Sustainability

Love Trails Festival is committed to organising an environmentally sustainable & ethical event. With the right partners, programme and policies in place, we believe we can have a positive environmental, social, and economic impact in Wales.

Here are some of the things we implement and ways you can help ensure Love Trails Festival remains a responsible festival.

How we’re being green 🌱

  • Travel is typically the largest source of emissions from live events, so every year, we work with ecolibrium to increase low carbon travel and channel donations to climate projects around the world! From our 2023 event, our climate investment to ecolibrium helped to plant 111 trees in Northern Malawi, protect 31 acres of threatened rainforest and balance 14.86tCO2 through a forest & peatland regeneration project in Indonesia. We really want to see these figures increase in 2024, and as a guest, you can help! 👇


  • We’re giving guests the option to make a climate positive investment through a donation to ecolibrium’s Trees+ programme which supports tree planting, protects threatened rainforest and supports ecosystem regeneration. Guests can purchase this as an ‘Extra’ when buying a festival ticket, alongside a car park pass: Just select the 'Carbon Balancing Donation' here for just £5. For every £15 donated, 1 tonne of CO2 is balanced with 4 trees planted in UK, 1 acre of threatened rainforest protected, and 3 trees planted in Northern Malawi.


  • We're reducing carbon emissions further wherever possible by offering more sustainable ways to get to Love Trails Festival. Our coach packages (from cities like London, Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester) offer the easiest and most environmentally way to get to the festival. Please consider this method of transport when thinking about your trip to Love Trails Festival. You can book coach transfers here.


  • In 2023, we balanced 50% of our guest speaker’s carbon travel emissions by making a climate investment to  ecolibrium Trees+ programme. The programme supports three projects; tree planting in the UK with Forest Carbon, the protection of threatened rainforest with Rainforest Trust, and a community led project reforestation programme in Northern Malawi with Temwa.


  • In 2023, more than 75% of our suppliers were South Wales based, and we aim to increase this in 2024, meaning not only lower travel miles, but a higher net social-economic benefit for Wales. We work with South Wales based suppliers and event crew as much as we can across all areas of the festival.


  • We have multiple recycling stations across the festival site making it easier for guests to recycle plastic, paper and cardboard. Our Waste Management Team separate absolutely everything on site! Every single 'bit' that gets put into the bins, is separated into dry mixed recycling (glass, cardboard, and plastic) and general waste, so it can either be recycled, or disposed of correctly.


  • We pride ourselves in ensuring   at least half of our toilets on site are  compost loos. These are waterless and chemical free, making them a far more environmentally friendly option to porterloos. The solid waste is removed and eventually turned into organic compost material, which is used for fertilising soil! They are also easier to transport, reducing travel emissions as 150 compost loos take up the same space on a lorry as 26 portable toilets!


  • Love Trails Festival is working again to become a Trash Free Trails Gold standard event. This means we are working to reduce the impact of our event on the trails we are running on, and the area where our event is hosted. Following specific guidelines, we are not only reducing waste, but taking action to clean up waste across the festival. Encouraged by Trash Free Trails initiatives, and as a wider part of the festival programme, we always conduct litter collections out on the trails, and organise beach cleans around Gower. 


  • Its a must: Single use plastics are banned from all food traders & bars at Love Trails Festival!  All of our food traders use consumable items they can either compost, recycle or wash.


  • All of our bars use a deposit scheme with Re-uz ® reusable cups which are made from 100% polypropylene (PP), making them robust and long lasting. Re-uz ® UK work closely with a local recycling company ensuring that any of the recycled cups are made into useful items and do not enter landfill. The reusable tote boxes that are used to deliver and collect the ecocups in are made from recycled PP!
  • We have multiple drinking water stations across the festival, so its always super easy to refill a bottle. As guests, we ask you to only bring a reusable bottle / flask onto site. No plastic bottles, please! Please also consider bringing your own reusable coffee cup (plastic/bamboo/metal) for use at our coffee stalls. 


  • All of our showers at Love Trails Festival 2024 will use self-stopping to minimise extra water wastage across 
  • Our general camping area in 2024 will use a ProPower Solar Hybrid Generator. This is the first step to cut our fuel usage and eventually move away from standard diesel generators which require white diesel. 

At Love Trails, we are committed to engaging with guests, staff and artists on environmental issues. We do this by including important topics as part of the festival programme, and work to collaborate with local and national environmental causes and organisations. 

Our work on this includes:


  • We always carefully curate a programme that has an impact, including projects like beach cleans, litter picks, and running to help with community projects. As an example, in 2023, we collaborated with GoodGym to organise a running experience to work in a local animal sanctuary, and help clear some bracken at a National Trust Gower.


  • We collaborate with initiatives like The Green Runners clothes swap and Rebel Patch to promote the repair and reuse of worn or damaged clothing on site


  • We work with run crews and community groups across the world who believe in positive engagement and promoting diversity. For the last two years, we've worked with The Outrunners, who help build young people's confidence and skills through organised activities in their local area, including a youth running club, careers events and work experience. We welcome a group of 25 young people from the Outrunners programme to enjoy a weekend at the Love Trails Festival. You can read more about their story at Love Trails here. 


At Love Trails Festival, we are lucky to have an audience that care about the planet. As trail runners who love the outdoors, there's so much we can do as a community to look after and nurture our trails, and by simply signing up to Love Trails Festival, all our guests agree to our Greener Pledge:


  • I will only stick to marked trails and pathways and avoid the disturbance of any animals whilst out running or hiking off site
  • I will use the recycling and waste bins provided and not drop litter anywhere, either on or off site
  • I will try and limit myself to a two minute shower
  • I will leave no trace whilst out running, or on the festival site and will actively pick up litter where I can
  • I will only use the toilets provided and not pee on the land or in the waterways
  • I will take care of my camping gear and tent and bring it home safely with me, so it can be re-used for years to come! 

Our Love Trails ‘Green Team’ will be on site all weekend carrying out guest surveys, collecting important data & observations on our event to ensure we can reduce our carbon footprint & maximise the positive impacts of Love Trails Festival year on year! If you'd like to be part of the Green Team, and have some suggestions on how we can improve, please email Sarah Pritchard: sarah@lovetrails.com