Environmental Responsibility
What’s it all about?
Since 2009, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has produced the Festival with intent to reduce, reuse, and recycle in more ways each year to lessen impact on the environment.
We believe that caring for our environment - our Festival grounds - not only makes our event a comfortable place to be, but it sustains our footprint for future use and sets a standard for large outdoor events worth emulating. We thank Colcom Foundation for their generous support in making many of these initiatives possible.
Our Achievements So Far
- Won the Outstanding Green Event Award from the Pennsylvania Resources Council in 2015.
- Diverted nearly 268 tons of waste from landfills since 2009 through extensive recycling and composting efforts.
- Provided completely compostable cups and service ware (2009 – 2015)
- Eliminated about 60,000 plastic bottles from use annually by offering free Water Stations (2011 – 2015)
- Eliminated another 20,000 plastic bottles and reduced plastic use by 70% by pouring soft drinks into compostable plant-based cups (2013 – 2015)
- Saved thousands of pounds of vehicle emission pollutants from entering the atmosphere by encouraging alternate modes of transportation like biking with free Bike Valet service (2011 – 2015)
And some other initiatives:
- Work to reduce food waste through 412 Food Rescue
- Recycle materials year-round including pallets and office supplies
- Donate materials from previous projects and installations for future reuse
- Encourage Car Free Fridays, inspired by friends at BikePGH
- Since 2014, vendors have joined the composting and recycling efforts helping to divert massive amounts of pre-consumer waste
How You Can Participate at TRAF:
- Stop, think, sort! Located throughout Gateway and Point State Park will be Zero Waste Stations to help you sort your waste and help continue making the Three Rivers Arts Festival clean and green.
- Be on the lookout for the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle emblem throughout the Festival. Every time you see it, you know you have an opportunity to make an impact! The Green Team, our environmentally-friendly support staff, will be nearby to answer your questions!
- Travel Green. Bike to the Festival, take the T, a Port Authority bus, or carpool to the Festival to reduce emissions. Biking is convenient with complimentary Bike Valet parking, supported by Green Mountain Energy and Colcom Foundation, 12 – 9 pm daily at the entrance to Point State Park!
- Reuse whenever possible. Bring along your favorite reusable water bottle to fill up at our free Water Stations or pick up a new Festival bottle at the Art Mart! Planning to shop at the Artist Market? Take a free Dollar Bank reusable bag while supplies last at our Information Tents to carry your purchases.
- Careful with that compost! Adherence to rigorous sorting guidelines ensures that all of our compostable items end up in a compost heap instead of a landfill. Small amounts of contamination can ruin an entire batch of compost. Help us turn our waste into nutriend-rich soil for local farms!
- Be smart. Use your smart phone to access a daily schedule and event descriptions at TrustArts.org/TRAF. Don’t discard your Festival Guidebook; return it to the Information Tent or compost it!
- Monitor progress at the Green Machine. Our real-time indicator of how “green” our behavior is throughout the Festival helps you keep our goals top-of-mind!
- Learn more about how you can reduce your waste by visiting the Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) booth located in the Creativity Zone.
