A million biodegradable tent pegs will be given to festival goers

Festival organiser Michael Eavis said he was delighted the mountain of boots had been found a new lease of life.

The shipment left for Senegal on Wednesday after being cleaned of mud.

"We've been keeping tonnes of them rather than put them into landfill and now the Africans are going to wear them, isn't that great," said Mr Eavis.

Pegs kill cows

"Every single welly will be worn by an African which is really fantastic," he added.

This year the festival has the theme 'love the farm - leave no trace'.

To tie in with this festival goers will be handed 10 biodegradable tent pegs each on arrival.

The pegs, made from potato starch, will disintegrate over four months unlike traditional metal pegs which prove lethal to the cows who live on Worthy Farm the rest of the year.

"We're giving out a million of these and are asking people not to use metal pegs," said Michael Eavis.

"The metal ones caused trouble for the cows after being chopped up by the harvester and going into the cows' feed," said Mr Eavis.

"They're so nasty and sharp and they don't always kill the cow straight away - it can take a year.

Radiohead praise

"I can't believe we haven't thought of this biodegradable tent peg idea before, " he added.

"All tents will be monitored to ensure these pegs are being used on the farm during the festival."

Staying on the eco-theme Mr Eavis said he was delighted by the immediate reaction he had had from Thom Yorke of Radiohead after it was reported the band would not be playing this year's festival because of its huge carbon footprint.

"A third of our people come by public transport - some come by coaches and trains so Thom Yorke has put a great page up today on his site saying Glastonbury has the best transport policy, the greenest, least CO2-polluting policy that there is. So it's great I can't believe it," said Michael Eavis.

"We're forcing some people now to come on buses; they can't get a ticket without getting a bus ticket.

"It works because there's a lot more room for the festival because the farm isn't filled up with car parks so it's a brilliant solution," he added.

Glastonbury Festival takes place over the weekend 27-29 June 2008. Registration for tickets closes at midnight on Friday 14 March and tickets go on sale on Sunday 6 April.