Glastonbury is proof that when you make saving the planet the norm, people quickly get used to it

It makes you wonder why the government is still doing so little to combat the environmental crisis

In previous years it has taken up to six weeks to get Worthy Farm back to normal – this year Glastonbury’s team has almost finished.

It’s partly to do with the good weather, but also because festivalgoers appear to have taken Glastonbury’s attempt to go green seriously. This year, single-use plastics were banned, and instead festivalgoers were encouraged to bring refillable bottles to use at the 800-plus stations around the site, as well as to ask for free water from bars or canned water from food traders.

There were individual bins for bottles, cups and plates, and food waste, and a reported 99 per cent of tents were taken home, which organiser Emily Eavis has called a “massive improvement” on previous years.

“People seemed to be taking it in their stride, cheerfully queueing for the taps, flask in hand,” The Independent’s Alexandra Pollard, who was reporting from the festival, tells me.

I went to university in Wales, and so became used to the 5p plastic-bag charge before it was introduced to England in 2015. It was bemusing, and quite embarrassing, to watch people flip out over being asked to pay virtually nothing to help save the planet they inhabit. But really, does anyone notice the charge now?

It makes you wonder why the government is still doing so little to combat the ongoing environmental crisis. Why not ban single-use plastic bottles and introduce water fountains around major cities?

Just three months ago, a devastating report by the government’s official advisers said the UK will miss almost all of its 2020 nature targets, which it signed up to a decade ago. As a nation we are failing to cut pollution, to protect endangered species, and to increase funding for green schemes.

The UK is afflicted by laziness and downright apathy when it comes to fighting to save the planet. Maybe it’s time to enforce change, rather than make vague pledges that will never come into fruition. Glastonbury has certainly proved that it works.

Yours,

Roisin O’Connor

Music correspondent