Rachel Owens
Sopris Sun Correspondent
At the 2026 Mountain Fair, the Green Team, a group of volunteers focused on waste diversion, achieved a 92% diversion rate, keeping 92% of the waste produced at the fair out of the landfill. Sixty-eight percent of that waste was diverted to compost and 30% was diverted to recycling, according to the team.
“The Green Team helps to reduce the Fair’s footprint, or “fairprint,” by reducing, composting and recycling fair waste to keep it out of local landfills,” Green Team member Malcolm McMichael wrote in an email. “With the public’s help, thoughtful supply procurement and properly sorting waste stations we have maintained a diversion rate of 90%-plus for many years.”
The team, which gathered at Townline Trucks on Aug. 19 to celebrate this year’s accomplishment, has diverted 500,000 pounds of waste from landfills into either recycling or composting since they first started keeping records of their diversion in 2003. Green Team supervisors feel Mountain Fair’s 92% diversion of waste is a major accomplishment.
“For example, the notable Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park celebrates an 89% diversion rate,” Supervisor Jason White, who crunches the numbers on behalf of the team, wrote in an email. “They see about 225,000 attendees over three days and divert about 330,000 pounds from the landfill, or about 1.5 pounds per attendee. Our humble Carbondale Mountain Fair sees about 25,000 attendees and we diverted about 28,000 pounds this year, or nearly 1 pound per attendee.”
To achieve this, Green Team has a lot of help and support. The group consists of about 170-plus volunteers, and has
the help of EverGreen ZeroWaste, a Carbondale-based waste-
management organization, as well as Carbondale Arts.
Consisting of people of all ages, the Green Team volunteers said they chose to join the organization because they care about their home and planet,
enjoy volunteering and find it meaningful work, appreciate educating people about waste diversion and find the events fun to be a part of.