Mountainfilm's Green Evolution

Mountainfilm has always been committed to preserving our fragile environment. We actively recycle or reuse everything that we can to minimize our waste output and we collaborate with other organizations that share our beliefs, but this year we've stepped it up a notch.

By generating electricity with biodiesel, Mountainfilm 2007 reduced its carbon footprint by 78%!

Using a local 100 kilowatt biodiesel generator, we supplied enough power to the San Miguel Power grid to energize our festival for the ENTIRE WEEKEND and our festival offices FOR THE YEAR! Our biodiesel is refined entirely from the fry oil of regional restaurants and represents a truly unique and renewable way to power our festival. Thanks to generous donations from Eric Jacobson and the San Miguel Power Association, we are able to substitute the comforting smell of French fries for the noxious carbon emissioins of fossil fuels.

Minimum waste initiative continues!

Mountainfilm 2007 continued its efforts to be a minimum-waste festival by implementing a thorough on-site recycling and composting program. Attendees drank New Belgium beer (the nation's first wind-powered brewery) from cups made of corn. The Symposium lunch was a localvore's delight with the seasonal ingredients limited to a 100-mile radius from Telluride. During the Festival, organic meals were feasted upon with compostable forks and plates made from sugarcane. At the conclusion of the Festival, a local farm made compost from the festival's organic waste. In due time, vegetables will grow from the soil fertilized by refuse generated by our 2007 festival. Additionally, most of the complimentary treats were natural, organic, or shade-grown and created by socially conscious organizations. And, of course, all of our printed collateral is on recycled paper using soy inks.

90% of festival trash was either composted or recycled!