Your SXSW Sustainability Solution

Use the Austin Materials Marketplace to find new homes for surplus materials

The official cancellation of SXSW 2020 is unofficially the biggest bummer of the year. With the loss of an economic opportunity worth around $350 million, many of us are working to find new ways to support those directly impacted by loss of work and find responsible uses for the food, beverages and materials originally meant to service the roughly 73,000 attendees. Of course, local creativity and innovation will prevail as alternative events absorb opportunities left stranded by the conference, local programs help redirect resources, and panel organizers consider the practicality of virtual conferencing in lieu. 

Many of us working in Austin’s zero-waste community are concerned by the large amount of perishable food, promotional “swag,” service-ware items, construction materials, and furniture that may be orphaned by the cancellation. If your SXSW event or activation has surplus items available, please use the Austin Materials Marketplace to sell, trade, donate, or recycle locally. 

In years past, the Austin Materials Marketplace has worked with SXSW activators to build materials recovery programs that maximize environmental and social impact through recycling and donation opportunities. From 2017-2019 we diverted nearly 11,892 cubic feet of SXSW materials from landfill which translates to about 21 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions avoided. The program has been so successful that we even replicated it the fall of 2018 and 2019 with ACL Music Fest.

This Spring, we had already been helping event producers meet sustainability goals and cut costs with material recovery services as part of their post-festival plan. Now with many events and venues unable to open their doors at all, the need to move surplus and unused materials is greater than ever anticipated. Fortunately, many community leaders have already stepped in to address the urgency of moving expirable food and hopefully recover related costs, but some challenging items still remain.

Over the years we’ve built a comprehensive network of Austin-area charities, recyclers, reusers, repurposers, and recreatives capable of keeping just about everything (except for dirty diapers) out of landfills. Additionally, as another local nonprofit, we’re looking forward to extending our services to more partners than ever before this season and helping our amazing community overcome the challenges brought to us by one unlovable virus. 

Stay weird. Stay green.