The photos above may look like the aftermath of a disaster, but in fact, concert-goers created this destruction.

Music festivals are a summertime tradition for millions, but the heavily populated events have their downfalls and imperfections, one of which is the huge amount of trash these pop-up cities can leave behind. Large music festivals like the Glastonbury Festival, Coachella and Lollapalooza create a massive carbon footprint when taking into account trash, energy consumption and the commute of thousands.

, a number reported by The Guardian, this year’s Glastonbury Festival produced an estimated 1,800 tons of waste, from thousands of plastic beverage bottles and unfinished meals to , according to the Daily Mail.

“Camping gear is so cheap these days that people seem to make it part of their festival package budget and don’t bother to take it with them when they leave,” . This is especially true if a group is pitching in to cover accomodations together. In 2012, more than 20 tons of reusable equipment, including unopened containers of food, were salvaged from the Reading Festival grounds and donated to charities.

The Glastonbury Festival has a Leave No Trace campaign, which works to raise awareness of the humongous litter problem caused by the music festival every year at Worthy Farm, where the event is held. Festival-goers are encouraged to reduce their bottled water consumption by drinking the safe tap water provided on the grounds, and attendees can easily refill reusable water recepticles, which everyone is encouraged to bring. The festival’s website . Attendees are given black bags for trash and green bags for recycling at the entrance, but not all can be bothered to clean up their messes.

Some left-behind waste, such as tent spikes, is difficult to spot for cleanup crews. Grazing cows at Worthy Farm have died in the past from ingesting the stray tent spikes, so tractors with magnetic strips must cover every inch of the camp site grounds.

Still, eco-responsibility is at the core of a few music festivals. Lightning in a Bottle, a Bradley, California, music, yoga and arts festival, even creates its stages from recycled materials. The event is partially solar-powered, and festival-goers who drive solo are charged $30. However, with a 14,000 person attendance, Lightning in a Bottle is only a fraction of the size of the most populated festivals, making a smaller carbon footprint an easier feat.

Eco-responsibility really lies with each individual festival attendee. But that “organizers can change folks’ behavor patterns. It involves providing the right incentives, the right penalties and, perhaps more than anything else, making it easy to be green.”