Mechelen organization Camp2Camp collected at least 16 sea containers after Tomorrowland. Those containers had abandoned camping gear from the festival, which held an additional third weekend of festivities this year. Now that Tomorrowland has come and gone, the shock and awe begin to wain. The largest festival in Europe hosted 16 stages, 400 DJs, and almost 600,000 attendees. With 212 arrests over three weekends, you can read more about the aftermath in our review here. Meanwhile, we’d love to know how the camping experience went.
The Camp2Camp area facilitated attendees camping experiences in an ecologically and socially responsible way. You didn’t need to bring any camping gear yourself. The organization pitched it all for you and the area offered separate sanitary facilities for its visitors. But, nothing beats the bandana bandits and treasure collectors after an event. Camp2Camp wants to do something about all this.
Through social employment, each piece of gear is thoroughly checked, cleaned, and ready to be rented to you. The organization started by collecting tents, where they deep cleaned them and rented them out. this prevents festival goers from buying new equipment only to be left behind again. Depending on the condition of the gear, it’s possible to be repaired and upcycled, like employee vests made of tent canvas. Lots of waste is gone through each year.
Bringing sustainability will greatly impact the way we look at throwaway society. I know I am trying to look at it differently. In addition, this program gives adolescents jobs removed from the job market. They donate sleeping bags to the homeless. Schools and youth organizations can rent the camping gear. In addition, they even lend the tets to non-profits and families in need.
Join them each year as they transform the festival camping experience into a circular activity with minimal environmental impact. They’ll also maximize the value added to the event.
