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EEPING IT GREEN: TREEFORT TACKLES SUSTAINABILITY
BY HEATHER HAMILTON-POST
“What would a music festival sound like if not for the hum of generators?” asks David Broderick, Director of Sustainability for Treefort Music Fest. Broderick isn’t asking an existential question. “Our end goal is to replace all of these loud gas generators with quieter battery-operated ones, but running sound equipment is much different than running tablets for token sales like we’re doing this year,” he says. Of course, it won’t happen overnight. The team behind Treefort approaches sustainability by focusing on what’s possible, something Broderick learned from John Bernardo, a sustainability/ESG strategist at Idaho Power who served as a mentor for
Broderick. Because sustainability touches each part of the festival, including how people travel there, Bernardo advised Broderick to look at it as three layers, focusing on the things that fell within their control. For Treefort, this meant the main stage and the areas (Alefort, Kidfort) around it. They knew that the second layer
“There are so many tentacles that go out to different things that may be small— but they add up.”
PHOTO BY MAGGIE MATTINSON
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(venues) and the third layer (other stuff ) could also be made more sustainable, but that it would be more difficult. This gave Broderick a place to start, and they quickly replaced single-use plastic water bottles with canned water. Musicians started recognizing environmental efforts on stage and the festival asked ticket holders to be mindful of their impact as well. Treefort encourages venues and vendors to adopt better practices. And when things don’t work, they adapt. In this way, Treefort builds a more sustainable base for their efforts. “There are so many tentacles that go out to different things that may be small—but they add up,” says Broderick.
