August 11th, 2017
Zero Waste Festival Ireland will hold a week-long festival in September, following the success of its first festival earlier this summer.
The festival – Zero Waste Week – will take place in Dublin from September 4th-10th, and will offer a wide range of events and activities.
Events include talks, workshops, film screenings, information stands, and a market and swap shop.
Íde Mhic Gabhann, one of the festival organisers, told The Green News that the upcoming event will be “bigger and more accessible” than the June festival, which was a sell-out success.
The September festival has been expanded to take place over a week and activities will be held at various locations in order to “reach more people” and offer more networking events for zero-waste enthusiasts, she said.
The main festival day will be held in Inchicore, with other events taking place around Dublin including an ‘Introduction to Zero Waste’ at SmallChanges in Drumcondra, a talk on ‘Responsible Waste Disposal’ at Dublin Food Coop, and a ‘Community Day’ held in Dublin city centre.
The festival is part of the growing zero-waste movement in Ireland to reduce waste, preserve resources, and live sustainably.
Explaining the basics of zero-waste living, Ms Mhic Gabhann said that it is about “trying to bring less into your life [and] your home” and “using everything wisely”.
The lifestyle encourages people to reduce “the amount of clothes, food and products” that they consume and to reuse items, “trying to get the most use out of them before you have to dispose of them”, she added.
The zero-waste lifestyle has gained an increased following in Ireland in recent years., with the Zero Waste Ireland Facebook Group attracting almost seven thousand members.
Going forward, Mhic Gabhann and the rest of the festival team want to expand the Zero Waste Festival, with smaller events and meetups held on a more regular basis.
They also hope to hold some events in areas outside of Dublin when they have sufficient volunteer support.
Those interested in getting involved or attending the festival can find more information here.
The group co-hosted a talk from Bea Johnson, a leading advocate of the zero-waste lifestyle, earlier this year.
