Many big music festivals are sloppy, dirty affairs–trash is strewn all over the place, there are few easy options for recycling and composting, and sustainability is the last thing on attendees’ minds.  But San Francisco’s Outside Lands music festival, a two-day (formerly three day) production in Golden Gate Park, is different.

Last year, the festival’s organizers did an impressive job of putting all things green front and center. This year was no different. Some of the highlights: the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s valet bike parking (perfect for anyone who didn’t want to brave the cab and bus lines!), the staggering amount of local food (featuring local favorites like Andalu, Philz Coffee, and Maverick’s), and the Panhandle, a smallish solar-powered stage that featured some prominent acts (Garage a Trois and Beats Antique among them). And of course, we greatly appreciated that each trash can was accompanied by compost and recycling bins.

By far the biggest sustainable spectacle was Eco Lands, the festival’s green village. Upon stumbling across Eco Lands last year, our initial reaction was to be annoyed–why do environmental information booths, farmer’s market stands, and worm composting workshops have to be relegated to their own section? Shouldn’t they be integrated into the regular vending and activity areas?  That would be ideal, to be sure, but not every festival offers farmer’s market produce and worm composting stations in the first place. Outside Lands makes a real effort to showcase renewable energy along with local, healthy food,  and important environmental organizations–and that’s more than other festivals can say.

Our biggest complaint: the water situation. Outside Lands features refillable water stations and allows visitors to bring in sealed water bottles, but no open containers (that includes full reusable water bottles) are allowed. It’s a minor nitpick for a festival that otherwise does an excellent job of minimizing its footprint, but we’d love to see the issue fixed by next year.