Printer Friendly Version

St. Aloysius Church Festival is a neighborhood event in West Allis, WI held annually in early June which attracts over 15,000 attendees. Features include a wide variety of food, rides, games, musical entertainment, family dinners and home-made goods. St. Aloysius is the first festival of its kind in the area to participate in a pilot program offering reusable souvenir cups and discounted refills for beer.

A bright blue reusable souvenir cup featuring the St. Aloysius logo in gold printing (school colors) was a highly visible and distinctive color, making it easier for attendees and volunteers to see and allowed for easy sorting of cups at the festival's end. Messages on the cup read "Use this cup for refills", "Take cup home and reuse", and "St. Al's supports recycling & waste reduction." Of the 6,700 cups used at this event, 1,800 were collected for recycling and over 4,800 were estimated to have been taken home by festival-goers for reuse. Over 9,000 refills were served in the reusable cups.
	Festival organizers were highly impressed with the refill program. The 25¢ discount on beer refills was the single most instrumental factor in the high success rate. An estimated waste reduction rate of 65-75% was achieved, which means the event's hauling costs were cut by more than half. The clean-up crew reported that they spent 70% less time cleaning up the grounds each night.
All soda beverages were sold in 20 oz. # 1 plastic bottles which were collected for recycling. Twelve PETE's big green bins (provided by NAPCOR and made from recycled green soda bottles) were placed next to trash containers to collect the soda bottles and unwanted souvenir cups. Over 4,225 bottles or 265 pounds were collected.
Signage was an important factor in informing festival-goers about this new program. Large signs stating "RECYCLE YOUR SOUVENIR CUPS HERE" were placed above the green bins and large signs stating "REFILL YOUR SOUVENIR CUPS HERE" and "25¢ DISCOUNT" were placed at all cash registers in the beer tents. The volunteer bartenders were very helpful in telling patrons about the refill program.
Suggestions for increased participation at future events would be to have a volunteer stationed at every recycling bin who would direct festival-goers in the proper placement of their cup or bottle. It is also imperative to place a recycling container next to each trash container, both with signage indicating "CUPS/BOTTLES ONLY" and 'TRASH ONLY."