Volunteering at Summer Camp last year was a wonderful opportunity to meet the goodness, face to face, in the community that this music festival brings together. I worked the Green Team, with two recycling/trash shifts, and much of my job was reminding folks what bin their waste needed to be disposed in. I was positively uplifted by how much gratitude people gave to me for doing this. At first I hesitated to bug people, but I saw quickly I needn’t be: many people were happy to learn what was compostable and what wasn’t, and I received so many thank you’s and smiles for my simple reminders. Many came up to me and asked what was trash and what was recycle-able. A few were happy to reach back into the trash for a compostable plate, even when I didn’t ask them to. Between shows, when I walked around the field to pick up, again people would thank me for my work, and some even helped pick up bottles. I could see they cared about the values of being “green”, caring about the land that gives so much to us, and caring about our impact on it. In short, my favorite memory is the people, and their good intention, energy and heart that shows we, our generation, our sub-culture, or at least us Campers, are ready to do things a little more kindly.
Here is my colorful team and I (I’m on the right) at the beginning of the fest, bright eyed and clean
I can’t wait to come back to the music, energy, and community of the year’s Summer Camp, VIP tickets or not. Looking forward to seeing you in a few months, Campers!!
Peace and Love
