PART 3:

The success of VANS Warped Tour has empowered me to access even more outlets in my life to educate people about both my experiences and how they can enact change. I’ve attended Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ for the past four years. My campus has had a recycling program for as long as I have been there. However, the inefficiencies of this program began to stand out more and more as I noticed the lack of outreach and student involvement that went along with the program. So, rather than complain and merely accept the fact that Ramapo’s recycling program was going down the drain, I took an (unpaid) position as a recycling collector where my job, along with several other students, was to collect the recyclables from the apartment buildings and dormitories on campus. Each building has an assigned day to put their recycling bins outside of their doors. We collect mixed paper, plastic bottles, cans, and glass, then sort the materials into the appropriate recycling bin. We work efficiently, passionately (as passionate as one can be about drink containers and cardboard), and just plain get the job done.

Other areas on campus where recyclables are produced get handled by maintenance and facilities workers. These other areas do not carry out their jobs as efficiently as we do because, understandably, they like many others don’t hold recycling to the level of importance we do. I, at first, took this concern directly to the president of my college who initially ignored me until I sent him an email, complete with a an examination of how Ramapo College was violating recycling laws that subsidized institutions (such as colleges) must follow, salary information of those responsible for implementing a structured recycling program, and other evidence of how inefficient this sector of the recycling program was. It’s amazing how fast of a response one will receive when you present economic and legal variables into the equation.

Anyway, I state this example not as an illustration of how being sassy gets you you’re way but, as an example of how catching the attention of the right people and getting others involved can create positive change.

My college has also recently signed The President’s Climate Commitment (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/index.php). This is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate. While this is a HUGE undertaking, it is something that is totally possible if implemented correctly and carefully. Since I have been attending Ramapo College, I have witnessed the construction of 3 new buildings, along with extensive renovations to existing structures, all without any substantial attention paid to constructing a more sustainable college atmosphere. Wetlands on the property have been destroyed, trees have been chopped, and pavement has replaced plants and soil. However, now that Ramapo is bound to the Climate Commitment, every decision that is made must first be screened not only for cost efficiency but also for environmental efficiency.

By pledging to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions over time, the involved college must:

1. Complete an emissions inventory.

2. Within two years, set a target date and interim milestone for becoming climate neutral.

3. Take immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing from a list of short-term actions.

4. Integrate sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience.

5. Make the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available.

Ramapo College is in the developmental stage of this process, as we have signed the Climate Commitment only 2 months ago. The potential for this program is limitless. Can you imagine a community where every individual, every group, every event, every decision made is based around the common goal that we utilize the precautionary principle and make our actions as sustainable and ecologically sound as possible? This will yield students into their own unique career paths with the mindset that they can incorporate social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming not only within their workplace but also within their daily lives.

While the President’s Climate Commitment seems like a total impossibility, it is, in fact, totally possible. The College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine has become the nation’s first “net-zero” campus for carbon emissions. Many other colleges and universities in America are also up for the challenge, as 450 of them have signed the commitment.

At this point you may be asking where exactly does one start in trying to achieve a carbon neutral campus. I, for one, will start by taking over as Head Recycling Coordinator at Ramapo College and will strive to improve and enhance our recycling program. Two student representatives have been appointed to oversee the outreach and educational aspects of the Climate Commitment. We have committed to a “Focus the Nation” ( focusthenation.org) teach-in, where on January 31st, 70 professors will put aside normal lesson plans and focus the full weight of campus engagement on the topic of global warming. The Environmental Alliance Club will be holding a series of events during February that highlight environmental awareness. All of these activities will be centered around a common “WE DO IT in the Dark” campaign. This includes organic meals, a concert, an acoustic coffeehouse, and movies.

I am only one person. A 21 year old, not so outspoken, at that. Yet, I have been able to get involved and get my voice heard and actually listened to when matters I am concerned with arise. What it comes down to is informing people enough to inspire them to get involved, join together, and take action to fight for something they believe in. Cliché, yes, but in a world where we are bombarded by enough advertisements and bullshit distractions to be able to realize the problems we are attributing to, we need to inform one another of the truths associated with how we are impacting the environment, regardless of how opposite it is to what society deems “normal”.

PART 2:

Quite frankly, it is absolutely frightening to think about how the human population has managed to initiate and establish a pattern of global warming in a mere 100 years. So what do you do about it? Well, you can continue to live your life in denial and give the excuse that “Life is short. If global warming doesn’t kill me something else will” or you can empower yourself and use your “short life” to make changes that will hopefully give future lives a better chance to live on a more sustainable planet.

I attempt to use every area of my life to educate anyone I come across about the truths associated with environmental degradation and global warming. From a young age, I’ve always been curious about nature and the interactions that humans had with it. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that the curiosity turned to genuine concern for our future. It was easy to change things about my life in order to feel like I was living more sustainably and less impactful on the environment, but I was eager to do more. Fate came calling in late May of 2005. My boyfriend at the time showed me a post on warpedtour.com that stated they were interested in hiring two college students to come out on the road, to implement a recycling program. I sent in my not too impressive resume and a statement on why I wanted the job, along with a few potential ideas and hoped that I would somehow standout among the hundreds of applicants. One week later, I received an email from Kevin Lyman that simply stated, “I am interested in hiring you. Give me a call.” The rest is history and with three VANS Warped Tour’s under my belt, I can now say that I have planned, implemented, and successfully ran a recycling program for the Vans Warped Tour.

The first VANS Warped Tour was rough. Bad communication with venues and an attitude of “me vs. 12,000 messy concert goers/bands/tour workers” wasn’t the way to make things work. The following year I knew we had to make big changes. The following summer, a partnership with “An Inconvenient Truth” gave use the opportunity to screen trailers for the movie within the new Warped Eco Initiative Tent; a biodiesel fueler was recruited to come out to every show to fuel 20 of the production buses; the backstage catering company, TaDa, began to use biodegradable, disposable dishware and also washable plates; and recycling crews of 10 to 20 concert goers were recruited to aid with the collection and sorting of recyclables. VANS Warped Tour 2007 proved to be the best year of all, as we partnered with Earth Echo to offer those who participated in the Warped Eco Initiative the opportunity to win an amazing eco-educational trip to the Florida Keys as a reward for being kind to mother nature.

VANS Warped Tour is no longer a tour that comes into a city, puts on a show, and leaves an enormous mess behind. This “out of sight, out of mind” attitude is something that VANS Warped Tour no longer stands for. This past summer, Big D and the Kids Table encouraged kids to clean up after themselves and collect recyclables and to literally “Try Out Your Voice” by expressing concern and enacting change. Luis from Energizer developed and implemented a tour wide battery recycling program, the Truth encouraged kids to collect recycling in exchange for free merchandise, etc. The list literally goes on and on and on. And with this coming year, better preparation and better communication with everyone associated with VANS Warped Tour will ensure that even more sustainable practices can be put in place from the beginning of the summer and be actively practiced until the end.

As you all know, EarthEcho has been working with VANS Warped Tour for the last year and are gearing up for another spectacular season. We are all very excited about it, most of all because of the great people we get to work with who are so dedicated, exciting, and most of all, fun.

One such person is Erin, as the coordinator of the VANS Warped Tour Eco Initiative she has presided over an incredible amount of change. In continuing the tradition of VANS Warped Tour guest bloggers, like Big D and the Kid’s Table, we invited her to write something for us and thank goodness we did. She came back with an awesome piece that sums up the kind of positive, empowering action that we should all be embracing. If all of us could be a bit more like Erin, this world would be a much better place.

Part 1 of 3 is below and you won’t be disappointed.

Cheers,

Philippe

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PART 1:

While environmental related organizations like Greenpeace and the Environmental Protection Agency aid in offsetting and educating people on the large-scale effects of the environmental damage caused by humans, the days of relying on these groups to reverse the negative effects of our careless actions have come to an end. We live in excess. We have the ability and means to indulge more so than any other country. As Americans, we account for 5% of the global population but stake claim to 20% of the world’s global warming causing carbon emissions. So where will we these implications leave the population in, say, 50 years? Overcrowded? Buried in excess trash? Underwater?

The relationship dynamics between energy and today’s society are mind boggling. Most prefer convenience over sustainability any day, regardless of the long-term impacts on our environment. BIG changes in standard business and industry practices must start being enacted in order to start seeing a BIG difference. While the green movement is doing a good job of educating and influencing the buying power of individuals, it is not addressing the main cause of much of our environmental problems: consumerism. Think about it. The green sector is developing and growing, however, we cannot consume our way out of trouble. We definitely should try to buy a product that’s been made sustainably but let’s have the honesty to admit the truth: every product adds to our carbon footprint, even products that label themselves part of the “sustainability industry”.

I can credit this idea of “greensumerism” to an article entitled “Desire and the Green Cure” by Richard Glover and I invite you to read it right here:(http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/21/4710/).

Now, I’m not trying to radically disseminate the idea that in order to live sustainably we must build a hut out of found materials in the most desolate part of the woods and only eat grasshoppers and shrubbery to survive. However, I am trying to say that literally everything we do has an impact on the environment and the only way to make a visible change is to take a step back, give an honest examination of how you can personally make changes to become kinder to the earth, and enact that change. In turn, you will feel empowered and be motivated to engage people in what you have learned. I PROMISE!

It’s always exciting for me to meet people who are making change happen. I have met them in countries the world over and find that, invariably, they are the ones that inspire me and give me energy to continue working together towards the dream of a planet protected. They are, for me, the heroes of our common future.

As Paul Hawken says, “A sustainable society will only come about through the accumulated actions of billions of eager participants.” Sounds like a challenge right? But we have to start somewhere - with you, me, the people we know. Never doubt that by reaching out and inspiring change in our own communities, we can create a chain reaction that can absolutely change the world.

Having said that, I am so excited to introduce you to a friend that EarthEcho met this summer while we were working with VANS Warped Tour on their Warped Eco-Initiatives. This friend is making change happen and has inspired us with his passion and dedication to working to help protect our planet.

David McWane is the lead singer of Big D and the Kids Table and is sharing his earthecho with young people all over the world, inspiring them to become change agents themselves.

We wanted you to meet him and hear him talk about what he is doing. It’s amazing.

And you can expect that he will be sending more from the road as he tours around the country so stay tuned!

Here’s what David has to say:

First Step

My transformation from one who believed that solving the world’s environmental problems was a good idea to one who is proactive, was simple. I walked out of a movie theater in Harvard Square, a nice Saturday night in Boston, after seeing Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Once my feet hit the light New England snow, I paused. The information from the movie caught up to me, enveloped me. And I could feel things that I held to be important in my life begin to shift.

I looked up at the falling snow. I adjusted my hat so the streetlamp was blocked. Saturday night people chatted around me and I could smell popcorn mixed with exhaust from cars stopped at a red light. The snowflakes, hued red, floated down. I thought about how it was time for me to act. And about all the venues of my life that I could use to provide a fresh approach to the environmental issue. I thought about doing what I’ve always believed I would do, become someone I was proud of. I smiled. My shoulders lifted. And I knew my next step would be my first step in doing my part to help save this beautiful world. I glanced at the blinking crosswalk light, and as my cold breath floated up and the traffic light on JFK Street turned green, I took that first step.

Like everyone inspired by this global problem, I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought, “What did Al Gore do for me?” He educated me. So I will start with that – educating. If Al Gore was able to get me to stand up for environmental conservation, then, with the right knowledge, I too can make someone stand up.

To catch you up on who I am, my name is David McWane, I am the vocalist in the band BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE. We just finished 2 months on a summer music festival called VANS Warped Tour; the popular summer music festival that averages 10 to 15 thousand kids a day. Looking back on my first thoughts of becoming proactive, I remember standing crammed with other Bostonians on the Green Line subway heading outbound a month before the VANS Warped Tour. I was on my way to a band rehearsal. As we commuters swayed and bumped about, I thought about how I needed to do more with my time on the Tour than just entertain people. I decided that I would use those two months to educate as many people – kids — as I could about how they can help prevent global warming and get involved in environmental issues. That summer I would be an educator.

Large stage banners were designed for Climate Emergency and Save Darfur and we displayed them at every concert. T-shirts, stickers, pins and patches that combined our band name with pro environment information were produced and sold or given out. Recycling competitions were held. Each day on stage I would give a speech, explaining to the kids that it takes more than being concerned about the environment to make any sort of change. I told them to “try out their voice“, and see if something resonated inside them.

I looked out at the high-energy crowd day after day and saw young kids wide-eyed and bursting with excitement. Each day they would run to our merchandise tent with bags filled with discarded bottles and cans. And we would talk for a while. I loved how the kids rattled on about their ideas and opinions faster than even they could keep up with. They would also say how exciting it was to see me take a position on environmental issues. We talked, we brainstormed, we planned; each kid leaving with a smile, an autograph, new information and, most importantly, motivation.

Like wildfire, non-profits on the tour would also come talk with me — at our tent, in the lunch line, after a concert. Rob from Skate4Cancer and I became friends designing a Big D Skate Deck for them to use. Aileen from Shirts For A Cure and I designed a BIG D T-shirt for them to sell, with the proceeds donated to cancer research. Murphy, a great guy from the Rainforest Action Network, found me, and I handed out their pamphlets with every autograph signed. I still do.

My goal was to come up with ideas on how to help kids take their first step for the environment. I also wanted to make it easy for them. Kids are often told to contact their representatives. But not all kids know how to do that. So I found websites that help them track down their congressman and senator. We printed these web addresses on stickers with the band name, hoping that school notebooks, guitars and cars would become backboards for this information. But the educating didn’t stop with the kids. We researched and rented a bio-diesel bus for our tour as an example to other bands. Now, I am not telling you all this so I can sound like a swell guy. It’s to let you know about my first step, with the hope that you will take your first step.
Today is January 9th and I have just come off our own headlining 2-month tour. What I found from the people I talked to last summer is inspirational. From state to state and the Canadian provinces, kids dashed up to me, talking a mile a minute with their hands flailing. They told me what they have done in their local communities — new leaders blossoming, excited, with a proactive future ahead of them.

Lora and Emma

Lora and Emma, for example, students from Cleveland, Ohio, caught up with me carrying the first issue of Green Light. Green Light is a zine the two girls write, print, and distribute for free. A “zine”, for those who don’t know, is a do-it-yourself pre-magazine. Kids design these zines on regular 8 ½ by 11 paper, photocopy them (often a sneaky pillage from their parent’s work), fold them, staple them in book form and hand them out to anyone they can find to let them know what they believe is imperative and eye opening information.

On a side note - many people think that the lessons of our forefathers on the foundations of democracy are fading. But I think that kids like Lora and Emma with their Green Light zine, show that those lessons are alive and well. Maybe, without knowing it, these two young girls are keeping the fire of the printed word alive, educating people to the power of democracy and freedom of the press.

Lora and Emma’s Green Light Zine

City after city, and even country after country, kids are contacting me to tell me about their “first steps”. Each story is impressive, wonderful, and enough to make anyone proud of our youth. John Davis from Georgia found me in a dark Atlanta nightclub. He had a video camera and a list of questions. His “first step” was to ask me about the environment for his documentary project in his video production class. John was excited, committed. And I could tell that that moment was one of many on his quest to do what he can to help global warming and environmental conservation.
And the examples go on. I talk every night to kids who have taken their “first steps”. And I speak to up to a 1,000 kids a night during our concerts, who I hope will take their first step and inform more kids, who will then take their first step, and… Well, you understand.

John Davis

My goal with my demographic of kids is to instill positive peer pressure for the environment. I have noticed that friends have no problems correcting friends in their environmental habits. I have also seen that most people appreciate being educated. It can lead to questions and then a discussion on other environmental issues. I have found that kids listen to my words and opinions more than, say, their parents, teachers or even the President. Hopefully, my and other musicians’ and artists’ perspectives on the environment will match up with those of teachers and parents; and a positive pro-environment peer pressure will cause habits to change.

As you can tell, my focus is on youth. My goal is to make “being green” and “doing your part” normal behavior. Youth are not afraid of the challenge of change. Their problem solving ideas have more passion and they seem to have the motivation to help solve this monstrous problem we all face. In a way, it’s the best defiance of adults that youth have ever had.
Let me end by saying that all of us who are part of this environmental movement should help each other by reaching out to our own demographic of people. Reach out and affect the people around you. By simply being environmentally aware and proactive, you will be doing your part in solving this global problem.

That alone can be your first step.

David McWane

For more, visit David McWane at: www.davidmcwane.com or www.myspace.com/davidmcwane

Well, we made it.

I’m sitting here at Johannesburg airport waiting for my flight.  It is about 6PM and I leave in two hours.  We have all said our goodbyes, which is always the worst part of any shoot.  Some of the crew won’t be back, as they are moving on to other jobs so there were definitely some tears shed.  It is amazing how close one gets to a group of people, 20 in all, when you live with them so closely, go through so much and have so many incredible experiences.  No one else in the world can know the experiences that were had, no one else can relate to this brief but indelible moment of life that we all shared and that creates a unique bond.  It has been a singular pleasure to work with this crew.  Some of us will go on to the Bahamas in February but for those that are not, we will all feel the loss.  Africa is everything I imagined, wild, remote, complex, troubled and above all beautiful.  I am very excited to go home, and though I have no doubt I will return, part of me is deeply saddened to leave this place.

This morning was quite an ordeal; our goal was to head to the southern end of Bazaruto Island to film the famous sand dunes there.  We had to be there quite early, as we all had a lot more filming to do on our ship, the Zanj, and then pack everything up.  On top of that, the weather has been really nasty and we have been totally disoriented and nervous that we wouldn’t make it out of Bazaruto or Vilanculos, and then miss our flights home for Christmas.  That is still a distinct possibility but at least we made it off of Bazaruto.  We started at 5:30AM and barely managed to catch a flight off island to the mainland, where we then loaded the gear onto two small boats and motored back across the bay to the southern end of the island.

Why fly to the mainland and then take a boat back to the southern tip of the island where we were in the first place?  Well, the island is large and long and we were at the northern tip (the only place to stay).  The roads are more or less non-existent and a boat ride in rough weather from the north side to the south tip could take 2 hours or more, so believe it or not, the 15 minute flight to the mainland where it is closest to the southern tip of the island and a 30 minute boat ride across, ended up being the fastest and safest option.

We arrived in rough seas to the sand dunes and they were magnificent.  They are the largest barrier island sand dunes in the world, because the Bazaruto archipelago sits only a few miles away from the end of the African continental shelf.  The end of the shelf drops steeply into the Indian Ocean.  Normally a continental shelf slopes gradually, however the abrupt drop off in Mozambique means that the full fury of the Indian Ocean batters the coast constantly and all of the sand carried by the ocean accumulates quite spectacularly in large 3-400 foot sand dunes (see pic).

All four of us, Tooni, Paul and Lucy hiked the dunes and surveyed the storm and the rough ocean beyond.  I have never been on sand dunes like that and it was pretty dramatic.  The wind was blowing so hard that it whipped the sand into everything and beat against our legs like sandblasters, leaving all of our calves sore and raw.  It was worth it, the footage was amazing.

Once we wrapped the shoot we headed back across rough seas to harbor and the Zanj, which was anchored nearby, and offloaded all the rest of the gear from the Zanj to the mainland. We are staying on land tonight to get ready for our early flight out tomorrow. We officially wrapped the shoot at about 6PM and celebrated with a few well deserved drinks all around.  Then we headed to the hotel where I am writing this.  The rest of the crew is all at the restaurant getting the wrap party started up and I am late.  Hopefully, the weather will pass and we will be able to fly tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Well, this morning was as bad as we feared, very stormy. The Zanj, where we were supposed to be these last few days, managed to find a close bay where they could harbor safely. A bunch of the crew and I tried to make it out on small boats this morning to do some filming, but two miles and 30 minutes into the trip, we had to turn back because the weather was so bad. So, we spent the day helpless, on shore, unable to do the dive on the barrier reef that was planned and unable to film on the Zanj. This is beginning to drive us all crazy. It has been raining buckets on and off all day and with one day left to film before we fly home, we are all stressing out big time. We all know that this is a part of filmmaking in nature but it still drives you crazy, not to mention the fact that there is still no assurance that we even get out tomorrow to make our flights on Friday.

Everyone is on edge to say the least.

I have to give a lot of credit to the team and especially the producers who have been incredibly patient. If the weather dies down tomorrow, we have a good chance to get a few of the final shots we need, then pack everything up and get it to the hotel in Vilanculos ready to fly out the next morning.

It is an unfortunate end to a great shoot. Though, fingers crossed, that it actually is the end and we manage to get out in time for the holidays.

Well, as we all feared, the storm is slowly getting worse.  Today we were supposed to go south a few hours, to look for dugongs and it didn’t happen.   Paul and Tooni were able to go out for a bit because their site is closer but they had virtually no luck.  The frustrating part is Paul could see some by plane, but when Tooni got in the water, the visibility was only a few feet and they couldn’t see them even though they were right underneath them!

Lucy and I had to stay in shore and work on various pickups and interviews.  So everyone is getting a bit on edge, as tomorrow is supposed to be even worse.  The other concern is that if this storm doesn’t die down and keeps raging, we may not be able to get off the island on Thursday and if that happens, well, we will miss our flights and we’ll all be in Africa for Christmas.  To say the least people are getting very nervous, myself included.

This is gonna be a restless night…