from 16 locations across the UK on Thursday 25th July and drop you off on the following Monday.
Day ticket holders can also access this service: you can catch a Big Green Coach from Colchester, Ipswich, London (Victoria), London (Stratford) and Norwich.
As if the prospect of letting someone else take the wheel after a heavy weekend wasn’t enticing enough, Big Green Coaches to Latitude are 100% carbon neutral!
The most convenient station to travel to to reach Henham Park is Halesworth; Borderbus will be running shuttle buses to the festival site from Halesworth, Southwold and Kessingland rail stations. All these stations are served by Greater Anglia trains, which travel through London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, as well as parts of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
For more information on trains and shuttle buses, please see our Travel page.
The more the merrier! If you’ve got a couple of empty seats in your vehicle, why not buddy up with some fellow festival fans and travel to the site together? You’ll cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and save a pretty penny on fuel.
Not sure who you can carpool with? No problem! We’ve set up Latitude Liftshare which also gets you free access to our priority car park! It’s a great way to save money, make new friends and get closer to the action, all while helping us reach our goal.
We are also offering the chance to win a side of stage experience while you’re at the festival, as a thanks for sharing your journey and reducing your emissions.
Are you feeling the urge to splash the cash on a brand-new festival ‘fit? Take a moment to read our five tips for dressing sustainably this festival season!
Shop SMART
We’re all prone to making impulse purchases from time to time, and all too often these pieces are the ones that end up gathering dust at the back of our wardrobes after a couple of wears. Try to resist the urge to hit the checkout button immediately – instead, take a moment to consider the following. How often would you wear this after the festival? Which pieces that you already own could it be worn with? Can you see yourself still wearing it within the next two or three years? If you’re unsure, we’d advise keeping it in your basket and sleeping on it before making your decision.
Shop LESS
A sure-fire way to save money while shopping sustainably for Latitude is to, well…not shop at all! You don’t need to spend a small fortune on several completely new outfits – why not start by looking through what you already own? If you’ve got a mountain of clutter at home that you’ve been meaning to wade through, that could be the perfect way to rediscover some old forgotten treasures. Try resurrecting some old pieces you’ve fallen out of love with by upcycling them: a needle, thread and fabric scissors can go a long way!
Shop ETHICAL
When buying new clothes, it’s important to consider the practices of the company you’re buying from. A number of ‘fast fashion’ retailers have made headlines recently for exploiting sweatshop workers, polluting the local natural landscape and sending millions of tonnes of clothing to landfill sites every year. If enough of us make the decision to support ethical retailers, we can collectively reduce demand for “fast fashion” while cutting down on our individual carbon footprint.
Shop SMALL
Festival season is a great opportunity to support small businesses and independent designers, so why not lend your support to them instead? Items from these retailers tend to be a touch more pricey, but independent crafters are more likely to take more time and care putting them together, resulting in longer-lasting items – so they’re normally worth the slightly heftier price tag. It’s a win-win – a small business gets your support, while you get to show off a unique festival look made with love.
Shop SECOND HAND
Buying second hand clothing is quicker, easier and cooler than ever. Take some time to rummage through your local charity shops – they can be real treasure troves of gorgeous clothes sold at bargain prices. There are also a number of apps and websites you can use to scope out some pre-loved gems from the comfort of your own home!
Your ultimate tent-buying guide
Have you got a tent rusting in the attic, awaiting the next spot of British sunshine to be used? Maybe you plan on borrowing one from your friends? Before you make a panic buy this season, why not read our handy guide to buying the ultimate tent? Get ahead on one of the festival essentials this year.
Whether you are attending as part of a family, a group, or even as a singular punter, we are all responsible for our belongings. Think about it like dirty laundry on the floor. If everyone picked up after themselves, the job would be accomplished a lot quicker.
Invest in a tent which is worth your time and money/You are in charge of your experience!
You wouldn’t buy a lumpy mattress, so why spend your hard-earned coins on a tent which will be in the bin three days later?
By buying a double-lined tent, you are investing in a product which will not only last, but prevent you from waking up wet from your own breath.
Always look out for the HH rating. This tells you how much water the tent can handle before it starts to leak and you wake up soggy. You generally want to get one with a higher rating than HH1500, we’d recommend a HH3000 one to stay warm and dry.
Do some digging
Don’t buy a pop-up tent unless you can confidently put it away, even when you’re feeling rough!
Have a look at this handy guide to setting up and putting away a pop-up tent – don’t worry, if you’re struggling, you can ask a member of our green team for help!
Take it home!
Make sure to take your tent home at the end of the festival!
On-site
There will be plenty of spots on-site to discard your rubbish at the end of the weekend. Head over to any of the recycling points in the campsite to collect your recycling and non-recycling bags! If the green team or campsite managers see you bringing back your recycling to the recycling point you could be entered into the recycling rewards, where you could win an on stage experience, or even next tickets for next year’s festival!
Donations – Air Hubs
The air hubs will be dotted around the campsites. They welcome small donatable goods such as non-perishable food.
Water bottles
We’re anticipating glorious weather for this year’s Latitude, so it’s as important as ever to stay hydrated when walking around in the sun all day. This month is Plastic Free July – so we’d encourage festivalgoers to ditch the plastic and bring a reusable water bottle, which you can fill up for free at any of the water refill stations on site.
We’ve also partnered with Liquid Death this year – you can pick up a plastic-free can of still, sparkling or flavoured water from our bars!
What we do
Power
Latitude is powered with 100% Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) which is a low-carbon biodiesel made from used cooking oil. It emits 90% less carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) when compared to using regular diesel, helping us to work towards a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030.
Waste
We don’t use any virgin single use plastic – any plastic we do have is made from recycled content.
Water is provided by Liquid Death in cans to reduce single use plastic and have a 10p deposit included for you to redeem at the return points in the arena.
Soft drinks are served in cans where possible and if not, all plastic bottles are made from recycled material have a 10p deposit included for you to redeem at the return points in the arena.
All food packaging and cutlery is 100% compostable. Bulk condiments sauce bottles used over single use sachets.
Engagement
We run campsite Recycling Rewards to customers that recycle and dispose of waste correctly.
Our Festival Green Teams to engage with guests and spread the sustainable ethos.
We collaborate with environmental groups such as, Climate Live, Greenpeace and Every Can Counts
We partner with Big Green Coach and encourage car sharing for low-emission travel options.
Our sustainability goals have been set out in our Green Nation sustainability charter – we have a responsibility to preserve live music and entertainment for future generations, and we hope that you’ll consider doing your part to help us fulfil our duty.
We can’t wait to welcome you to Latitude 2024! Weekend and Day tickets are on sale now.
