Bass Coast 2025
Food Vendor Sustainability Agreement
WELCOME FOOD VENDORS
Bass Coast is determined to become a leader in sustainability within the festival industry. We hope that all food vendors respect the environment and the local community.
The use of compostable bioplastics are only permitted if they are BPI certified; it is recommended that food vendors use paper or wood products from our preferred suppliers below. The Bass Coast Sustainability team must approve all service ware used.
COMPOSTABLE / BIODEGRADABLE SERVING WARE
- ONLY compostable serving ware may be distributed by food vendors. Any vendor found distributing serving ware that is not compostable or biodegradable will be asked to cease selling until they can source the correct serving ware.
- All napkins must be made from recycled, unbleached material.
- All utensils and compostable packaging are made of paper, wood, or are BPI certified compostable.
- Look for the following logo:
- For reference, check the sticker on all compostable bins. Access the sticker image through this link.
- We encourage patrons to bring their own utensils and containers. We ask Food Vendors to serve food or drinks in/on a patron’s own reusable serving ware. There will be a sink in the food vending area for patrons to wash their dishes.
- All decorations and display materials must be reusable.
If you need any supplier suggestions, here are 2 companies that vendors use:
- https://boxandlid.com/ located in Kelowna, will ship anywhere in BC
- BSIBIO has provided some discounts for Bass Coast vendors in 2024. To be updated in 2025.
PACKAGING & MATERIALS
- Reduce: Be conscious of packaging materials and quantity when selecting products and supplies.
- No individually wrapped items: i.e. condiments, seasonings.
- Remove non-recyclable/compostable packaging materials before serving them to customers to ensure proper disposal (e.g., do NOT serve coconuts with plastic wrap still attached).
- No sales of beverages in glass bottles are permitted.
- NO WATER BOTTLES TO BE SOLD ONSITE. Free water is available throughout the site. Beverages in aluminum cans are preferred to plastic bottles. No water in Tetra Paks can be sold.
- Only chemical-free soaps should be used, and only in dishwashing sinks.
WASTE / RESOURCES
Vendors must sort their waste (landfill, mixed recycling, returnables, compost, flattened cardboard) into bags and leave it behind their trucks for collection by the Green Team.
- Vendors are required to bring and manage their own kitchen waste receptacles, ensuring proper separation of landfill, recyclables, returnables, and compostable materials into separate streams in their kitchen area before placing into bags behind their trucks for collection. The cardboard should be flattened and unbagged.
- The vendor must sort and bag all operational refuse in CLEAR bags (except flattened cardboard boxes). Bags should be thick enough for the heaviness of your waste materials. For reference, a 55-gallon liner should be at least 1mil thick. Black, green or any other coloured bags will NOT be accepted.
- Cardboard boxes must be flattened and neatly stacked, or they will not be picked up. PLEASE DO NOT bag cardboard.
- Do not overfill bags with heavy compost. Bags of dense food scraps that cannot be easily lifted or are judged to likely break during transport will not be picked up. Break it down into smaller bags when in doubt.
- Vendors are expected to bring enough waste supplies to last throughout the festival. Should extra supplies be required in an emergency situation, please contact the Green Team.
SORTING GUIDE
COMPOST
- ALL FOOD waste, including meat, seafood, dairy, and bones, and all vegetable and fruit scraps
- Soiled, unlined paper and cardboard
- Production and/or Green Team-approved Vendor-provided plates, cups, and cutlery. If in doubt, it should have a BPI certification” on it.
- Untreated wood
- ALL WET, ORGANIC MATERIAL
RECYCLING
- PLEASE RINSE YOUR RECYCLING
- Clean hard plastic, #1-7 (including the non-compostable type of plastic cups), excluding beverage containers (these go into returnables)
- Plastic caps, tops, lids, and pumps
- Clean tin cans
- Aerosol cans (empty)
- All other metals, excluding aluminum cans (these go into returnables)
- Foil wrap and take out containers
- Dry, flattened, broken-down cardboard
- Dry, unsoiled paper
SPECIAL RECYCLING
The below items can be brought to the ECO HUB:
- Cigarette butts (these can be disposed of and recycled in the butt bin at the Eco Hub or in the butt bins. In all other cases, cigarette butts are landfill.)
- Batteries
- Electronic waste
- Empty propane tanks
- Untreated wood
- Clean, soft plastics (plastic bags and plastic wrap)
RETURNABLES
- PLEASE RINSE ALL RETURNABLES
- LEAVE LIDS ON
- Aluminium cans
- Plastic drink bottles
- Tetra Pak/Gable Top containers
- Glass containers (bottles, jars)
- ALL BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
LANDFILL
- Chip bags & candy wrappers
- Styrofoam
- Soiled plastic bags & plastic wraps
- Soiled recyclables that cannot be cleaned
- ALL WET, DIRTY, UNCLEANABLE INORGANIC MATERIAL
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Do not dispose of kitchen waste in front of house bin stations. Bin stations are for attendee use only and are not for vendor kitchen waste.
- Please do not place trash receptacles outside the front of your vending space for patron use. This becomes mixed waste that needs to be sorted.
- Food Vendors are responsible for the recycling of any cooking oil off-site at a designated facility.
We will be conducting greening inspections on Mon. July 14. There is a $200 refundable Leave No Trace deposit to ensure booth spaces are left clean. You must check out with your vendor zone manager when your space is ready for inspection.
- If your booth is left in an unacceptable condition, you will not receive your LNT deposit back. You may also not be allowed to vend at Bass Coast in the future. Leave No Trace.
FOOD SELECTION
- Vendors agree to use seasonal, organic, and local produce whenever possible.
- Vendors will use fair trade and organic food and beverages when available.
- Vendors will use fair trade, organic, free-range, and hormone-free meats whenever possible.
SUBHEADER: FOOD RECOVERY
- Please contact the Nicola Valley Food Bank to see if they would like to receive any unwanted food.
1 (250) 378-2282
If you have any questions regarding this agreement, please contact info@basscoast.ca