In 2025, the Look Out for Our Planet campaign made its mark in 2025, running alongside the Look Out for Each Other campaign(launched in 2022). The campaign involved engaging with festival goers to get involved in the festival’s sustainable efforts and highlighted actions the festival was taking in key areas of energy, plastic, food and travel –including introducing a new solar powered food and beverage area – Reading Refuel.
Highlights
- Themed campsites, including revamped - The Meadow.
- Site wide Look Out for Our Planet campaign.
- Collaborations with Climate Live, No Music on a Dead Planet, Every Can Counts.
- Partnership with The Co-op rewarding campers who took their tents home.
- Reading Refuel area – solar powered food vendors and bar.
Campaign Overview
The campaign spanned the entire festival experience—from the first line up announcement to Monday morning after the festival. It launched on Earth Day with 250k views on social media and featured a tent guide, encouraging borrowing or investing in durable tents. At the festival, the message was reinforced through arena screen animations, app notifications, and social media posts, aiming to inspire over 100,000 attendees to take meaningful environmental action. Both Look Out for The Planet and Look Out for Each Other campaigns are grounded in behaviour change theory, promoting intrinsic values like community and connection to inspire pro-environmental and social behaviours (Ref: The Values Map – CC Foundation).
Themed Campsites: Introducing The Meadow
Eco-campsites have been long-standing features since 2022 – encouraging campers to reduce waste, recycle, and leave no trace behind at the end of the festival.
In 2025, the eco-camp was revamped as The Meadow - one of the four new themed campsites focussed on community building and connection.
The aim of the themed campsites was to elevate the camping experience, and for campers to feel a sense of community and belonging in their chosen area.
Each offered unique activities and upgraded facilities, including chemical-free vacuum toilets, showers, “Get Ready with Me” stations, and a strong “leave no trace” ethos.
Over 10,000 attendees booked into The Meadow, committing to the Planet Pledge:
- Leave the campsite as found—take your tent home
- Respect fellow campers - be inclusive and curious
- Respect the environement-recycle and use facilities provided
Sustainable Features and Activities
The Meadow featured compost toilets, showers, recycling points, and a dedicated green team. In partnership with Climate Live, it hosted eco-workshops like upcycling, jewellery making, and nature poetry, which were well-attended and fostered environmental dialogue.
The results were clear: compared to the non-themed camps there was less litter, high recycling engagement, and high numbers of tents taken home in The Meadow.
Recycle to Win
The campaign rewarded positive behaviour across the entire festival. Green team volunteers enrolled campers in the Recycle to Win initiative. Those who kept tidy camps and used recycling points were entered into a prize draw for experiences like side-of-stage access, 2026 tickets, and merch bundles. Over 2,000 entries were received, with 20+ prizes awarded. In the arena the popular cup and can deposit return scheme continued.
Take It Home Rewards
On the final days, the focus shifted to tent return. In partnership with Co-op,10,000 money-off vouchers were distributed to campers who packed up their tents. This contributed to an estimated 65% of tents taken home.
Reading Refuel: Sustainable Food& Energy
Reading Refuel debuted in2025 as a new food and beverage area in the campsite, created by Central Fusion Limited and Festival Republic. It showcased sustainable practices by food vendors and educated attendees on the festival’s environmental impact.
Key features included:
- 10 plinths with sustainability messaging on emissions, recycling, food sourcing, and travel.
- 40 solar panels powering eight food stalls and a bar, supported by battery storage and biofuel generator
- Up to 18kW of energy, saving ~1,000 litres of HVO fuel and reducing generator use by 75%
Energy usage was monitored by Metpow to inform future improvements in efficiency.