The beautifully decorated Urbin recycling bins.
KUCHING: Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) organiser Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is taking green initiatives to make the event a more sustainable one.
STB chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor said this is in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
“STB is taking the extra mile to incorporate green initiatives into various aspects of the festival, to ensure its sustainability as well as enhancing guests’ experience with a greener note.
“From the initial planning phase, RWMF 2019 has taken into consideration the supply chain and has sourced for eco-friendly products and alternatives.
“We are also working closely with food and beverage vendors to select biodegradable tableware and avoid disposables as well as Styrofoam items. In addition, there will be no usage of plastic bottles at the festival this year, as water dispensers will be installed throughout the festival area,” she said.
Festival goers will also find recycling bins with creative signage and posters that help them segregate their food waste and recyclables accordingly. The sponsor Trinekens also handles the treatment of recyclables onsite.
Sharzede explained that in order to attract visitors to use the bins, the organisers have also partnered with Spativate on the #Urbins project, which gets local community members to submit their designs for some of the festival’s recycling bins with the aim to use the eye-catching designs to draw attention to the bins and encourage them to segregate their waste.
“Organic waste and food scraps will also be made use of as we have partnered with Biji-Biji Initiative and WormingUp (a Kuching-based social enterprise) to collect and channel leftover food into compost bins.
“These organic materials will either be given to worm farms to make bio-protein or to farmers for composting,” she said.
Sharzede revealed that even the previous year’s promotional banners will be re-cycled by the Biji-biji Initiative into beautiful tote bags as gifts or souvenirs for the festival.
“In addition to all the green efforts for RWMF 2019, we have also enlisted the help of local university students and mobilised volunteers to assist with these waste management strategies.
“We are proud to have these amazing green heroes spreading messages on recycling and food waste composting to help raise public awareness on this topic,” she added.
RWMF 2019 provides a wonderful opportunity for everyone to listen to sounds from all corners of the world and learn about different and unique musical instruments.
The three-day event will be held from July 12 to 14 at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Damai, Kuching. It also features daytime music workshops, cultural and crafts displays, food stalls and main stage evening concerts.
RWMF has been named one of the best 25 world music festivals by Songlines Magazine from 2010 to 2015.
The event is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak and endorsed by Tourism Malaysia.
Tickets can be purchased via https://www.galactix.asia/rainforest-world-music-festival-2019. For further information, refer to the festival’s official website at https://rwmf.net/.