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One Nights Tents – Festival camping made easy and sustainable

This article is part of our series on the participants in this year’s Green Challenge Deep Dive at Rockstart. Our 10-day mini-accelerator allows the finalists of the Green Challenge 2014 to refine their business plan and work with our mentors in individualized training sessions. At the end of the program, the companies present their ideas in front of investors and their mentors.

Have you ever camped at a festival? Then you probably know what it’s like to carry your gear either through vast distances of muddy paths, or in the most intense heat of all summer (naturally the second of your arrival, the weather goes crazy – this is a festival after all). After the last band has stopped playing, you are left with your beer-soaked tent and a long way home. A trip that seems even longer after a few days of sleep deprivation and possibly the worst hangover in history.

The result of this ordeal: many festival goers leave their equipment behind, creating staggering amounts of garbage. Pictures of these deserted areas are a disaster. Not only for the public relations of the organizers, but more importantly for the environment. Devin Malone, founder of One Nights Tent, has found a solution for this problem.

One Nights Tent offers campers the possibility to pick up their tent, sleeping bag and air matress right at the festival site. This saves a lot of effort and energy that is better invested in dancing the night away. After the festival has ended, the visitors decide if they want to return the equipment and reclaim their deposit, or take the gear home.

Even if everything is simply left behind, One Nights Tent makes sure that their products do not contribute to the piles of waste. Specifically designed to be eco-friendly, all equipment is recycle- and compostable. Other than conventional camping gear, One Nights Tent has radically reduced the amount of material needed.

That represents a win for all involved parties. The gear can be produced to a cheaper price and the campers have a more convenient arrival and might choose to leave their car back home. For the organizers, the concept leads to a better reputation and reduced waste-disposal costs.

This idea has brought One Nights Tent a lot of media attention. Their service is already in place at two major dutch festivals: Lowlands and Down the Rabbit Hole. For their time in the Green Challenge Deep Dive, the team plans on focusing on developing their brand architecture and team exercises.

Read more about other finalists of the Green Challenge 2014:

bio-bean

Fargreen

Bluerise

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