IN addition to promoting the music and culture of Jamaica, organisers of Reggae Sumfest are committed to protecting the environment.

According to DownSound Entertainment, producers of the annual festival, there is increasing awareness of environmental issues, implications of climate change and role of humans on the destruction of the environment.

The organisation noted that the impact of plastic polluting waterways, harming fish and other marine life have been highlighted. This awareness has opened the conversation for promoters and event planners to make environmentally-friendly choices.

Against this background, Reggae Sumfest has taken the initiative to play its part in protecting the environment during and beyond the festival, which is being held July 17-23 at Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre in Montego Bay.

“A green festival is one with a low carbon footprint and thus minimises any negative impact on the environment and the surrounding environs in which it is held. These festivals introduce strategies to cut down on waste; in particular, plastic material — bottles, cups, plates, bags and cutlery. They encourage the use of reusable containers or biodegradable containers. They collect plastic for recycling and use energy-efficient equipment and lighting,” said Josef Bogdanovich, executive producer of Reggae Sumfest.

Promoters will team with environmental protection agency, Recycling Partners of Jamaica, to introduce and implement its green policy.

“We at Reggae Sumfest recognise that greening a festival is a process and will not be accomplished in one fell swoop. It will take several years. We started by instituting environmentally-friendly waste management. In this, we sought the guidance of Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ) and established a partnership with that entity. With their guidance an environmental committee was formed to lead the project; and the members of the committee and the entire Sumfest team were trained about the various types of plastic and which categories were recyclable,” Bogdanovich shared.

This is not the first time Reggae Sumfest have taken the environment into consideration. In 2019, the festival launched its greening programme and implemented the separation of garbage and collection of plastic for recycling at its events — from the street dance to the all-white party, sound clash as well as its two performance nights.

That success paved the way for an expansion of the programme.

“The team was not only receptive but enthusiastic. They embraced and expanded the vision by undertaking the clean-up of the Catherine Hall Beach prior to the festival in 2019, when some 2000 pounds of plastic were collected. That exercise is also being undertaken this year on the morning of Saturday June 18,” said Bogdanovich. “This year, we have invited our Montego Bay partners — primarily our hotel and other sponsors — as well as friends in Montego Bay including the environmental club of the Herbert Morrison Technical High School to participate in the effort. We were joined by some of our artistes in 2019 and we have asked the 2022 performers to join us this year. The beach clean-up has now been institutionalised as part of our greening programme,” he added.