Flow Fest Feature: Sustainability Coordinator Scott Laaback
Big music events are commonly known for the negative impact they leave on the grounds it’s held on. Seeing abandoned tents and coolers strewn across a once full lot is not uncommon. Even more frustrating, attendees independent efforts to sort waste at their campsite go mute when they find the community sorting bins unattended to and overflowing. Flow Festival, on the other hand, is stepping up and showing the communiry that a sustainable festival is possible.
Sustainability is the long-term care of the land we, humans inhabit. Scott Laaback describes it by saying, “Sustainability is not only a path to personal and planetary health, but also to happiness.”
When it comes to a music festival, these standards and ideals are not, abandoned by the team behind Flow Festival. The fourth annual Flow Festival takes place February 2 – 4 on the South coast of the Big Island in the Pahoa district.
The Hawai’ian islands are rich in culture despite their relationship with the vulture of culture — America. A majority of natives of the islands even consider themselves to be an occupied territory rather than a state. Due to their remote nature, they already have a strong emphasis on land care. Inhabitants of the island, both native and not, honor the native traditions and mythology and it comes through in their actions, occupations and music festivals.
Sustainability expert, farm to table chef and jack-of-all-sustainability-trades Scott Laaback, has been involved in the creation of Flow Festival since it’s first year in 2014. He’s done everything from performing to coordinating to presenting. As a coordinator, he insures that Flow Festival keeps moving forward in their sustainable practices and by doing this, strengthening the relationship between natives and non-natives.
Many of the non-natives of the island could be considered “American lifestyle refugees”. They come to the island to find other like minded individuals who prioritize leaving the earth better than they found it and living self-sufficiently. Examples would be: collecting their own energy and growing their own food or more simply put, living “off the grid”. Laaback himself is a 10 year resident of the island and his interest in sustainability began when he started to take notice of how humans impact the earth and each other.
“I have a desire to live in a world that provides opportunity for a thriving and happy society to live in balance with their environments,” shared Laaback. “Through this understanding, I recognized my own agency and decided to dedicate my work on the Earthly plane to the creation of this kind of harmony. It does not hurt that the alternative to us not doing this work is a fiery desiccated Earth that is no longer conducive to human life.”
The first step for Flow Fest to move forward in sustainable practices and its relationship with the native culture, is having respecting for the ‘aina (Hawaiian for sacred land). Flow Festival is held at Kawaiapele or Green Lake. The lake, located in the Puna district, is considered a sacred place by Hawaiian mythology. It’s an honor that the event can even be held on the site. The story of the lake is shared with attendees and musicians alike to further the importance of land care.
“We honor the sacredness of the land and those histories by our actions and how we respect the site that allows us to come together to activate and celebrate,” said Laaback. “In turn this reflects how we as a collective can steward the Earth which affords us the same.”
The second step is to enable people to do such. Local grocery store chain and sponsor of Flow Festival, Island Naturals, is furthering the initiative by offering food vendors compostable packaging at cost. There will be self-sort waste stations with volunteers to help festival attendees determine how to sort their waste, recyclable materials and compost. Not only does this make recycling a community activity but, it offers the information to people when they need it the most — at the can. The money received from cashing in the recyclables will go into sustainability education and the compost will be used for a future garden. If all goes as planned, the garden will be used to feed future festival attendees.
“This ensures that we can meet the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit which are the foundation of sustainability,” said Laaback.
These practices are intended to stick with attendees and reach outsides the confines of Flow Festival. The Hawai’ian Islands float 2,500 miles from Japan and 2,500 miles from North America. This makes the islands the most remote land mass on the entire planet. The remote nature of the islands, as well as the year round growing season, is part of the inhabitants desire to be sustainable and offers a micro perspective for our planet as a whole.
“As the population of the Earth grows along with our technology, it becomes abundantly apparent that the whole planet is an island in the cosmic sea and that these concepts are not only applicable, but also essential to how we treat our “island” home,” said Laaback.
Along with great music and locally sourced food, Flow Festival will be offering workshops and classes. Many of these are based around how to be a better steward of the land and better understanding of Hawaiian culture. Check out their website for more information!
