Rocking the Daisies, South Africa’s first carbon-neutral music festival, has announced a raft of green initiatives to make sure that it makes a minimal impact on the environment. Last year the festival achieved carbon-neutral status for the first time and this year will do the same thanks to the use of environmentally friendly practices and products.

The festival’s motto is: play hard, tread lightly. As the organisers, we want to demonstrate that it is possible to use sustainable and eco-friendly options in everyday life.

Initiatives for 2008 include:

Using bio-diesel produced from the vegetable oil used by participating restaurants. Powering the festival with bio-diesel cuts carbon emissions by 80%.

All Rocking the Daisies merchandise, tickets and festival magazine will be produced using hemp fabric, hemp paper and triple green fully recyclable paper.

100% biodegradable soaps and shampoos will be available in the shower facilities.

The restaurants at the festival will also use 100% biodegradable soaps and detergents. Replacing plastic and polystyrene containers, all food will be served in biodegradable packaging made from bagasse (a by-product produced as part of the existing sugar cane industry). Furthermore, biodegradable utensils and bags made from a variety of plant based starches will be given to festival goers together with their meals.

All waste will be recycled or composted by Interwaste – last year 7.9 tons of trash was collected at the festival and over 4 tons kept out of landfills.

Visitors will be encouraged to car pool and will be charged an additional R20 if they have less than three people in their car. This money will be used to offset the festival’s carbon footprint and to rehabilitate the area.

As part of their flight sponsorship for the Rocking the Daisies Red Bull RADAR competition – in partnership with Speakerbox – kulula air will contribute R1000 to Project Green (a partnership with Food and Trees for Africa) to ensure that the Battle of the Bands winners’ flight to Cape Town to record a demo album is carbon neutral.

Visitors can also join the social cycle tour and get from Cape Town to Darling on their own steam instead. Festival tickets will be half price for those who cycle to the event.

A “conscious cinema” at the festival will screen films and documentaries covering green issues. This cinema, as well as the Hemporium stand, will be powered by a Earth Power Energy Solutions using a combination of wind and solar power.

Last year R15,000 was used to plant five trees at the venue, and another 175 trees in the Western Cape. According to Food and Trees for Africa’s assessment, only 130 trees were required – the extra 50 were added for the positive environmental effect. This year the tree-planting initiative will be repeated. Trees will be planted at the new low cost housing developments around the West Coast.

The festival is hosted by Cloof Wine Estate, itself committed to green initiatives and was named a champion in 2006 under the Bio-diversity and Wine Initiative (BWI). This initiative recognises wine farms for the work they do to conserve pristine natural vegetation, rehabilitate previously cultivated areas, and minimise the impact that vineyard and cellar activities have on the environment.