Sustainability
Light on the land
Future Forest is a festival deep in the New Brunswick woods, and the forest is the whole point. We cannot host thousands of people without leaving a mark, so we work to make that mark as light as we can, and a little lighter every year.
Where we stand
Honest about our footprint
Festivals leave a mark, especially in waste and travel, and we do not pretend otherwise. What we can do is design for less, be honest about the rest, and reinvest in doing better. Sustainability for us runs three ways: caring for the land, caring for the community, and staying independent enough to keep choosing the land first.
Environmental
Lower waste, less travel, and a smaller footprint on the forest every season.
Social
A caring, inclusive community that looks out for each other and the place that hosts us.
Independent
Community funded with no corporate sponsors, so the land and the people come before the bottom line.
Our home
A forest worth protecting
In 2017 we found our home: a 200 acre woodlot on the side of Little River, near Fredericton, bought from a logging company and now cared for as a permanent home. A place that was once being cut is now a place we protect, host gently, and plan to keep for the long run.
Future Forest is held on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik people, on the banks of the river they call Nem-dit'qu. We are guests here, and we are committed to honouring Indigenous cultures and protecting the land and water that make this gathering possible.
On the ground
How we tread lightly
The everyday practices that keep the forest the way we found it. Most of them only work because everyone takes part.
Leave No Trace
Pack in, pack out. Whatever comes into the forest with you leaves with you, so we keep it exactly as we found it.
Compost and recycling
We sort and compost across the site, including the food waste from our vendors, and we keep building out better bins and clearer signage.
Free water
Refill stations across the site so you can skip the single use bottles. Bring a reusable one and fill up.
No open flames
We are in a forest in fire season, so no campfires, open flames, fireworks, or fire toys. Cigarette butts get packed out too.
Keep the water clean
The river runs through the heart of this place and everything downstream depends on it. No soap or contaminants in the water, even biodegradable.
Local and low impact
We lean on local sourcing and mindful infrastructure to keep materials, travel, and their footprint down.
Ride share
Carpooling means fewer vehicles in the forest. Our ride share group helps you fill seats and split the trip.
Built to last
We invest in durable, reusable infrastructure instead of single use, so less gets thrown away year after year.
Closing the loop
Waterless washrooms at the Nest
At the Nest stage you will not find a row of porta potties. You will find waterless composting washrooms that turn what a festival usually trucks away as waste into compost. No water, no chemicals, no blue liquid, just sawdust and cedar. Solids go to a licensed composting facility near Fredericton. Designed with a professional engineer, run under a New Brunswick pilot permit, and built in house by our own crew.
If those uses had run through standard flush toilets, they would have used roughly 14,000 litres of clean drinking water. Ours used none. It is a closed loop instead of a one way trip, the same principle the forest runs on: nothing is wasted.
Sustainability as culture
Compost is a conversation
The best part of this work is that people want in. Alongside our partners we bring soil science to the forest with live microscopy, hands on sessions, and a lot of good questions, turning compost and waste into something to learn about rather than look away from.
It keeps growing into the off season too, with deeper composting workshops for anyone who wants to get their hands in the soil. Sustainability sticks best when it is part of the culture, not a checkbox.
Year round
What runs when the festival is gone
The forest does not empty out when the music stops. Off-grid power keeps the site going through the seasons in between, so the generator stays off, quieter and cleaner the rest of the year.
All year, around the clock
Off-grid power runs the security cameras and the connection that lets us watch over the land from anywhere, every day of the year.
Through the working seasons
When the crew is on site it also powers the staff cabin, the water pump, and the lights across the grounds, with no generator required.
Protect the forest with us
Be a guest the forest is glad to host
Come for four days of music and art in the woods, and help us leave the place better than we found it. Pack it out, keep the water clean, and look out for the land and each other.