17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
17-20 july 2025
Illiku, Saaremaa
The festival environment project is supported by
The family of I Land Sound festival respects nature and the beauty of illiku and we would like to introduce our way of thinking to you as well. You can find all our environmental projects and activities at our festival’s green website www.ilandgreen.ee.
Every year we try to come up with new ways to leave as small environmental footprint as possible, taking further steps in key areas like waste management, food, transportation and the use of energy. We even had a master’s thesis written on the biological diversity of the illiku islet, so we could be more aware of where and when we could plan our activities to lessen negative effects on nature. We try to keep illiku from becoming too crowded so everyone could have some space and to keep the local eco-system safe. Raising environmental awareness is really important for us, therefore we are keen on sharing the things we do and learn about in the process.
We gladly support the development plan of Saaremaa municipality 2019-2030 and contribute to the development and implementation of the concept of Saaremaa becoming an eco-island/green island, as well as a plastic-free island. We also take part in promoting sustainable tourism. In 2019 I Land Sound received a Green Enterprise of 2018 award at Saaremaa’s recognition awards gala of 2018 and in October of 2019 the festival received the title “Saare County’s Person/Deed of the Year in Tourism 2019”. I Land Green was chosen as the audience’s favorite at the Environmental Act of the Year 2019 competition organized by the Ministry of the Environment.
In October 2020 we helped Saaremaa to become one of the Top 100 Green Destinations. It’s a competition that is organised by Green Destinations – an international organization that develops sustainable tourism. I Land Green and our thorough waste management plan was chosen to the TOP 100 Good Practices collection.
We would also like to offer you some simple, yet effective tips, that you should keep in mind, while visiting the festival, because you also have an input and can help us out in taking these green steps. The effort can’t be one-sided, because we’re all in this together. If we take care of Mother Nature, she takes care of us, too! Let’s make an example together of how the habits and mad ideas of islanders are applicable to wider audiences!
Special projects
Cigarette butts are an increasing source of pollution in nature and we continue to contribute to improve the situation. In 2019 we used old window frames and soup jars to make collection points for cigarette butts for the festival, which to our own surprise, became quite popular. Since we had a well-functioning prototype, we had an idea to develop them even further to make these collection points more durable. We kept the soup jars – an integral part that describes the festival. The new and improved collection points for cigarette butts were finished in May 2021.
You can read more about our special projects here: https://ilandgreen.ee/en/valdkonnad/
Supporters
The festival environment project is supported by
Our festival grounds are clean during the festival period and on the days following the festival, as we acknowledge the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. By following these three directions, we are able to build a sustainable and beautiful world around us. The habits that we bring from home follow us into the society and vice versa. That is why we want to introduce to you our beliefs and show you how our island habits and ideas could be brought to life even on a larger scale and with thousands of awesome guests. If we help keep mother nature, she will keep us in return!
Think before you act!
Feeling overly comfortable and having arrogant consumer patterns have lead us to being negligent towards our atmosphere. We accept and consume everything, without giving a second thought to the consequences. It is actually possible to reduce all plastic or packaging production if we take a second to notice it and find reasonable alternatives. Events and life should be organized with these thoughts in mind, reducing the use of packaging from the production line. Don’t worry, we’ll show you how!
Real dishes and cutlery
We’re bringing something completely new to the festival scenery in Estonia, bringing real dishes and cutlery to the table. In 2019, we gathered and used 1000 sets of dishes and created a designated dishwashing station. Single-use tableware has never been used at I Land Sound and biodegradable alternatives are not that environmentally friendly or sustainable solution in the long run either. Because in the end, they’re still single-use items and resources are used to produce and recycle them.
Free water
I Land Sound encourages festival guests to enjoy the fresh drinking water that is offered by us. The festival is supplied by at least 10 large water containers, that will fill your reusable drinking cups. This initiative eliminates the usage of tens of thousands of single-use plastic bottles or cups as well as the carbon footprint produced by transportation.
Reusable cups
We have been using the smart reusable cup instead of single-use plastic cups since the very first I Land Sound. Long story short, you are able to redeem your cup for a small fee and after you are done, just return the cup to the bar, and receive the fee back.
Plastic bags not welcome!
We happily support and encourage Saaremaa county’s aim at becoming the first plastic free and eco island in Estonia. In 2019 in partnership with Coop, the chain removed plastic bags from their Liiva (Muhu) and Orissaare shops during the festival and sold special I Land Green reusable cotton bags. We also encourage our guests to bring their own bags to the festival!
No straws
No drink at I Land Sound festival is served with a straw. If it happens, that you wish to use a straw, feel free to use one of our alternatives – the hollow pasta straw available in the bars or the Saaremaa reed straw, which can be purchased. The plastic straws are banned from the year 2020 – good for those suckers!
No posters
In the modern world, communication is key. We here at I Land Sound have decided to communicate all the important information to our guests through online channels and the power of word to mouth. No posters, flyers, or schedules are printed or distributed on paper. All the information boards in Orissaare, the festival grounds, and camping grounds are hand-painted on various materials that are gathered from the local landfills.
Economical transportation
We urge the festival guests to use a bus as a means of transportation or share information about carpooling in our Facebook group I Land Transport. In addition, we are aiming to involve as many local suppliers as possible, to avoid big distances and the CO2 emissions produced by transporting necessities from far away locations. Also, in 2019 we fixed up around 40 bikes to navigate conveniently during the festival. Thanks to Luminor, we could bring those bikes to festival site, fix them up and give them a new life circle. #Luminor #makethechange
Food without waste
To fill all of your nutrition needs, we are using local organic produce as much as we can. It is a healthy option, reduces carbon footprint thanks to short transportation and supports local entrepreneurs. The cocktails are specially produced for I Land Sound, that give you a choice between gooseberry, rhubarb, chokeberry, buckthorn, and other seasonal produce, all from various parts of Saaremaa. Each caterer is obliged to have at least one vegetarian option, as this option is ecologically less damaging to produce.
Supporters
The festival environment project is supported by
Our festival grounds are clean during the festival period and on the days following the festival, as we acknowledge the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. By following these three directions, we are able to build a sustainable and beautiful world around us. The habits that we bring from home follow us into the society and vice versa. That is why we want to introduce to you our beliefs and show you how our island habits and ideas could be brought to life even on a larger scale and with thousands of awesome guests. If we help keep mother nature, she will keep us in return!
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
Sometimes it’s good when money is tight. You dig deep into your needs and try to bring them to life within your possibilities. This method can be truly inspiring and encourages out of the box ideas and conversation. Our society produces and consumes at a very fast pace, losing interest in produced goods even faster. Luckily, there are a lot of people who decide to offer new life to things before sending them into landfills. This healthy set of mind has long been embedded into the minds of the locals here and can also be felt by our partners, who always consider us when excessive stock or defective products cross their way.
Long lasting and ecological design
Nearly everything needed for the festival (stages, decorations and artwork, information signs, tables, benches, etc.) is designed, built and prepared by the team and collaborating artists with the aim to create long-lasting forms that fit into the natural habitat of Orissaare. To give an example, in 2017 several bars were built of thatch and crooked leftovers from a local sawmill, reflecting the local characteristic of Saaremaa. Also, every year new information signs are painted on the same, reusable wooden boards. Stages and decorations are dismantled and stored to give them a new life every year.
Collaboration with waste processing facilities
In order to use as many second-hand materials as possible for the festival design, we collaborate with several waste processing facilities. Instead of reaching out for a new material, we first want to give a new life for the old and used. Paikre, Prügiekspert OÜ, Ragn-Sells and Maasi jäätmehoolduse OÜ take a hand in the project.
Partnership with paint producers
Our artists are extremely grateful for our paint producing partner, Eskaro, who helps us with leftover paints and test products. Eskaro’s brand values include the development of eco-friendly products and solutions, as well as being the first company in Estonia, whose paint received the EU certified eco-label Flower usage right.
Partnerships with construction companies
Our partners within the construction industry provide us with residues from construction sites and defected products that will be used for art projects building various areas at the festival. Our partners are Metsä Wood Eesti, Peri As, Ores Ehitus, Sim AT, Qualsar Build, Novara OÜ, and Träx OÜ.
Cigarette butt container
I Land Sound is gifting an especially designed cigarette butt container to all of the smoking festival guests. The container is made of recyclable plastic bottles, are comfortably sealable with a cap, and allow you to store your cigarette butts until you are able to discard them into a designated trash can. In addition, we are planning to create something practical from all of the cigarette butts that we have gathered throughout the years.
Supporters
The festival environment project is supported by
Recycling matters!
We have been pretty good at reducing consumption and giving old stuff a new life. Following with the rest should be easy and common sense tells us that what comes from nature should end up back there, packaging should be sent to recycling and cigarette filters need a sharp mind and some new clever ideas. All this calls for proper recycling. Let us explain all the steps we take to do just that.
A thorough recycling system
We have implemented a 6-part waste collection system that includes food waste, paper and cardboard, clean packaging, bottles, cigarette filters and mixed waste. There are about 25 waste collection points on and around the festival area and all the bins are marked accordingly. Should be easy enough!
Collecting data
Besides sorting the litter, we weigh it all by the type and collect the data. We are curious to see what happens to it all after it leaves our festival area and it also allows us to see how much of it is recycled. This also helps us to improve ourselves and see how big of an impact the steps we take each year have.
Food waste
Food waste is a valuable resource and could be used as a fertilizer. We collect all the leftovers from our caterers and kitchens and Ragn-Sells takes it all to composting.
Cigarette butts
You can almost say that we have a special relationship with cigarette butts. In 2019 we started a project where each year we collect all the cigarette filters and make something useful and awesome for next year’s festival, something that would also raise awareness on the issue. Cigarette butts have become the biggest source of pollution in the seas and one of the most common forms of litter. A lot of people aren’t aware that cigarette filters are made of plastic that takes up to 15 years to decompose in nature, animals and birds could easily eat it and eventually it would end up in our food as well. These projects are possible thanks to Kops (a carry-on container for cigarette filters) and our guests, who make sure all the cigarette butts end up at our collection points, made of old window frames and glass jars. In 2019 we collected 5.1 kg or about 21, 000 cigarette filters that would have otherwise ended up somewhere they shouldn’t have.
Collaborating with universities, specialists and Yenesis project
The waste management at I Land Sound is a huge project and calls for a strong team. In 2020 I Land Sound collaborated with Tallinn University and Estonian University of Life Sciences for the first time and included their environmental management students in the process of organising the festival. The planning and on-site implementation of collecting waste by category, along with the coordination of the waste team and data collection is carried out by Acento. In 2021 a Yenesis project intern took part in the environmental activities of the festival.
But it’s not only about the waste! A master’s degree student in environmental management at Tallinn University has completed a thesis mapping the wide biological diversity and sensitive areas of illiku. The work shows which special features related to flora and fauna must be taken into account when organizing the event. And a bachelor’s student from Tallinn University wrote a seminar work about the means of transportation our guests use to come to the festival and proposed some ideas on how to lessen the carbon footprint.
Supporters
