To all vendors participating in the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival

Whenever you bring thousands of people together, there will always be some trash. Years ago we developed a strategy to reduce the amount of landfill and each year we work to get closer to a TRUE ZERO WASTE festival. The Lafayette Art & Wine leads Contra Costa in our diversion rate which was 91% last year.

As organizers of the Festival we have responsibilities:

Safety and Security of our attendees, vendors and community
Reduce and ultimately eliminate trash
Operate a well-managed event that brings our partners and our community together for the city’s biggest party each year

The good news is we have choices that include being responsible to Lafayette and our planet. Together we can work towards solutions whose time has come. We are proud of our efforts and we hope you will participate joyfully in our quest. Nothing is free and this does come with some sacrifices for our vendors. Change is not easy, but in this case, there is no good alternative choice. Below are some guidelines we expect our vendors to follow. Some have already become habit, some are new. PLEASE READ THE MATERIAL COMPLETELY and contact us. with questions.

If you have booked with the Lafayette Chamber contact us at info@lafayettefestival.com. If you are a vendor with Eckerstrom Productions, email information@eckerstromproductions.com.

Ban on Single Use Plastic Bags and Styrofoam
On December 8, 2014, the city of Lafayette adopted Ordinance 626, regulating “Single-Use Carryout Bags” and “Food Packaging Recycling.” The regulations apply to the vendor and food booths/trucks at the annual festival. This ban applies to everyone! Retail and Food Vendors!

What type of bags can you use?

Compostable plastic bags labeled with a certification logo
Paper bags labeled with a minimum 40% post-consumer recycled content
Reusable checkout bags designed for at least 125 uses and are washable

What are the requirements for Food Booths and Food Trucks?

You may not distribute single-use plastic checkout bags to customers for their take-out food. Customers can opt for no bag, paper bags may be provided to customers at no charge, and reusable bags can be used.

What is the purpose of Lafayette’s “Single-Use Carryout Bag” regulations?

The purpose of the regulations is to reduce the impact of disposable bags on the city and the environment. The ordinance will reduce litter and waste, reduce contamination in recycling and composting programs and improve water quality by reducing pollution.

We have arranged with a number of our local businesses and sponsors to provide hundreds of reusable bags that we will be distributing during the festival.

Plastic Straws

Our festival forbids plastic straws
If you sell something that requires a straw, you must use a certified compostable fiber (paper/bamboo) straw.
If your products do not need a straw, offer a compostable straw only on request AB1884

Single-Use Food Ware

Food vendors may use only biodegradable compostable food ware
Recyclable food ware is no longer acceptable. This includes all plastics, #6 plastics and polystyrene including cup lids, stir sticks, cups, and to-go utensils. Remember to instruct your customers to place all utensils in the landfill container, not the recycling container). Even the recyclable and compostable silverware can not be processed like other biodegradable items.

Plastic Water Bottles

NO PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES!
If you wish to sell water
- You may sell water in Aluminum or Stainless Steel Bottles
- Plastic bottles of other drinks, ex: Gatorade will be allowed this year.

Refillable Water Stations

The festival will have four accessible WATER STATIONS available for attendees to fill up throughout the festival. Each WaterMonster can hold 1,000 16oz water bottles (125 gallon capacity). We also have EBMUD’s WOW (Water on Wheels) at the event. We will include messages for our guests to BRING THEIR OWN WATER BOTTLES to the event.

Eliminate Plastic Give-Aways