St Andrews student music festival cutting waste

The festival, which marks the culmination of Freshers Week, returns on September 14, with six hours of music from six acts.

But this year the organisers have a ‘revolutionary’ take on the summer music festival, making it their mission to minimise waste produced at events and incorporating sustainable alternatives.

They are cutting out single-use plastic cups and are aiming to use recyclable cartons and compostable material.

Every year around 2300 students gather at Lower College Lawn for the festival to celebrate the beginning of the year. The event has continued to grow, with early bird tickets for last year’s festival selling out in just 18 minutes.

Leading electronic musicians such as Cheat Codes and Gorgon City have headlined in the past.

Starfields is organised by the St Andrews Charity Fashion Show, which has raised more than £570,000 for various charities in the last 28 years. It is aiming to use its reach to promote its sustainable ethos and philanthropic partner.

The announcement comes just over a week after the University of St Andrews revealed its latest initiative aimed at cutting single-use plastic.

More than 40,000 plastic bottles will be removed from circulation annually from the local community thanks to a pioneering green bottling scheme led by the university.

St Andrews Environmental Network has also been busy with its project, Towards a Plastic Free St Andrews. The scheme aims to make St Andrews the first single-use plastic free town in Scotland.

The volunteers are working with local businesses and individuals, encouraging them to stop using single-use plastics. Around 250 attended the project launch event earlier this month.

For more information about Starfields – and to purchase tickets when they become available in August – visit www.yourunion.net/ents/event/235.