Our wonderful staff spent the past four days at the Vera Stage in the Seattle Center handing out over 3,000 earplugs to concertgoers at the 41st Annual Northwest Folklife Festival.
Many people think that hearing is something that goes away as you get older and there is nothing that you can do to prevent hearing loss. It was our goal at the Northwest Folklife Festival to let people know that it is what you do to your ears today that makes a difference in your hearing tomorrow…including protecting your ears from the dangers of loud sounds! The average concert can crank up the volume to damaging levels of 100-120 decibels (dB). Hearing damage has been noted to occur when sounds exceed 85 dB. When dealing with noises over this range, it is important to use ear protection.
By properly wearing the over-the-counter foam earplugs we distributed at the festival, wearers reduced their sound exposure by at least 30dB, placing their ears in a safer listening level. And another pro tip…pairing earplug use with limited time exposure, ensures an even safer listening experience.
We were so honored to have met the thousands of people that dropped by our booth with hearing and speech questions, and to see both children and adults embrace the knowledge of better hearing walking away from our booth with their newly obtained earplugs inserted. View photos from the weekend at our facebook page!
