Zero Waste Vendor Info

Dear Vendors:

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Thank you for participating in the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. We have established a goal of diverting 85-90 percent of the waste generated at the festival from landfills and incinerators.

 

We accomplish this by including compostable, disposable service-ware items with food waste. We then compost these in a commercial composting facility where enough heat is generated to break down these materials. 

 

Beginning this year – 2026 – the Hudson Valley Galic Festival (HVGF) will require food vendors to purchase all compostable service-ware that will be used on site from us. We are purchasing in bulk the compostable products we will allow for use on site.  We will no longer be posting a list of pre-approved products for you to purchase.

 

You will be required to order the materials you need to serve your food item(s) by a pre-determined date.  When you arrive to set up on the Friday before the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival, you will be directed to pick up the products you ordered.

 

There will be no added cost for purchasing through HVGF.  The price we pay is the price you will be charged.  We are not doing this for profit; this is to ensure that all materials being used on site during the Festival are approved and compostable products.  We will have some additional stock available for purchase should you run out during the Festival.

 

 Experience over the past five years of hosting a Zero Waste Festival has shown this may be the best way to ensure compliance with our requirements. Any violations of use in approved service-ware products will result in your booth being shut down and a decision to not allow you to participate in future events held by the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival.  

Some additional guidelines for vendors at a ZERO WASTE festival:

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• Condiments cannot be single-serving packets. All ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. must be dispensed in bulk. (suggest gallon pump bottles or similar)

• Milk and creamers cannot be single-serving. These must be dispensed in bulk, or “community” milk cartons.

• Paper sugar packets can be used. (Sugar, Splenda, Equal, etc.). They can go in with the food waste

• No foil or plastic wrapped products are acceptable.

 

By instituting these practices, we are able to achieve a clean sort:

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• Food waste and compostable disposables will be composted

• Cans, plastic bottles, and glass will be recovered for recycling

• Cardboard will be recovered for recycling

 

We will be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.