At Cary Art Daze, we believe that creativity and sustainability go hand in hand. Our festivals are committed to reducing waste, promoting eco-friendly practices, and inspiring our community to be mindful of their environmental impact. Here’s how we’re making Cary Art Daze greener:

🥡 Compostable Serviceware – We’re working to minimize waste long before festival day! We work closely with our food vendors to ensure all serviceware is compostable including pizza boxes, clamshells, plates, cups, and sauce containers. This not only reduces the environmental footprint but also promotes composting and sustainable waste management solutions. With this requirement, confusion over which waste bin to use is greatly reduced.

🍴 Compostable Cutlery – Cary provides food vendors with compostable forks, spoons, and knives instead of plastic. This simple solution simplifies disposal choices to help attendees know what goes where, and lessens contamination in the compost bins.

🌿 Tri-Stream Waste Disposal
Attendees are encourage to use one of 50+ waste disposal stations throughout the festival. Each station offers a compost bin, a recycle bin, and a trash bin with clear signage showcasing images of items accepted in each bin! Please help us by sorting your waste properly!

🥤 Bring Your Own Bottle – Hydration stations are available at Cary Art Daze festivals, so bring your reusable water bottle to reduce single-use plastic waste.

♻️ Eco-Friendly Vendors – Many of our artists and food vendors use sustainable materials and packaging. Look for vendors with our Green Guarantee Badge to support businesses making an eco-difference.

🚶‍♀️ Walk, Bike, or Ride – Reduce your carbon footprint by using our Festival shuttle, GoCary public transit, biking to the event, or carpooling with friends and family.

🌱 Community Education – Visit Earth Day Lane in section A at Spring Daze for fun activities and tips on how to make your everyday life more sustainable.

Together, we can make Cary Art Daze festivals that celebrate both art and our planet. Thank you for doing your part to keep our community beautiful!

LOW WASTE INITIATIVE

Beginning with Lazy Daze 2024, food vendors were required to adhere to the Low Waste Initiative.

The NEW efforts included:

• Cary provided all compostable cutlery (forks, spoons, knives) and beer cups to food vendors.
• 50+ compost receptacles with signage, adding to the existing 3 bins at waste stations.
• Increased volunteerism and event training for low waste operations, including partnering with Toward Zero Waste.

The 2024 Lazy Daze outcomes were:

• Favorable acceptance and compliance by food vendors in the use of reusable, recyclable, and compostable service ware.
• Over 4,000lbs of compostable material collected, a substantial increase from before the requirement.
• Highly satisfied festival goers making a difference in Cary's environment.

BANNER BAGS PROJECT

At Spring Daze 2024, Art Daze Staff upcycled banners from previous Spring Daze and Lazy Daze Festivals into unique tote bags. This project practices landfill diversion, one of the most important tactics to maintain a sustainable & resilient Cary and a simple way to Cary it Green.

Read more about this project and how these one-of-a-kind bags came to be!

Awards & Recognition 

US Composting Council - Organics Diversion Program of the Year

In 2025, Cary became the first municipality to ever receive the Organics Diversion Program of the Year Award. This award, presented by the U.S. Composting Council, recognizes outstanding achievements in the composting industry and is among the most prestigious honors in the field. Cary earned this recognition through its food waste drop-off program and composting efforts at Lazy Daze and Spring Daze festivals, which together have diverted 317,497 pounds (159 tons) of food waste from landfills since 2022. Last year, 95% of festival vendors complied with composting standards, and over 4,000 pounds of food waste were diverted at Lazy Daze alone. The success of this program demonstrates Cary's commitment to sustainability and serves as a model for other communities looking to reduce waste and support local agriculture.

SFEA Kaleidoscope Award - Green Initiative Award

Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival has been honored with the Green Initiative Award at the 2025 Southeast Festivals and Events Association (SFEA) Kaleidoscope Awards. This award recognizes the festival’s commitment to sustainability through comprehensive efforts such as our composting program, waste reduction strategies, and enhanced vendor collaboration. These measures reflect our ongoing dedication to environmental responsibility and our vision for creating a cleaner, greener community event.

We are grateful to the SFEA for this recognition and to our staff, volunteers, vendors, and attendees for embracing and supporting these green initiatives. This achievement reinforces Cary’s leadership in hosting innovative, environmentally conscious events, and we look forward to continuing to set the standard for sustainable festivals.