FROME Carnival is appealing for ideas to make the annual event more environmentally friendly.
Cart entries – also known as floats – have already made a number of changes to reduce their impact on the environment, including the use of LED lighting, which has helped reduce the output of generators by a ‘considerable amount’, and using recycled plastic for decorations.
But the committee behind the annual procession is striving to reduce the carnival’s carbon footprint even further.
From the carnival committee, Mandy Morgan said, “Our carbon footprint is very much a concern of ours. With that in mind – a couple of years ago we created a class especially designed to encourage ‘low carbon footprint’ entries.
“This class is called ‘Non-motorised, carts, trollies, cycles, prams etc’. The winners of this class are awarded the Home in Frome – Low Carbon Footprint Trophy.
“We are also researching the use of non-diesel generators for carts – but that would require fundraising by each of the carnival clubs to take part to be able to afford to purchase one.
“If anyone has any ideas on how we can encourage and make our carnival entries more environmentally friendly, please do contact us, we would love to hear from you.”
One carnival entry this year who made several efforts to reduce their impact on the environment was the Magnum Carnival Club and their ‘Tower of London’ cart.
Their cart was decorated with hundreds of red poppies made from recycled plastic bottles, and the bed of the cart was built using recycled plastic boards produced by local company, Stormboard, who use waste plastic material to make the reusable boards.
From the club, Steve Collins said, “The use of these sheets allows Magnum to use the same flooring materials year after year, which we were unable to do using traditional plywood floors.
“We have also further reduced our footprint by using all LED lighting, which has reduced our generator down from 100kva to just 6.5kva, and further more, we now only require a single tractor to move it from town to town.”
To contact the Frome Carnival committee, email: info@fromecarnival.org.uk or visit www.fromecarnival .org.uk for more information.
