Our Sandy Footprint
Reducing our waste and minimising our footprint on the desert we love so much.
From one night on Big Red to a real difference
In 2013 the Big Red Bash began as a one-night concert on the crest of Big Red. We had a small team of 20 people running it, and only 600 in the crowd on the night we watched as John Williamson performed against sunset skies.
Since then the Bash has grown quickly. In 2017 we realised that with so many people attending the Bash, we had an opportunity to make a real difference by reducing our waste and minimising our environmental footprint on the remote desert environment we love so much.
Now we have dedicated staff working on how we can make the Bash more sustainable every year and we are proud to share our sustainability initiatives with you.
See our sustainability in action
Why we love our loos
In 2018 we replaced our chemical port-a-loos with hygienic, odourless, composting toilets. They reduced our water use, didn’t smell, and under the watchful eye of our volunteer ‘dunny angels’ they were always squeaky clean.
- No water (or transport of) needed for flushing, saving over 140,000 litres of water for each event
- Drastically reduced emissions needed for transport of sewage
- Only environmentally sound cleaning products are used: no bleaches, formaldehyde or other chemicals
- Within a year the dry compost is given to nearby farmers to fertilise their land
How do they work?
- For your number ones, nothing changes
- For your number twos, simply cover it up with one scoop of sawdust
- As you leave the toilet block, use the hand sanitiser pump pack to clean your hands
Recycle your cans and PET plastic bottles
Everyone likes to relax by the fire with a tinny after a long day. At the Bash, where glass is prohibited (except in your camp kitchen), we see a lot of cans. In fact, we estimate that over half of the rubbish we generate is cans.
When we introduced can recycling at the 2018 Bash, we collected over 30 cubic metres (1.2 tonnes) of aluminium cans. In 2023 this jumped to over 170,000 cans (15 tonnes). That’s a lot of cans kept out of landfill!
We also separate PET plastic bottles for recycling, just remember to remove the lids! In 2023 we recycled over 25,000 plastic bottles!
Please collect your cans and PET plastic bottles, and drop them in the separate recycling bins.
Food waste, crew and rubbish
Composting food waste
You can compost your food waste at the Bash! Collect it in camp and bring it to the food waste bins outside the toilet blocks in the campground.
We also encourage all food vendors to separate their food waste and put it in the food waste bins provided.
Crew reducing our impact
- The volunteer hang-out tent is now plastic cup free.
- All food waste from the crew kitchen is composted in provided bins at the Bash.
Minimising rubbish
We encourage all patrons to help keep the outback clean by reducing your rubbish.
- Bring your own reusable coffee cups, drink bottles and shopping bags to use at Bashville instead of plastic disposable items
- Remove any unnecessary packaging from groceries and items before you leave town.
Help us keep
the desert clean
Tickets go on sale at 10am AEDT on 12 November.