I joined the Green Team for the first time at Summer Camp 2012. I have been going to the Summer Camp Music Festival with friends consistently since 2008, and the Green Team experience made Summer Camp 2012 the best one yet! I joined the Green Team because sustainability is close to my heart. I currently spend my days studying Environmental Biology and Ecology in my college courses. I
love to advocate recycling and composting. I live in an Eco House on campus at SIUE, I research the benefits of Green Roof Systems, am an active member in the Student Organization for Sustainability, and I am an intern with Focus the Nation. I loved getting the chance to share my knowledge with open-minded campers at Chillicothe, IL.
My favorite memory of the Green Team was educating people on the importance of recycling and composting, especially when Summer Camp Music Festival has made it so easy! I was rewarding sweaty recyclers by spraying them with my mister and squirt gun at the bar by the Moonshine Stage during one of my shifts on May 25th. By noon the temperature had reached up into the high 90’s and everyone was dripping in sweat. Some people looked miserable and some campers were red and panting. After a person properly recycled or composted an item that they were ready to part from, I sprayed them with a water gun. The bar tenders gave me ice to load up my water gun each time after it was emptied. The reaction on some of their faces was priceless. Some people acted like I saved their lives in the almost unbearable heat of the midday. After I sprayed the friendly campers with ice-cold water, many stopped to chat. I talked to everyone I could that walked past, hoping to open their eyes to the environmental importance of composting and recycling. I talked highly of the food venues that used compostable plates and cups. I told them about the ‘plastic island’ in the ocean that is twice the size of Texas and promoted the Summer Camp Music Festival’s ‘Think Outside the Bottle’ reusable water bottle.
It seemed to me, on that day, that everyone at Summer Camp was a temple of good vibes and open minds. I loved getting those few seconds with hundreds of people to share with them the importance of sustaining our environment. I explained to them that one person may not save the earth, but one action can save the person. Being sustainable isn’t about saving the world, it is a lifestyle. It is a way for individuals to be the best person they can be. Everyone can make a difference. Recycling and composting are ways for an entire community of festival-goers to give back to the land we dance, live, grow, and celebrate life on. I appreciate Summer Camp Music Festival’s enormous effort to be respectful to Three Sisters Park and our environment here in Illinois. Keep up the good work and I will be back to volunteer at Summer Camp 2013! I attached a photo of me and my new Green Team friends at the Summer Camp Music Festival 2012.
