We asked you for your top festival packing tips, and many of you – seasoned attenders of Glastonbury, Womad, Primavera and Download, to name a few – had a lot to say. You shared your hard-won advice, occasionally taking us to task, and it turns out many of your tips are sustainable as well as savvy.
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So to help you make greener choices this summer, we’ve rounded up some of your best eco-friendly tricks, from solar-powered lights to an interesting way to reuse a fabric softener bottle (and no, none of you are associated with any of the products or brands recommended).
Anna Parker avoids single-use plastic ponchos with a reusable rain poncho like this one. She also rates the Gym Kitchen’s grain pouches. “[They’re] ideal for when you can’t stomach (or afford) another burger. You can eat them cold straight from the packet. They won’t go off easily and won’t mind being squashed in a bag.”
She also recommends a much more durable water carrier than the one included in our guide. “The one you suggested won’t last longer than a season: you can’t take it apart and dry it out properly before putting it away, so it sits over winter with old water in it. The Colapz water carrier is excellent and well worth the money,” she said.
Avoid the shower queues
The Ortlieb water bag is great for hydration and can even be used as a travel shower.
Reader Ellis Kay suggests taking a collapsible water bucket, a bar of soap and a cloth. “It’s a great way to keep clean while avoiding shower queues and environmentally problematic wet wipes,” she told us. She also recommends this Ortlieb water bag for keeping hydrated back at camp. “And you can get a shower valve attachment for nice communal hair washing,” she adds.
Heather is “a disabled festival goer and, as a person on a mobility scooter, I offer to fetch and carry [food and drink] for the group, using reusable coffee cups and resealable plastic containers.” Try Circular & Co’s reusable coffee mugs, which are made with single-use cups, and these leak-proof containers from John Lewis.
A few readers suggest taking lights, but Jonathan Kendal specifically recommends solar-powered ones. “They’re nonintrusive, slightly bigger than fairy lights, switch on automatically and go out after about three or four hours,” he told us. Find them at Marco Paul or Argos.
Graham, who says he has attended more than 50 festivals over the past 30 years, said: “As a man of a certain age, a wide-mouth fabric conditioner bottle is very useful.” Enough said. While reader Mark’s wise advice is to “take your own toilet roll! Don’t rely on there being paper in any Portaloo.” (Filter readers love the Who Gives a Crap subscription.)
Save your back and get a trolley for the trek to the campsite.
And multiple readers wrote in to advise taking a four-wheel trolley to help lug all your gear. Just make sure you get one sturdy enough to handle rough terrain – I’ve witnessed many festival goers stranded with a mountain of stuff because their trolley has lost a wheel. Try this one from Decathlon or this one from Argos, both of which have great reviews.
Less is more
And finally, a reminder from reader Neil about how sometimes less is more. “[At] my first Glastonbury, which wasn’t all that long ago, I had the clothes I was wearing, about £20 and a ton of resourcefulness. Guess what? I didn’t die.”
Festivals aren’t cheap: if you’re hoping to reduce how much you spend this year, check out some more affordable (and sustainable) secondhand gear. Decathlon has a Second Life scheme, where it sells preowned or tested products that can no longer be sold as new at a reduced price. Or shop around for a cheaper price. Reader Jonathan Kendal told us he bought a tent from a commercial seller on eBay for £60 cheaper than if he had bought it straight from the manufacturer.
This week’s picks
Editor’s pick
Keep calm and camp on with our best tents. Photograph: Jacob Little/The Guardian
Whether you’re heading to a festival or a campsite this summer, your experience will live or die by one thing, says Sian Lewis: a decent tent. Lewis, a seasoned camper and outdoor kit expert, put 10 tents through their paces for our guide to the best tents, sleeping in each for a few nights at campsites (and in her friend’s field) in a mixed bag of weather conditions.
From a budget tent under £100 to a glorious two-bed family tent that will keep everyone happy, there’s something for every budget and occasion. Happy camping!
Hannah Booth
Editor, the Filter
In case you missed it …
Your sleeping surface can make all the difference when camping. Photograph: Linda Geddes/The Guardian
Along with your tent, you’ll need a decent mattress to sleep on. Our intrepid, dedicated camper, science journalist Linda Geddes, put 26 to the test to find the best for every outdoor sleeping occasion, from luxury glamping to expeditions. And our guide to the best head torches, by Paddy Maddison, might come in handy too, for those midnight stumbles to the loo.
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