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Summer Camp Music Festival

Background

Solshine Reverie (Formerly Summer Camp Music Festival) is a three-day music festival in Northern Illinois that takes place in late May. They have a long history of working toward sustainability and supporting good causes in the local community. Their Make a Difference Team is an integral part of the festival. One aspect of their good work includes striving each year to minimize waste and create a model for greener festivals.

Our Work

Summer Camp began partnering with Zero Waste Event Productions in 2017 to help run their sorting center. In 2024 with their updated Solshine Reverie Festival they began a full contract with us.

The sorting center will remain an integral part of our service. Our sorting center goes above and beyond other sorting centers by using our specially-designed conveyor belts. Over the course of the weekend, we work with around 50 volunteers in 4-hour shifts to divert thousands of lbs of source-separated material. Many volunteers return to our tent year after year, excited about the impact they’re making, and ready to help.

Recycling

Summer Camp Music Festival takes place in an area where recyclables are source separated, meaning aluminum cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, and glass must be placed in separate bins. Materials are collected together from recycling bins across the festival and then, at the sorting center, we turn contaminated co-mingled recycling into clean, source separated material.

In 2023 we were able to divert:

80 square yards (approx. 8,480 lbs) of cardboard
10 square yards (approx. 3,800 lbs) of glass
45 square yards (approx. 2,070 lbs) of aluminum cans
45 square yards (approx. 1,440) of plastic bottles

Compost

To be accepted by most compost facilities, food scraps and compostable serviceware must be free of plastic and other contaminants (less than .5% contamination).

We take care to decontaminate compost so all material sent to the compost facility can be processed.

In 2023 we diverted,