Changing littering practices at Glastonbury Festival

Findings

This conceptual paper introduces practice theory as a potential alternative to the traditional ways that littering is conceptualised and tackled, and considers the strengths and pitfalls of the theoretical approach for the expensive, pervasive and environmentally dangerous littering problems faced by Glastonbury Festival.

Implications

The study of littering has yet to embrace practice theory, despite the theory being considered the cutting edge of sustainable consumption research. This paper is an exploratory starting point, opening up a potential future research and intervention agenda for festival organisers and researchers alike to consider littering as a by-product of a range of different bundled practices rather than the result of particular attitudes and behaviours.

Limitations

Practice theory has yet to move authoritatively out of a theoretical domain and be used in the process of intervention planning and implementation, although some early efforts are beginning to emerge. As such, the applicability of the theory to a real world setting is untested. Relatedly, it is not fully clear how evaluation can capture the full extent of a multi-disciplinary culture change programme inspired by practice theory.

Contribution

The paper offers the first practice theoretical examination of littering and introduces the theory to the practical challenges faced by Glastonbury and other festival organisers, as well as introducing the problem of littering to the practice theory field, already central to the study of other issues in sustainable consumption.