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Case Study
The Greenpeace Field at Glastonbury festival has long been popular among festival-goers thanks to their free hot showers and delicious veggie food available at their cafe. This year, however, will see a new feature to the field with the addition of a show-stopping 20m giant tree structure. Built from SMARTPLY OSB, the huge tree will come alive at night with a colour changing light show and will feature a DJ booth allowing attendees to party in to the early hours.
The Solution
#StandForForests is Greenpeace’s key message for this year’s festival with the environmental campaigning organisation set to emphasise the important role forests play in maintaining the health of our planet. The choice of SMARTPLY OSB to build their tree structure was a result of its carbon positive nature as a building material, as well as the rigorous sustainability agenda and clean supply chain of the manufacturer. Making use of renewable wood from well managed Irish forests independently certified in accordance with the rules of the Forestry Stewardship Council, MEDITE SMARPLY are strong believers in working towards a circular economy model when it comes to timber production.
The wooden tree structure then is set to offer not only an enjoyable and interesting experience for festival-goers, but has also been designed and built with Greenpeace values of sustainability at its core.
Along with the giant tree, Greenpeace will also be building a range of other visually exciting features for their field using SMARTPLY OSB. From the interior of the Greenpeace bar and hoardings to block off non-public areas to decorative giant animal sculptures, a Jungle café and a forest grotto teaching visitors about the majesty of the world’s forests.
The Results
Katy Duffy from Greenpeace, commented, “Our close and longstanding collaboration with SMARTPLY originates from Greenpeace’s involvement in the setting up of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) back in the nineties. It is through this that we recommended the use of SMARTPLY in preference to the unsustainable products sometimes being used throughout the building industry, which included wood from Brazilian rainforests used on hoardings.
Over the years’ we have also helped to convince the events industry that SMARTPLY has numerous uses and as a result we now see it used in festivals and events throughout the UK.”
“Greenpeace are radical thinkers with regards to the environment and climate change,” says Stuart Devoil, Head of Marketing and Brand at MEDITE SMARPLY, “and so it’s with great pride that we’ve been selected as the material of choice for their tree structure at Glastonbury. It’s a real testament to our commitment to sustainability and the environment that an organisation like Greenpeace would choose our timber panels. We look forward to seeing how the finished tree looks at Glastonbury and hope festival-goers enjoy visiting the Greenpeace field and learning about the importance of legally sourced timber and the effect it has on our planet.”
The Greenpeace Tree will be at Glastonbury Festival from 21st-25th June 2017. The Greenpeace Field will also feature a Skate ramp, climbing wall, Power Ballad Yoga and a Virtual Reality Dome allowing visitors to be immersed within the Amazon Rainforest. If you are attending this year, the Greenpeace field and tree should not to be missed.
