Geauxing Green

WE’RE GEAUXING GREEN, ARE YOU?

Hey festival goers!

Thank you for stepping up to help French Quarter Festivals, Inc. achieve our 2024 sustainability goals. We appreciate your effort to follow the guidelines we’ve created to:

Divert waste away from landfills
Recycle plastics #1 & #2, aluminum cans, paper & cardboard
Compost all food scraps and serviceware (bowls, plates, forks, etc)

HOW TO HELP:

Throughout the site you will see waste bins: GREEN for compost, BLUE for recycling, and BLACK for all other waste heading to the landfill. Please take the time to correctly sort your waste into these receptacles.
Our food vendors only use compostable products to serve your delicious food in! Honor their hard work and correctly dispose of these items in the GREEN compost bins.
Our beverage vendors are selling drinks in plastics # 1 or plastics #2 so place those in the BLUE recycling bin when you are done.
If you are served a souvenir / reusable cup from Pat O’Briens, Tropical Isle or Fat Tuesday, please take it home to reuse! Reusing is even better for the environment than recycling (remember: only plastics #1 and #2 are recyclable here in Louisiana)
Please don’t litter! Pickup a free pocket ashtray from the Geauxing Green Tent in Kohlmeyer Lawn, courtesy of Keep Louisiana Beautiful. You can also use one of the 10 cigarette recycling receptacles around the festival
Don’t bring in outside food or drink. We can only ensure that items purchased inside the festival can be reused, recycled or composted (note: glass and styrofoam are strictly prohibited).
Bike, ride-share or take public transportation to the festival! Info here

With YOUR HELP, we can send less waste to overcrowded landfills.

Landfills contribute to problems that New Orleans residents face first hand: they produce methane, carbon dioxide, and other air pollutants that are known to worsen climate events and smog production.

With YOUR HELP, we can keep our oceans, the Mississippi River, and other local waterways from collecting plastic litter and waste.

Litter pollutes precious wetland, bayou, and marine environments, directly impacting citizens of Louisiana and those who enjoy the recreation, food, and environmental benefits that are sourced from our coastline.

Your support of our Geauxing Green initiative has allowed us to work with our vendors to fully convert to the use of compostable and recyclable materials. Because of this, all the fun and food you have at FQF helps to give back to the community. We support local recycling and composting, so that residents of New Orleans stay happy and healthy!

Renewable Energy at French Quarter Festival

French Quarter Festival is also Geauxing Green in other ways. Not only is cooking oil collected for recycling, we are exploring renewable energy options:

FQF is introducing electric golf carts for the first time (6 for now)
FQF is introducing solar-powered light towers for the first time (4 for now)
FQF is introducing a solar powered stage! The Omni Royal Orleans stage at 500 Royal (street stage, Sat/Sun only)
We are working with Solar Alternatives (https://www.solalt.com/) to conduct an energy audit so we can determine carbon footprint and have a year-to-year comparison

Green Team Volunteer Opportunities

We are seeking groups of all sizes and ages to power the Green Team! This is a perfect fit for young environmental and school groups, and for individuals passionate about keeping both waterways and festivals healthy and beautiful. If you are interested in joining the volunteer green team you can sign up to Volunteer here! French Quarter Festival is one of the largest free festivals in the country – and we rely on the generosity and enthusiasm of Green Team Volunteers to make our event a sustainable success story – thank you!

Thank You To All Our Geauxing Green Sponsors

Councilmembers Freddie King III and Jean Paul “JP” Morrell

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Spotlight: The Greener Grounds Guide – Sustainable Festival Guide for the Gulf South – Published by French Quarter Festivals, Inc. and Keep Louisiana Beautiful

Building on years of leadership in the event sustainability world, French Quarter Festivals Inc. recently partnered with Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB) to create the definitive waste reduction guide for outdoor events in Louisiana! This free resource titled the Greener Grounds Guidebook and Workbook (free downloads available by clicking on photos below) provides practical ways for event organizers to manage and reduce waste, increase recycling, and prevent litter at events. More information about the KLB and the Greener Grounds Grant for event producers can be found here. Funding for the 2023 grant cycle has ended, but check out the program to apply for 2024/2025 grant next summer!