Green. The colour of our next adventure…

Like you, we have a vested interest in the outdoors. For many years, the Banff Mountain Festivals and The Banff Centre have incrementally implemented green procedures and practices. We are always striving to improve the Festival and greening our operations is an area where we see a lot of potential – and a lot of work to be done! Our goal for the past several years has been to: REDUCE whatever/whenever we can; REUSE and RECYCLE what we can not. Here are some of the things we do already and are researching to make our Festival more environmentally friendly…+

Festivals Energy Consumption

• The Banff Mountain Festivals have choosen to purchase green power for all the energy consumption during our 10 day event. In partnership with Bullfrog Power, we support alternative energy programs in Alberta.

Festivals Transportation

• In partnership with sponsors and Planetair, the Festival purchases carbon credits to offset travel for speakers attending the Festivals and to deliver film screenings on our World Tour.
• We partner with Banff Airporter, an environmentally conscious airport shuttle, and their complementary in-town shuttle service is encouraged & promoted throughout Festivals week.
• The Banff Centre is an “idle free” zone

Food & Beverage

• Compostable plates, cups and cutlery
• Recycling, composting and waste stations staffed by volunteers to manage food waste
• A “no bottled water” policy which means that we do not offer bottled water for sale in the festival concession areas. Water stations are located throughout the theatre complex. Please bring your own water bottle and/or travel mug!

Media Room & Registration

• We have made all of the items in our registration kits optional to reduce the amount of waste
• New recycling paper stations in our Media Room for 2008

Festivals Merchandise

• We sell organic cotton T-shirts and use environmentally friendly dyes.
• We sell stainless steel water containers (or similar) rather than plastic.

Office Practices

• 100% recycled paper is standard in our office printer throughout the year
• All reports to BMF sponsors are presented in recycled materials binders
• Festivals staff compost and recycle virtually all waste
• Our DVD cases are environmentally friendly
• Festivals staff walk or bike to work and regularly carpool

Marketing & Communications

• We communicate electronically more than ever before with our past tickets holders, including bi-weekly HTMLs
• Waste stations and water stations are getting better publicity!
• Explore Magazine helps us print the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Magazine on 100% recycled ancient forest friendly paper.

Tradeshows

• Exhibitors are encouraged to produce sustainable design booths and displays that can be reused
• Catalogues, paper, and cardboard are recycled after the show

The Banff Centre Facility

• The Banff Centre also has a broader green program already in place, for more information click here…

Partnerships

It is important to us to partner with like-minded, environmentally friendly companies. You may be interested in reading more about

We welcome your suggestions and ideas on how we might improve our green program. Please email us with your comments at banffmountainfestivals@banffcentre.ca