Our Sustainability Commitments

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa is committed to doing everything we can to ensure that Big Gay Out leaves the smallest possible footprint on our natural environment. There’s no pride on a dead planet, so committing ourselves, our event partners, and our attendees to our sustainability goals is essential for Big Gay Out to continue to bring our community together for years to come. Our event takes place on the shores of the Hauraki Gulf, so it’s all the more important that we minimise our environmental impact.

To that end, we have set ourselves the following sustainability goals. While ambitious, these goals are absolutely achievable, but we can’t make it happen without the continued support of our community in attendance.

1: Zero Waste

We engage Clean Event to help us achieve a zero waste event, which means at least 95% of all event waste is diverted from landfill.

On the day, Clean Event provide specific bins to separate out compost, recycling, and general waste. Existing park bins are covered to ensure use of the correct bins, and we station a waste educator at each set of bins to help attendees dispose of their waste correctly.

Unfortunately, do not have provision for recycling soft plastics, so we encourage event attendees to hold onto these and dispose at dedicated recycling stations throughout Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

2: Carbon Net Zero

We are committed to making Big Gay Out a carbon net-zero event.

This requires us to measure accurately the event-based greenhouse gas emissions, as well as develop strategies to manage and reduce these emissions, and offset any remaining emissions via verified native planting carbon credits to achieve a net neutral balance.

While our net zero efforts do not currently extend to attendees’ own travel to and from the event, we encourage Big Gay Out attendees to take advantage of the dedicated event buses and free cycle valet parking to minimise their own environmental impact getting to and from Coyle Park.

Sustainability for attendees

Neither of our sustainability commitments are possible without the support of our Big Gay Out attendees. There are lots of things you can do to help us eliminate waste and reduce emissions, both at the event as well as your travel preparations to and from the park.

Travelling to and from the event:

  • Book a Big Gay Bus: Buses can take you to and from the event from Britomart & Karangahape Rd from only $10 return.

  • Take public transport: Check out AT’s Journey Planner to find your way to Pt Chevalier or one of our Big Gay Bus stops.

  • Cycle: Roll right up to the gate for free secure VIP parking from Bike Auckland, so you can enjoy the event worry-free.

  • Scoot: You can leave e-scooters at the entrance. Just remember to make alternative travel arrangements for the trip home if you’re drinking at the event.

  • Walk: If you live locally, why not walk it? Get your friends and whānau along for the journey!

  • Carpool: If you must drive to the event, consider carpooling. Remember, parking space is very limited around the park.

Thank you for easing congestion, reducing emissions and freeing up space in our city!

At the event:

  • Use the correct bins: We will have waste educators stationed at all bins, so just make sure to follow their instructions.

  • Don’t take flyers if you’re not keeping them: We encourage our stallholders only to give flyers out to people who are genuinely interested, so be sure to politely let them know if you’re not.

  • Bring a drink bottle: We have water stations at the park to refill them.

  • Bio glitter only: It would hardly be a pride event without glitter! Just make sure it’s biodegradable.

Sustainability for staff, performers, vendors & suppliers

These are the commitments we ask of our event staff, our fabulous performers, as well as event vendors and our suppliers, to reduce Big Gay Out’s environmental impact.

Flyers and merchandise:

While we have stopped short of banning flyers outright, we do ask that vendors and stallholders hand these out sparingly, and only to people who are definitely interested in keeping them. Scatter-gun handouts (handing flyers to anyone who happens to walk past) are prohibited.

Merchandise is also fine to be sold or handed out, but we do ask vendors and suppliers to ensure that, where possible, these items are produced and sourced locally, as shipping emissions contribute to our event’s overall carbon footprint.

Waste:

We ask that vendors and stallholders dispose of any waste appropriately, via dedicated bin stations. We also discourage excessive packaging, and the encourage the use of sustainable packaging materials where possible.

Sustainability survey

Sustainable energy sources should be used, where possible. We also ask that stallholders and vendors keep track of their energy usage throughout the event, as this data will be used to ultimately calculate how much carbon we need to offset as a result. This includes all travel to and from the event by staff, stallholders and performers, although currently doesn’t include travel made by event attendees.

Thanks for helping us minimise Big Gay Out’s environmental impact!