Coachella kicks off this week, and I’ve been thinking about it in a way that will surprise exactly zero of you: as a sustainability paradox. Somewhere out there, a 22-year-old is putting together a festival “haul” for TikTok featuring $9 crop tops that will be landfilled by June. 

Here’s what we’re getting into:

• Why the biggest sustainability threat to Coachella has nothing to do with disposable cups
• What the festival is actually doing right
• How the festival fashion quietly became sustainable (and how to sustainably dress for the desert) 

When I think about Coachella’s environmental impact, I think about mountains of plastic cups, abandoned tents, and food waste baking in the Indio sun. These things are real, but the biggest culprit isn’t on the festival grounds at all. Audience travel accounts for up to 80% of a festival’s total carbon footprint before the festival has even kicked off. It’s not the 125,000 daily attendees drinking overpriced rose, not the generators, not the stages. It’s the way people get there, and a single flight to the desert can outweigh everything else you do that weekend combined. Because the festival is in the middle of a Californian desert, the average festival produces tens of thousands of tons of carbon over three days. By some estimates, this is roughly 20kg of CO2 per attendee per day, and most of that is people driving from LA in single-occupancy vehicles or flying in from out of state. This genuinely changes where you attention should go: choosing paper cups over plastic at the vendor stall is nice, but also not the move that determines your festival footprint. 

Coachella gets a lot of sustainability criticism, but honestly some of it is lazy. Here’s an honest read:

The things working:

•   The TRASHed: Art of Recycling program (running since 2004) commissions local artists to design recycling bins as installations — so the bins themselves become something worth noticing. If you're going to have thousands of waste stations, might as well make people want to use them.

•   The 10-for-1 exchange: bring in ten empty water bottles, get a full one back. Simple behavior incentive, surprisingly effective.

•   The Oasis Water Bar serves purified water that started as wastewater. Yes, really. It's a public education moment disguised as a refreshment station

•   Carpoolchella: if you arrive with four or more people in the car, you're entered to win lifetime VIP passes. Incentive-based sustainability done right — no lectures required.

•   In 2023, the festival diverted around 300 tons of waste through composting and recycling. That's real.

The things not working:

•   Most headliners and some guests arrive by private plane. We’ve talked about this before. It’s no bueno. 

•   Only around 20% of waste at the festival is actually recycled, which means the ambitious programs are doing meaningful work, but the overall diversion rate still has a long way to go.

•   The shuttle system costs $140. For a festival that's already $599+ per ticket, that pricing makes the more sustainable transportation option feel like a luxury, not a default.

Festival Fashion’s Quite Glow-Up

For about a decade, Coachella was the annual launchpad for the fast fashion haul. Free People, ASOS, PrettyLittleThing — every retailer launched a 'Desert Daze' edit. The vibe was maximalist, disposable, and deeply Tumblr. Flower crowns were $8. So was the whole ethos.

Something shifted around 2022. Hailey Bieber showed up in a white tank and Levi's. Kendall Jenner looked practically corporate. Bella Hadid wore thrifted separates. The cool-girl move stopped being 'more' and started being 'interesting.' And quietly, without anyone making it a whole thing, sustainable fashion became the aspirational choice.

This year, the trends that are dominating — vintage denim, archival-inspired pieces, retro band tees, handmade accessories — are all things that reward thrift stores, clothing swaps, and your own closet over a fast fashion haul. Clairo's Weekend One look featured an archival Dior lace bra layered with sheer panels and a pearl-embellished skirt. Lady Gaga opened in a Mugler piece. These are not $9 crop tops. This means that for once, the most fashionable choice and the most sustainable choice are pointing in the same direction. That doesn't happen often. Let's use it.

How To Dress Desert Without Buying New

•   Start in your own closet. The most sustainable outfit is one you already own. A denim jacket worn differently, a scarf repurposed as a top, vintage pieces you already love — these actually photograph better than a haul because they're yours.

•   Do a clothing swap before you buy anything. Reach out to friends or local Buy Nothing groups. Festival wear is exactly the category people have sitting unworn.

•   Thrift with a purpose. Vintage band tees, boho dresses, denim cutoffs — all the classic Coachella staples exist in massive quantity at secondhand shops and on Depop/Poshmark. You'll find something more distinctive than whatever Revolve is pushing this week.

•   If you need something specific, rent it. Rent the Runway and Nuuly both cover festival-ready pieces, and this is exactly the use case they're designed for: one-wear items you'd otherwise buy and never touch again.

•   When buying new is unavoidable, apply the versatility test: will this work in my actual life after the festival? If not, reconsider.