Festival season is upon us — and as a new study suggests, these events may encourage attendees to try out more sustainable lifestyles. In this case, it’s a nicer way saying that people tend to skip out on showering for the weekend. But, here’s why it matters…
Researchers from The University Manchester, University College London and Lund University in Sweden attended two different music festivals in England. During these events, they interviewed 60 people and issued another 250 questionnaires to attendees.
What they found — many festival-goers packed soap, shampoo, towels, etc. with full intentions washing up over the weekend. However, most them quickly accepted the “festival culture” and most these packed items went unused. Daily showering habits at music festivals were seen as “too difficult, a waste leisure time, or a breach ‘social contracts’ with friends.” Basically, they sacrificed cleanliness for convenience and fun.
Skipping on a shower doesn’t seem like a big deal, but this can actually have a massive impact. For example — let’s say there’s a four-day festival that hosts up to 150,000 attendees and each shower uses an average 16 gallons water. Skipping on daily showers in this case could potentially save millions gallons water over a weekend.
One the researchers, Dr. Alison Browne explains:
Everyone who has been to a festival expects to be a little dirty for a few days, but our results show something deeper—namely how fast participants adapted to the new norms. This shows us that while our everyday practices cleanliness and hygiene mostly happen in private and behind closed doors, our ideas about cleanliness are actually social, and can shift stubborn practices when we connect with new social situations, or encounter different infrastructures.
Showering is just one aspect this much broader topic. The study suggests that festivals should experiment with new practices that reduce the overall water demand — on festival grounds and into everyday life.
Source: Phys.org