Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Tape Use in Live Event Production
- John Moore
- Apr 7
- 2 min read
At every gig, live event professionals engage in two particularly wasteful practices involving tape.
'Gaffa' tape is used to secure cables on the floor to prevent trip hazards, and 'Sparky' tape is used to secure coiled cables ready for safe transit.
Both products use a variety of difficult to recycle materials such as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
Confidence Digital puts reducing environmental impact as a high priority, and we do what we can to reduce waste and increase the use of recyclable materials.
One area we can eliminate tape usage completely is by using cable mats to cover cables that cross doorways. This has another advantage in that is also very quick to deploy, and its easy to add extra cables. so not only does it reduce tape usage, it saves time
Of course it simply isn't possible to use matts everywhere, and 'gaffa' tape remains an essential part of our consumables kit on every job we do.
To do our bit for the environment we use Le Mark group's MagTape™ Ultra - Environmentally-Conscious Gaffer Tape. It might be a bit more expensive than regular tape, but its 100% toluene free, has low VOC content, reduced chemical release agents and uses a natural rubber based, residue resistant adhesive. It represents a huge leap forward in the pursuit of producing an environmentally friendly gaffer tape, and Confidence Digital uses it exclusively for all its 'Gaffa' tape stock.
The other task that needs tape is coiling cables at the end of every show. Of course we do have some shorter cable that use velcro cable ties which stay with the cable and are used show after show, but these don't work well for every type of cable we have - and we have a lot of cables!
So for more traditional cable coiling we use Paper-Tak™.
This tough, self-adhesive paper tape is completely PVC-Free. It is made using 70% crepe paper and has a widely recycled packaging roll core
It's perfect for the job, and reduces the plastic in our world.
To talk to us about how we can reduce your environmental impact on your next in person, virtual, or hybrid event, get in touch at hello@confidence-digital.com
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