Wrangling Festival Goers to Care about Compost: Volunteering on the Green Team at Sweetwater 420 Fest
As a native Atlantan with a deep love for local beer and live music, SweetWater Brewery has always had a special place in my heart—and my calendar. Whether I’m heading there to catch some live music on a Sunday afternoon or catching Wednesday night trivia, SweetWater is the go-to. I just wish they’d bring back more sour beers (wink wink, SweetWater folks!).
So when I heard that this year’s SweetWater 420 Fest was looking for volunteers to help make the festival more sustainable, it was a no-brainer. A free ticket and the chance to nerd out about composting? Say less.
The Green Team for the festival was led by sustainability pros Polly Sattler and Walter Brown, who are on a mission to make sustainability standard practice at Atlanta’s big outdoor events. Through Greenway Festival Management, they’re helping major festivals adopt composting, recycling, green energy, and car-free experiences—and showing it can be done here in the ATL.
So of course I roped in my husband and some friends who have a little passion for sustainability and a lot for blue grass to sign up as well…and just because its us…we created our own theme and dressed to the occasion: Compost Cowboys.
Talking Trash
Our job for the festival was to man the trash stations and help people figure out what goes where, cut down on contamination, and keep that compost clean. Polly & Walter held a pre-fest Zoom to talk volunteers through logistics and give us some good talking points to festival goers (i.e. Recycling one beer can saves enough energy to power a laptop computer for 11 hours!!)
Over the course of the weekend, the Green Team volunteers, dressed in neon green, worked together to keep things flowing as smoothly—and cleanly—as possible. We quickly realized that while well-intentioned signage like “plastic bottles only” or “aluminum only” was a good start, it wasn’t quite enough for festival-goers in a hurry with a drink in one hand and food in the other.
So we adapted and started taping example bottles and cans directly onto the bins to make it crystal clear what belonged where. We noticed foot traffic patterns and adjusted the placement of bins accordingly—moving aluminum bins closer to the crowds (because beer) and positioning the trash bin in prime location as people left to avoid contamination (also because lots of beer).
The compost bins were perhaps the trickiest. Since the festival used BPI-certified compostable cups, plates, and utensils, nearly everything from the food vendors could be composted—but many attendees didn’t know that. We decided it was best to keep the compost bin lids closed to slow folks down and encourage them to ask before tossing, which opened the door for quick conversations about what was and wasn’t compostable. Condiment packets turned out to be the enemy of the weekend as they slid under the radar of the ‘only compostable serving ware allowed’ request to vendors. Fishing ketchup packets out of the bins was my only real ICK moment of the weekend.
Keeping it green was a truly inspiring team effort—Polly & Walter’s commitment was unmatched as they were sorting through the trash late night after the festival to ward off any uncaught contamination. Volunteers got animated with their trash grabbers, racing to pick up any cans left on the ground, and lots of great conversations were had around the trash cans. Shoutout to the dead head who had a few cans to recycle 😉 and couldn’t stop talking about his compost pile that’s been goin strong since ’89.
And while not everyone was into chatting with an overly enthusiastic stranger in a neon shirt, most were surprisingly grateful and happily followed directions. Many folks thanked us for “actually giving a f***.” High praise in festival speak!
The Pay-off
Check out all the feats of this year’s 420 Fest:
420 Fest proved that big events can be both smooth and sustainable. Despite all the regulations the City places on festivals, mandatory recycling and access to alternative transportation still aren’t required—and it’s time that changed.
Atlanta is a city of festivals and beer, and yet aluminum—one of the most valuable and easily recycled materials—often ends up in the landfill. At 420 Fest, the Green Team showed how easy it is to do better. Volunteers worked together to troubleshoot, guide attendees, cheer them on, and make recycling fun. Knowing cans were funding Habitat for Humanity made people feel good about participating.
If a volunteer-led team can make this work, why isn’t it standard? Events like this should set the bar, not be the exception. Simple requirements in the City’s event permitting process could make a big impact—and help sustainability become the norm at every Atlanta festival.
How can we keep the momentum going in Buckhead?
Being part of this Green Team got me thinking… what if we did something similar right here in Buckhead? A Livable Buckhead Green Team that could support events in the neighborhood with zero-waste interventions?
Imagine getting to enjoy a local event for free, just by doing a little good first. It’s community building, sustainability, and fun—all in one. My friends were into the idea, too. Honestly, we might need a waitlist if we rolled something like that out.
Let’s keep that idea simmering! …more on the future of Composting Cowboys to come…
