Good Music, Good People & A Whole lot less carbon: EcoSheffield at Humber Street Sesh
August saw EcoSheffield swap solar panels for speakers and spreadsheets for stages as we headed over to Humber Street Sesh in Hull - and this one was a little more special than your average festival.
Why? Because Hull is where our co-founder Sam grew up.
And long before Sam was talking renewables, solar and all things sustainable, both himself and Kyle were busy making music themselves. Sponsoring a stage at one of the region's biggest celebrations of independent music felt like a pretty perfect combination of two things close to our hearts: music and making a difference.
And honestly, Humber street sesh absolutely smashed it when it came to sustainability.
'A festival that really walks the walk'
Festivals and sustainability aren't always words you expect to see together. There are stages, lighting, food, transport, thousands of people and enough disposable cups to make the planet quietly question everyone's impact.
But Humber Street Sesh put some serious thought into reducing its environmental impact.
Rather than relying on traditional diesel generators, the festival powered it's stages, bars and lighting with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) - helping slash its carbon emissions by a whopping 90% since 2023.
Now that is a festival upgrade we can get behind.
'Solar-powered emerging talent'
As renewable energy specialists, we obviously couldn't walk past the solar-powered emerging talent stage without getting a little bit excited.
The stage was powered using solar panels, proving that renewable energy doesn't have to mean sacrificing the things we love. You can have the music, the lights, the atmosphere and a much smaller carbon footprint.
We'll take that encore please.
'Leave the car at home'
One of the biggest environmental challenges with any event is getting thousands of people there in the first place.
Humber street sesh teamed up with Hull Trains to offer free travel to the venue, encouraging festival-goers to ditch the car and hop on the train instead.
Less traffic. Fewer emissions. And absolutely no one arguing over who was supposed to be the designated driver.
Everyone wins.
'Even the wristbands got the memo'
The sustainable thinking didn't stop at the big stuff.
The festival put real thought into things like its signage and wristbands, using materials designed with their environmental impact in mind. The wristbands were made from 100% recycled plastic that doesn't release harmful chemicals back into the environment when recycled.
Because apparently even your festival wristband can have a greener lifestyle than some of us.
And when the final act had played, the sustainability work wasn't finished. All waste produced at the event was either recycled or incinerated, meaning nothing was sent to landfill.
'Supporting Local'
Humber Street Sesh also worked with local businesses and organisations to give back to the community - something that really resonated with us.
At EcoSheffield, we believe sustainability is about more than simply installing solar panels or reducing carbon emissions. It's about supporting the communities around us, working with local businesses and helping create a greener future together.
That's why we were so proud to sponsor the event.
It was brilliant to see such a huge celebration of independent music taking it's environmental responsibilities seriously - and even better to be able to play a small part in it.
'From Musicians to renewable experts..'
For our founders, Sam and Kyle, it was particularly special full-circle moment.
From playing music to working in renewable energy, even Sam has played the festival in a past-life himself, sponsoring a stage at Humber Street Sesh brought those two worlds together in the best possible way.
Great music.
Independent businesses.
Local communities.
Renewable energy.
Less waste.
Lower emissions.
That's a festival we can definitely get behind.
And this is only the beginning.
We're passionate about supporting green initiatives and our local communities, and we'll be sharing more about what EcoSheffield is doing to give back very soon.
Being sustainable doesn't have to be boring.
Sometimes, it comes with really good music.
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