By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
A small business in Sheffield is repurposing abandoned tents from music festivals into clothing. Lauren Mason and Benjamin Harman co founded Retribe after collecting discarded tents at Creamfields and Leeds festivals last summer. They gathered 50 tents and 30 sleeping bags, recognizing the need to address the waste heading to landfills.
Ms. Mason emphasized the importance of raising awareness to prevent such waste, stating, "We’re raising awareness so that people stop doing this." The Association of Independent Festivals estimates that 250,000 tents are abandoned at music festivals each summer, most of which end up in landfills.
Using their knowledge of the outdoor clothing industry, Mason and Harman decided to transform the waste into sustainable outfits. Ms. Mason noted the misconception among festival goers that their tents would be cleaned up or donated, despite efforts to pack them away before abandoning them. "No good can come of you leaving your tent," she said.
In response to this issue, Leeds Festival has partnered with Decathlon to offer a tent hiring service, allowing attendees to return tents on site.
Retribe has sufficient fabric and material to operate sustainably without using tents, but Ms. Mason feels compelled to address festival waste. She clarified, "We don’t want to be the solution, we’re the sticking plaster for this issue."
Emily Cornwaithe, a designer and seamstress for Retribe, explained that the firm uses all parts of the tents for clothing decorations, adding, "It's a really cool thing, I think, to look like you're wearing a repurposed tent." Ms. Mason concluded, "What you get is something really original, really sustainable. This is not a tick box exercise, it's action. It's climate action we're doing."
