The Glad Tent that turns into a trash bag

It offers music festival fans a practical way of taking their refuse with them when they go.  

For one weekend each June, tens of thousands of music fans descend on Manchester, Tennessee, for the four-day Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

As is the case with other festivals (such as Coachella, SXSW and Lollapalooza), the sudden influx of people creates an overwhelming amount of garbage on the festival site – a problem that other concert promoters have given up on trying to prevent.

Bonnaroo, however, has a code of conduct to which it hopes attendees will adhere. This code stipulates that festival goers enjoy themselves, come prepared and leave no trace of their presence on the festival grounds.

Having attended Bonnaroo in the past, I can attest to the fact that many attendees disregard the Bonnaroo code as soon as they enter Manchester.

Compounding the issue is the fact that most Bonnaroo attendees camp on the festival grounds. At the end of the four days, there are piles of discarded tents, sleeping bags and clothes as well as the expected garbage of bottles, beer cans and food.

A general atmosphere of togetherness hangs over the festival during its four days, but once the music stops, many attendees find it easier to just head for the exit, rather than completely clean up after themselves.

Enter the Glad Tent

Glad has created a pretty smart solution to music festivals’ trash problem: the Glad Tent. Constructed out of its ForceFlex line of garbage bags, the single-person tent is designed to provide festival attendees a temporary shelter they don’t have to worry about throwing away at the end of the weekend.

Best of all, the tent can be used to collect all the rest of their garbage.

And this concept (which, unfortunately, Glad has no plans to commercially produce) can be used for more than just music festival camping. These tents could also be used for backpacking, temporary shelter following an emergency or even for students waiting overnight for tickets to a college sporting event.

In our Pulse research, we have, for years, found that consumer’s comfort and convenience trumps the environment. The big marketing takeaway is that Glad has given festival attendees the best of both worlds: a convenient and environmentally friendly solution to the growing music festival trash problem.

Even though the bags aren’t recyclable or compostable, Glad has started a conversation. Perhaps the next generation of trashable tents will be compostable, made of recycled materials or both.

Perhaps, too, increased consumer interest can encourage Glad to actually produce the tent. In the meantime, if you’re heading to Bonnaroo this year, or in years to come, please follow the code and leave no trace of your presence.