Well, today was my day off and it was pretty wonderful. I slept in a little, as I am apt to do on a day off, and then spent the morning at my desk working on the computer. Yes, it is always part of the game when I am traveling to try and keep up with things back home. By the afternoon though, I was done and was able to go outside. It was one of those glorious days that Scotland doesn’t get credit for. Everyone always thinks of Scotland as a gloomy and rainy place and while it does get its fair share of rain, when the sun shines over the highlands, illuminating the cast of colors, you could almost swear that you were looking at heaven itself.

The town itself is lined with the grey stone buildings that are so typical of this country. Rather than appear depressing and dark, as many people claim, I think that these old stones reflect a history that gives them a stately charm and reverence. Most of Scotland’s cities were here long before North America was even colonized by Europeans, let alone the founding of the United States.

Along the river Ness, a castle dominates the view and reminds us that this part of the world has seen its fair share of conflict.

Tonight we are all gathering together to go over the schedule and prepare for tomorrow when I will be exploring both the river and the canal that links the Loch with the Ocean.

Cheers

It has been a few days now and we are all starting to get into the groove of things. It always goes like that, at first everyone is walking on egg shells, not sure about how to act or how the other people on the team work. After a few days, it all settles down into a bit of a routine and I am happy to say that the entire crew is brilliant and we all get along really well.

They have an easygoing style and we get the work done, but when the days filming is wrapped, we all take a sigh of relief that the weather or some other phenomenon hasn’t thrown us too far off schedule, and head off to the pub for a pint and a bit of dinner.

Today was the big day for me; my chance to do diving in the Loch and I was quite looking forward to it. While I knew that there wasn’t going to be much to see, just the idea of diving in Loch Ness was intriguing. The water is cold and so I needed my drysuit and hood and all the other paraphernalia that goes with diving in cold water.

The clouds were low over the Loch and the surrounding hillsides and a slight drizzle was present most of the day. We persevered nonetheless, spending most of it with the scientists doing plankton trawls and laying down deep water cameras to get a sense of the ecology of the Loch and the productivity of the bottom. As we expected, the bottom didn’t prove to be very productive at all, casting even more doubt on the possibility of large creatures surviving in the Loch. By 5 o’clock we were done with the science and it was time to dive.

With the safety divers pulled up beside the boat, we got geared up and took a long stride into the water. I took a small underwater camera to do some filming and was amazed at how quickly the light gave way to darkness. By about 30 feet down the visibility was almost zero and all that lay beneath me was the black abyss. Loch Ness is the largest Loch in Scotland by volume and has depths of over 700 feet. While I am not a superstitious person, I admit that my mind started dreaming up all sorts of things as I stared down into the murky depths. We stayed at 30 feet and I hovered there for a moment just to soak it all in. The water was like a dark cup of tea and seemed to swallow everything; within just a few feet even my safety diver started to disappear from view.

No wonder this place has been shrouded in mystery for so many centuries. I have never been on a dive like that in my life, it was definitely one for the books and I was glad to get out of the water. As we motored back to shore, the ruins of Urquart Castle looming behind us, I was smiling the whole way. The Scottish rain had started to come down harder and the sun was slowly setting, giving way to that humid blanket of darkness that only happens here. I think there are few places as beautiful as Scotland and I am just happy to be here. Tomorrow is a light day and I have most of it to myself. I haven’t had a day like that in a long time and I look forward to it, no doubt more adventures await.

Another beautiful day in Scotland, of course I say that about today, but in reality I think just about every day in Scotland is a beautiful one. It rained on and off most of the day, but I didn’t mind. Scottish rain has a silky quality to it and the mist that sits atop the mountains on days like this fits the location. The greens are sharper and the purple and yellow hues are somehow brighter when it drizzles and when the sun does peek through the clouds, even for a brief moment, the entire countryside looks as if it is a present being unwrapped for the first time and then, as if it is too perfect to be allowed to last, the delicate clouds drift back in again and the rain starts anew.

We spent most of the day at the Loch Ness visitor’s center exploring the various knick- knacks and popular folklore of the tourist scene. We filmed a few stand ups, and while it was a long day, it was not particularly eventful, as it was mostly filled with interviews and various shots of the Loch itself. The crew continues to be outstanding and the experts that they have on the show are all down to earth and naturals in front of the television. Theo is the limnologist (someone who studies rivers, lakes and wetlands) and totally passionate about fisheries and biology. Ken is a paleontologist and the only one with any prior filming experience, and Erica is the Oceanographer who brings a thorough understanding of how large bodies of water function. While I think that they are all a little overwhelmed by the whole insanity that is filming a documentary, they have taken to it right away and are really great to work with.

Erica and I spent a few hours overlooking Urquart Castle alongside the Loch, to film a segment on the different natural phenomena that can create the illusion of monster; from strange currents that can carry debris (such as a log) upstream, to boat wake that can last long after the boat has passed. Many of these things can explain a majority of the various photos and sightings over the years.

Tomorrow is my dive into the Loch and I am looking forward to it. While I’m told there isn’t much to see, how many people get to film and dive in Loch Ness? Not many I’m sure.

It is hard to put into words how excited I am to be back in Scotland. As some of you may know, I spent 4 years of my life here studying at the University of St. Andrews and I must say, it was one of the best experiences and happiest times I can remember. It has been several years since I was back and the chance to be here during the beautiful summer and to work here, is a dream come true. The highlands are, in my opinion, one of the most fantastic places on earth. The lush forested hills and rolling mountains that contain every different hue of green that you can imagine, stretch out endlessly.

Farmland is everywhere and when the wind blows, it wafts across the fields causing the grass and wheat to dance in swirling waves. Shaggy brown highland cows dot the landscape and the small thin roads that wind through the countryside and alongside the lochs are a particular joy to drive on. Pubs with names like the Highlander and the Clansman are to be found in every town and there is always a small jug of fresh water on the bar for that mandatory glass of whiskey that must be ordered (in my opinion) at least once.

We are stationed in Inverness, on the northern end of Scotland, to film a documentary for Discovery Channel. It’s called Living Loch Ness and when they first called me about it I was a little skeptical. As an environmentalist and explorer, I wasn’t sure what I could contribute to a program about Loch Ness. But, as we explored the story I realized that this show isn’t trying to find Nessie or anything like that; instead, it is exploring the myth of the creature and applying scientific reasoning to explore why and how such a myth would continue to perpetuate itself in modern society. I realized that the show would be a great way to communicate the need for exploration in our modern day and age. We know so little about our planet and thus myths like the Loch Ness Monster continue to thrive in our popular psyche, precisely because we just don’t know if they are real or not.

We have only explored a fraction of the oceans and water systems of this planet and while a creature like the Loch Ness Monster is unlikely (to say the least), its persistence underscores just how little we know about this planet; in fact, we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the surface of Earth. That is the message I suggested be a central part of the story, in their usual fashion, Discovery was totally onboard with the wider message of exploration and so here I am.

Today was the first day of filming and the production crew is Waddell Media out of Ireland. So far the whole team has been brilliant to work with and I have a feeling that this is going to be an amazing shoot… of course, no matter what, two weeks in Scotland, one of my favorite places in the world can never be a bad thing.

Someone told me it was 102 degrees today and that seems like a conservative estimate. If you haven’t noticed a theme here…warped tour is almost always very, very hot. The heat did not put a damper on our recycling efforts. The Trojan tent ran a contest today for every bag brought to them full of bottles and cans they gave away a huge prize pack. Not to be outdone, AT&T provided us with their much coveted cut passes to give away to four of our most ambitious volunteers. If you didn’t think recycling paid off before…imagine getting to walk smugly past a line of 240 people to be the very first to meet Cobra Starship or We the Kings as four lucky warped tour guests did today.

I’ve been kind of baffled by the kids who ask to buy shirts from us or cut passes but don’t want to take a minute to actually get their hands dirty and help out. Why would you want to by a shirt that says you are an activist but not actually be one? That momentary bummer is always far out shined by the incredible volunteers we meet and the bands that keep coming out to help the cleanup efforts everyday. Our autograph signing with Alesana was a lot of fun and they sold a bunch of cd’s for $5 (half price!) to anyone that brought cans or bottles. Erin is on a rampage and has been collecting bags and bags of bottles all day. She hasn’t come back to the tour bus yet and I’m not sure if we’ll see her before sunset. I collected a few bags myself and Beat Union from the UK has joined forces with us and is going to be running contests out of their tent now.The Eco-army of warped tour is growing. Be warned!

I’m going to try to get a shower in before the line gets too long.

Everything you do makes a difference!

-TaRa

They don’t call it “hotlanta” for nothing. Last year in Atlanta I threw up from the heat. This year was not quite as hot as least but it still was very,very humid. On the upside a lot of the sponsors are really starting to step up their game. Chris from Epitaph ran contests out of his booth to collect encourage kids to collect recyclables today. He gave away a few shirts and some bandannas as well. Luis from Alternative Press required that every person who came to a signing at his tent today brought a bottle to be recycled and he handed over several large bags at the end of the day. Jasmine from Boarding for Breast cancer collects the plastic six pack holders from catering and cuts them up. The stage managers collected 86 batteries to be recycled…our largest gathering to date.

Even just one bottle at a time, one piece of plastic to be recycled-it adds up to a big help. Today was also the first in a twelve day stretch with no off days so let’s hope everyone can hang in there.

Oh and if you get a second check out http://www.modlife.com/ for a blog from Angels and Airwaves on the Warped Eco Initiative.

Everything you do makes a difference!
-TaRa

Every so often, I run into a day where the venues plan for recycling isn’t on par with how I wish to have the day operate. I then must run around all morning coordinating pick-ups with the waste hauler and making sure all of those involved with maintenance/cleaning of the venue are on point with how the WEI volunteers will operate. This is exactly what happened in Houston. But, it somehow all came together! I have a theory: if the Warped Tour venue has a dirt ground, lacking in aesthetic appeal and design, people will litter more. This stood true in Houston. There is something about the dusty air and lack of shade that gives concert goers an “I don’t give a crap and I’m going to throw my trash on the ground” attitude. Perhaps I’m over analyzing but despite an AMAZINGLY AWESOME effort put forth by our volunteers the venue still looked heavily littered at the end of the show.

On a happier note, we were privileged to host both Mayday Parade and Panima in the solar booth who performed completely off clean, solar energy. Participation in the “collect a bag of recyclables, get a free t-shirt” offer was off the charts and we managed to fill a 20 cubic yard dumpster with plastic bottles and aluminum cans!
-Erin Gorski

P.S. There was over 15,600 people at this show…so with only our 20 volunteers and some kids that helped during the day, I’m going to say we didn’t do half bad! Today we also welcomed David of Angels and Airwaves to the recycling team and as always Matt and Matt represented for their respective bands. -TaRa

The following blog is by Erin Gorski, Manager of the Warped Eco Initiative. This summer Tara and Erin are teaming up to bring environmental awareness to the fans, bands, sponsors and stage crews at the VANS Warped Tour. They are doing everything from coordinating recycling at all the venues to hosting acoustic performances at their solar lounge. Check them out at the Warped Eco Initiative tent at any Warped Tour site.

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Formerly known as the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, the Sandstone Amphitheatre in Bonner Springs, KS is one of the greenest venues I have seen on my four years on Warped Tour. Along with their new name comes a new green initiative program headed up by Jesse Jackson. I was able to speak with him about the venues current and future sustainability plans which include targets such as recycling, carpooling, and renewable energy. One of the most admirable and beneficial things that company, or in this case, venue can do when they are serious about developing a more environmentally friendly business model is to hire a sustainability coordinator.

Just since last year, Jackson has developed a recycling program that targets diverting the maximum amount of recyclables by not only placing labeled recycling bins around the venue but also by performing a waste sort at the end of the show to ensure the maximum amount of recyclables are being diverted from the trash stream. Futhermore, they reach out to their local community by employing a local organization from Lawrence, KS to perform the waste sort and in turn keep half of the money earned from the recyclables.

According to their website (http://sandstoneamp.com/green-initiatives), other initiatives include:
- Switching from paper towels to hand dryers in the bathrooms
- Using recycled toilet paper, napkins and plates
- Installing energy efficient lighting
- Setting up paper, plastic and cell phone recycling receptacles
- Planting a garden for caterers to grow veggies
- Allowing fans to park for free if they carpool or drive alternative fuel vehicles
Some of Sandstone’s plans for the future include:
- Installing solar panels and wind turbines
- Installing high efficiency toilets, urinals and faucets
- Attaining LEED Certification, which is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

In addition to all the changes the venue is making, the Warped Eco Initiative was able to fit right in with their environmental attitude and only further the efforts. Our volunteers ruled, Brandon the videographer from MySpace stopped by to begin filming a segment on WEI, Alesana had a signing, Bidwell performed acoustic from the solar booth, and as usual Matt from Angels and Airwaves popped in to collect recyclables from around the venue.

All in all the day was great! That is, until the hurricane like weather hit around 8:00pm. Luckily, no one was hurt but I definitely saw band merch a few tents get destroyed by the wind and rain.

-erin gorski

Hello friends! This is Erin Gorski writing in for my first on the road contribution to the Warped Eco Initiative blog. I began working for WEI in 2005 which makes this my fourth summer working to create a more sustainable Warped Tour. Every summer I have seen the program grow and even more importantly, I have seen a shift in the mentality that leans more towards environmental concern rather than convenience.

Prime example: Denver, CO Warped show at Invesco Field at Mile High. The venue never had a recycling program in place until this year! Therefore, the WEI volunteers and venue employees were able to collaborate to create an even stronger recycling effort. With a full crew of 20 volunteers we were able to fill about 100 bags of recyclables which equates to 1,300 lbs of bottles and cans. The amount of cardboard we diverted from the landfill was pretty much impossible to estimate. Along with our normal set of volunteers, we were joined by the members of the band The Color Fred along with Matt from Angels and Airwaves who all took time out of their busy schedules so throw on a green WEI shirt and walk around the venue collecting recyclables.

Denver was a day of firsts as we held THREE acoustic performances in the WEI solar powered booth. Between the Trees, Panima, and Midwell all hooked up their PA’s and mics to our solar panels and performed completely off of solar energy. We also hosted a signing with the band Alesana who worked out a special deal with their eco-minded fans: collect 5 bottles or cans and purchase their CD for only $5…quite the deal.

Closing out the day, Tara and I stopped by the kitchen of the fine folks over at TaDa catering to pickup the veggie oil that they no longer needed. We then hauled the container to Andy at Top Shelf Records/rentgreenvans.com. He reuses the oil in his van which he converted to run on discarded vegetable oil.

We had the day off in Gallup, New Mexico before Las Cruces. Erin and I walked a mile down “historic Route 66″ to a Subway (one of the only places to eat in town) at a Loves Travel Plaza. We got honked at by truckers over ten times on our brief journey. Luckily, she also found Nilla wafers at the gas station and guess what we found out.
1. Gallup New Mexico is not somewhere either of us desire to reside.
2. Nilla wafers come in 100% recycled cardboard packaging.

It turns out you can get cookies in recycled packaging easier then you can get recycling at a venue in New Mexico. The venue had no plan in place today so our volunteers came in and saved the day yet again. I think a lot of people just assume whatever they throw away will be recycled or at least I’d like to think it’s more a misunderstanding then a lack of interest in the future of the spaces we all have to share. Sadly, many of these venues just scoop up and trash everything at the end of the day. I read yesterday that only 23% of plastic bottles ever get recycled and only 45% of aluminum cans.

We’ve been trying to show the venues that lack recycling how easy it is and hopefully warped tour can leave a big green footprint in each place we’ve been through and help bump up those numbers. What was collected today was soley what our volunteers were able to haul… Several hundred pounds of recyclables later and we had successfully saved a fair amount from ending up in the landfill.

As it started to get late Erin noticed one of the venue’s employees picking through trash cans and pulling out bottles. When we spoke with her she told us she does it at every show,it’s not her job too but she just feels like it’s the right thing to do. She is a perfect example of how everyone of us can do something.

Salt Lake tomorrow!

Everything you do makes a difference,
TaRa

P.S.
If your going to a show…pick up the bottles or cans you see and put them in the proper place.

Hint: proper place is NOT the ground.