FringeMI GREEN
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AS A CREATIVE FACTOR
Respect for the environment has been at the heart of the festival since its first year. From the beginning it was clear to us that even cultural events are not exempt from direct and indirect production of pollution and for this reason our action is twofold. On the one hand, we are committed to adopting low-impact systems on all aspects concerning the event, while on the other hand we adopt concrete solutions that can be inspirational for other events.
Environmental sustainability is a demand shared not only by the public, but also by administrations. Evidence of this is, in addition to the general principles set by theUN Agenda 2030, the Minimum Environmental Criteria established by the Decree October 19, 2022 of the Ministry of Ecological Transaction which, although not yet mandatory for events not organized by the P.A., we believe are important advice in any case for all kinds of events.
However, we believe that it is not enough to claim to be inspired by certain environmental values: to ward off any doubt of greenwashing it is necessary to take risks and proceed one step at a time, even by trial and error.
The Trovafestival association presented in early April 2023 the Guidelines for Sustainable Festivals, a vademecum of sorts for the project phases in the organization of a cultural festival, created in collaboration with BBS-Lombard, the MEC of the Catholic University of Milan and the Ateatro association. We also identify with it because of its comprehensive while step-by-step approach and of the reflection it imposes in every single decision concerning sustainability.
As Giulia Alonzo, president of Trovafestival, explains,
it is in fact not enough, in order to make an event sustainable, to take a series of measures to limit environmental damage: a comprehensive approach must be used, one that invests all phases, from design to final evaluation. And in the “provisional community” that animates a festival, content is shared, information and data circulate, but most importantly, new ways of behavior are experimented with and learned, and new habits can be adopted, to be adopted in daily life.
THE ACTIONS OF FRINGEMI 2023
FRINGEMI REDUCES ITS PAPER CONSUMPTION TO 90%
The only promotional material the public will find around Milan will be a recycled, useful, reusable cardboard bookmark with a qrcode that links to the festival program.
A NEW WAY OF COMMUNICATING
The decision to drastically reduce paper production prompted us to look for new stakeholders who could help us tell the festival’s story in a new way. From this research came the collaboration with GreenGraffiti (agency brand Jungle): a tool that transforms sidewalks and squares into unconventional communication spaces through messages applied to the ground using stencils and a food paint made from whey, chalk and cellulose, without chemical additives, and removable with a simple high-pressure water jet.
A perfect example of temporary, modern and sustainable advertising, which as of May 2023 has become even more environmentally conscious thanks to the introduction of Pureti®, an additive that, through a photocatalysis process based on a network of nanoparticles, makes each graffiti a purifier of air on par with a medium-sized tree, capable of eliminating PM10, PM2.5 and PM0.5.
ARRANGEMENTS AS A COLLECTIVE WORK OF RECYCLING
To define the presence of the Festival, and its fuchsia color, in locations that are also far apart, from this year begins the collaboration with theWasp, a start-up founded in 2008 by graphic designer Stefano Castiglioni and designer Alessandro Garlandini, who, together with Sebastiano Ercoli and other creative friends, design merchandising by reusing production waste and waste from companies and events, and carry out projects to popularize environmental issues.
The structure that Vespaio proposed us is called Taca Lì and it is perfect because it is self-supporting, lightweight, easily transportable and mountable and most importantly, completely made of recycled plastic.
But if the creativity is of ilVespaio, the effort has been collective: in fact, nine plastic cap collection points have been activated and it is thanks to the cooperation of neighborhood residents that we have collected enough plastic to build the Taca Lì joints. The collected caps were then shredded and melted, through special recycling machines, and finally treated with the Precious Plastic technique that led to the creation of the joints that hold together the structures of the displays featured on all the stages of the official FringeMI program.
The set-ups thus created will then be dismembered to be reused for other events, as well as for future FringeMI set-ups.
