Mountain Fair Zero Waste Food Vendor Guidelines

Mountain Fair is dedicated reducing our environmental footprint in many ways. We are getting closer every year to a zero waste event! With the support of our vendors, we have been able to reduce our landfill waste significantly. We compost and recycle close to 90% of our waste, leaving only 10% as garbage.

In this letter we discuss the requirements we all need to abide by as participants in this event. Please know that we are here to guide you before and during the festival and we appreciate your willingness to support this endeavor. Please contact Alyssa Reindel at either 970-987-3140 or with any questions associated with our sustainability initiatives. She can help you find alternative, compliant materials or clarify any requirement.

Your responsibilities as an Eco-Fest vendor:

1)  If you are a sustainable, environmentally-friendly business or just do something unique to save resources, we want you to flaunt it. Put up a sign or at least discuss your efforts with attendees. Your green ways make us look good!

2)  Mountain Fair strives to be a Zero Waste event. We will have compost and recycle bins paired with trash cans and volunteers on hand to educate attendees about proper sorting. Your role is to solely distribute items that can be composted, recycled or reused. We don’t want you to give out anything that has to go in the landfill. Below you will find suggestions for appropriate materials.

3)  Please strive for reusable tabling and booth decorations. We don’t want to have a bunch of trash at the end of the event due to plastic tablecloths and balloons.

4)  Properly sort your waste materials during the event using the Zero Waste Stations. If you will generate a lot of waste during the event we will set you up with a station of your own. We will educate you about proper sorting before the event, but it’s your responsibility to manage it correctly during the event and to keep it out of the public’s reach (we want them to use the public stations & interact with a volunteer). Due to wildlife concerns, please do not use the dumpsters after the event has been closed by organizers. Not following these rules may result in a forfeiture of your deposit.

5)  Do not sell or give away bottled water. Participants will have access to Carbondale’s high quality tap water.

Acceptable Materials for Food/Sample Distribution at Our Zero Waste Events:

/ Food/Drink sampling materials less than 9oz. must be one of the following: paper or sugarcane cups with no plastic lining (no clear corn or plastic sample cups allowed), napkins, wax paper or toothpicks. Wax test: if you scratch the surface of your cup and an obvious build-up of wax occurs under your fingernail it is acceptable; otherwise it is not compliant. If you have another type of material please call Alyssa.

/ Plates, bowls, clamshells & portion cups must be paper or sugarcane based. They cannot have a plastic lining. Preferred types are the thin, uncoated plates that allow grease to soak through (no plastic lining) or the thick plates, bowls and clamshells such as those produced by Chinete, Solo Bare or Eco-Products.

/ Cups greater than 9oz. must be clear, corn-based OR paper. Either must be clearly labeled Compostable on the outside (such as Eco-Products’ Green Strip line). Preferred manufactures include Eco-Products, World Centric and Greenware (by Fabri-Kal). If you provide lids or straws (to reduce waste we do not recommend this) they also must be compostable and labeled as such.
Utensils must be corn-based and labeled Compostable. Our preferred manufacturer is World Centric; it is important that they are labeled compostable and NOT biodegradable.
Beverage containers such as aluminum cans and plastic bottles (greater than 6oz.) are approved for recycling, BUT you cannot sell bottled water. Also, aluminum foil will not be allowed due to poor recyclability resulting from food contamination; wax paper is an alternative.
No foil, Saran wrap, Styrofoam, chip bags, candy wrappers, condiment packets, plastic bags, etc will be allowed. If you have an individually packaged item it must be presented in packaging approved above; for any other items please contact Alyssa at 970.987.3140.

Please ensure that all your materials are compliant with these guidelines. During the event, we have the right to ask you to remove any non-compliant materials. In the unlikely instance that our staff feels as though you did not operate in accordance with the Green Team requirements your vendor deposit may be witheld. Please use Alyssa and this document as a resource to ensure that your foodservice items are certified compostable and compliant. In the event that questions arise, we recommend having your dinnerware’s brand cases present to certify compostability.

Thank you so much for positively representing Mountain Fair and the Town of Carbondale in our sustainabilty goals. We couldn’t do it without you and are excited to present your efforts to the community. We hope that you embrace these green requirements, taking them wherever you operate to influence the planners, attendees and vendors surrounding you. All of us at Mountain Fair thank you for your efforts - See you at the Fair!

RECOMMENDED COMPOSTABLE SERVICEWARE SUPPLIERS:

Evergreen Events

Carbondale, CO (970-987-3140)

Website: http://www.EverGreenEvents.net

Note: Items will be delivered to Sopris Park

Tundra Specialties

Boulder, CO (303-440-4142)

Website: http://www.etundra.com

Note: Utensils must be PLA not PSM