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Keep the grass clean while listening to the bluegrass, folks.

So says the District government, in so many words, as part of a “zero waste” intiative to take place at the Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival tomorrow. The all-day celebration along the Anacostia River draws hundreds of listeners each year. But this is the first in which attendees will “be encouraged to use multi-bin zero waste stations to meet the goal of diverting 80 percent or better of all waste, recycling, and composting”—a benchmark set by a 2014 waste-management law, according to the District Department of Energy & Environment, the Department of Public Works, and the Living Classrooms Foundation, which manages the island.

The three groups will do the following to get to “zero waste” at Saturday’s festival, per a joint release:

  • “Distributing reusable drinking cups to all attendees and requesting that all outside food brought by participants be in reusable containers.
  • Requiring all food vendors to use only compostable food service ware, i.e. plates, bowls, and cups.
  • Designing onsite signage and messaging to support maximum recycling and composting.
  • Designing and managing zero waste stations—multi-bin waste, compost, and recycling collection systems – that will be positioned throughout the venue. Recruiting and training zero waste station volunteers.
  • Measuring and reporting the results of the event’s waste diversion and recovery efforts.”

On a transit-related note, if festival-goers are wondering how to get to and from Kingman Island on Saturday, the District government and organizers have been plugging for the H Street–Benning Road streetcar:

You can see tomorrow’s lineup and schedule here. It will be the seventh such Kingman Island festival.

2013 festival photo courtesy Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival; map via Living Classrooms