SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Many know the annual winter SnowGlobe Music Festival in South Lake Tahoe as a gathering of electronic music fans in the cold outdoors, but they may not know about the behind the scenes efforts to make the event sustainable and to ensure they leave no trace behind where it comes to products used and trash. To help them in these efforts, Waste Free Earth is on board to create an environment of sustainability through strict guidelines for vendors and sponsors, recycling waste bins throughout the event, and daily trash pickup and sorting. Waste Free Earth Founder and CEO Marina M. McCoy is on-site throughout SnowGlobe to ensure compliance with the rules. In a walkthrough of the venue after the first day of the event she was amazed at how clean it was by 11:00 a.m. Chris Cage, the owner of Chris's Cleaning, had her 25-person crew already scour the surrounding neighborhoods looking for any trash left behind by concert attendees. They also picked up trash left around the houses not related to SnowGlobe. The venue grounds were completely cleaned and trash was being sorted by big dumpsters outside the venue. In 2018, 84,311 pounds of items were diverted from ending up in the landfill. T-shirts and sweatshirts leftover from concessions were donated to the Tahoe Warm Room, and food given to Bread & Broth and Christmas Cheer. Their goal is to clean out 75 percent of landfill waste each year. "At SnowGlobe, we are passionate about protecting our environment and thus the decision to work with Marina and her team was a no brainer," said SnowGlobe Founder and CEO Chad Donnelly. "As long as we are producing events, there is a full commitment from my team and I to be working alongside the Waste Free Earth organization." Vermont-based McCoy, who happens to be a graduate of Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, has given every vendor a sheet of the rules (see photo above). She tells them to adopt waste-free habits such as reusable utensils, buy in bulk, use reusable drinkware and containers. Plastic is frowned upon but they are using a #1 plastic in some cups that are actually easier to recycle and better for the environment than other items. The sponsors of the event are also under high sustainability guidelines. TerraCycle® and Clif Bar have partnered to create a free recycling program for energy bar wrappers, and the Clif Bar van is on-site at SnowGlobe with a product and immediate ways to recycle after eating one. McCoy said they won the "Most Sustainable Sponsor" for the first day of SnowGlobe as they were all broken down waste-wise right after the concert was over. Proud Source reusable water bottles are used and there are water refilling stations on site. Since they are recyclable everywhere, the bottles are easy to get out of the landfill, unlike many parts of the US that do not recycle plastic. The sponsors' swag is sustainable as well and McCoy and her team worked with them to change from the normal giveaway items that often end up in the trash, to items that can be reused. The MTV Lodge is giving away winter socks, Hornitos Tequila is giving their product out in reusable stainless steel cups, and Jack Daniels Whiskey is giving out hand warmers that can be reused. They have bins at the booth to collect the old ones that can be rejuvenated and given to the Tahoe Warm Room. Lyft is giving out coupons that are paper, but McCoy said they are used by festival-goers to get rides home so more environmentally friendly on another end. McCoy worked with those who are normally used to the practice of handing out bags of swag material that may never be wanted, used and just tossed into the trash. She encourages them to engage with the customer and give out the right message, then give what they would like...a win-win for everyone. There is an event sustainability booth as well that using the time and space to interact with the festival attendees, take a plastic pledge, play trash games and rewards for picking up trash. The participants fill out the plastic pledge (use no plastic) on stars which are then strung along the booth. The performers have requests/criteria, or riders, that go with their contracts. They are encouraged to also think of the environment in their requests and use sustainable products and practices such as ordering in bulk. Throughout the event, there are garbage separating bins with explanations of what goes into each one. Those different colored bins contain clear, blue and black bags that are removed and taken to the sorting station. After night one the bags containing landfill trash were put into a locked container so bears wouldn't get to it before removal Monday morning. South Tahoe Refuse is a partner in the Waste Free Earth endeavors. They loan the event 300 trash bins and switch out dumpsters during the three-day event, when needed. Should a citizen be concerned about trash left in their neighborhood by SnowGlobe attendees there is a hotline established - 802.391.0066. For more information on Waste Free Earth, visit their sustainable event website at https://www.wastefree.earth/.