We are excited to have patrons join us once again in-person for Head For The Hills – Georgetown Craft Beer Festival. The following information provides an overview for the 2022 Green Initiatives Plan at the Georgetown Craft Beer Festival. We want to ensure we are being mindful of our impact on the environment, and doing our part to help prevent the progression of climate change.

Here is what we’re doing to minimize our impact on the environment and ensure that Georgetown Craft Beer Festival is as sustainable as possible:

1. Minimizing single use plastics:

1. 1. Brewers are encouraged to only bring recyclable cans or kegs
   2. We’ve strongly discouraged the sales of drinks in single use plastics and plastic straws
   3. We have encouraged vendors to replace single use plastic cutlery and serve ware with reusable or compostable cutlery and serveware when able
   4. We are ensuring we provide all festival go-ers with a glass mug to use for beer tastings and for water (refillable water stations are located on-site)
   5. Bulk condiments are encouraged at concession areas instead of single packets
   6. We have completely removed wristbands with plastic tabs (with the exception of VIP guests or accessible guests) to avoid unnecessary waste
   7. We will ensure patrons are aware that they do not need to bring any single use plastics with them to the festival

2. Transportation:

1. We offer bus shuttle services to encourage patrons to carpool together and have less cars on the road
2. If patrons are not taking the bus shuttle, we encourage them to carpool to the festival together
3. We also encourage our volunteers to carpool to the festival together
4. We encourage patrons to bike or walk to the festival if within walking or biking distance – there is a bike rack for patrons to utilize
5. We encourage all vendors to walk within the festival grounds instead of using motorized vehicles to get around
6. In the future we aim to switch our three gas powered buggies to electric buggies for our site team and plan our supply runs smartly to reduce the number of vehicle movements needed across our site

3. Donating all unutilized goods to local community partners:

1. Once the Festival concludes, we will donate all unused goods to local community partners, food banks, charities and groups that would benefit from it in order to limit waste going into the trash
2. Volunteers will be collecting all unused goods if any are left over

4. Working with like minded vendors who support our green initiatives:

1. Where possible we aim to work with suppliers and vendors with the same sustainability goals as We will discuss our goals with these individuals prior to the Festival to ensure we are all on the same page

5. Educating our staff, volunteers, vendors and patrons on environmental impact:

1. We will provide our vendors, volunteers, staff and patrons with education and information about their environmental impact and different sustainable solutions they can adhere by prior to the Festival date

6. Sharing best practices on event day through signage and word of mouth:

1. We will have signage and materials available on event day that promote sustainability and recycling
2. We will have signage and volunteers educating patrons on the right method of disposing their waste in either garbage or recycling
3. There will be volunteers monitoring the waste and recycling areas to ensure that patrons are adhering to the waste rules

7. Ensuring no trash is left at the Festival Grounds when the event is over:

1. Collecting garbage: During the Festival, our volunteers will make an effort to pick up garbage continuously
2. Following the event, we will ensure we don’t leave a trace behind and between volunteers and city employees we will ensure the Festival Grounds are thoroughly cleaned

8. Reusable Infrastructure:

1. Scripts, kits, signage, displays, and containers; we will ensure volunteers collect these items post Festival in order to re-use them for following years and reduce new production of these items for next year’s festival
2. All Festival equipment, staging, fencing, is rented so nothing is single-use and will be used for other events

What our patrons can do to ensure they are doing what they can to support the green initiatives of Georgetown Craft Beer Festival:

1. Use your reusable mug for beer and water
2. Always separate your waste into garbage and recycling
3. Use the reusable bag provided at the Festival if a bag is needed
4. Car pool, take the bus, public transit, or cycle to the Festival
5. Ask food vendors for compostable plates and cutlery if they have them
6. Clean up after yourself – leave no trace
7. Visit any volunteer area to get information on green initiatives
8. Do research on sustainability at Festivals before you attend
9. Properly dispose of any cigarette butts
10. When given the chance to provide feedback to Festival organizers, share your thoughts on how important greening efforts are to your support of the event and how they can improve
11. Don’t bring anything with you that isn’t completely necessary to avoid additional waste

Georgetown Craft Beer Festival organizers are dedicated to growing and developing our Green Initiatives and Sustainability Plan for future Festivals. We recognize that GCBF has room to make our event more sustainable and it is our goal to ensure that we reduce our impact on the environment more each year. Please feel free to reach out to us at info@headforthehills.ca for any recommendations on how we can improve the Festival’s sustainability in the future.

Following the festival we will be surveying attendees, volunteers and vendors on the green initiatives of the Festival and get feedback and insight to improve for the future.

Have more questions? Please email us at info@headforthehills.ca