As the crowds milled throughout Outside Lands on the festival’s first day, the grass was trampled, but not untidy.
San Francisco’s largest summer music festival is making a push for a greener festival, with plans to eliminate nearly all plastic water bottles and straws, and offer reusable cups for beer and wine.
The effort coincides with the city and state’s recent war on plastics. Last month, local officials enacted a ban on the sale and distribution of plastic straws and other plastic dining items, following similar ordinances in Alameda, Berkeley and Oakland in recent years. Other regulations are still rolling out. Starting next year, the San Francisco Department of the Environment will require organizers of events on city property with more than 100 people make reusable cups available to at least 10% of attendees.