Outside Lands, Allen...thank you!

I just returned from a fantastic trip to San Francisco where I was rejuvenated by music, art, and my friends Sara and Allen. (Both ex-jacksonites, we all worked together at The Range years ago. That's Allen, smiling above, some of you might recognize him as your busser-extraordinare from back in the day. Who knew he would become my music hero in San Fran?!) Three days in Golden Gate Park with Radiohead, Manu Chao, Rupa and the April Fishes, Galactic, the Liars, Devendra Banhart, Primus and Kaki King...just to name a few of my favorites. It is a given that the music rocked in a gorgeous venue and a very diverse and huge lineup, but what I was most impressed by during the weekend was the festival's commitment to a greener place and eco-awareness. Lots of information was available all over the event about recycling and composting, with plenty of receptacles accessible to the huge number of people attending and Clean Vibes staff readily available to answer questions. Eco Lands was set up with a solar-powered stage, organic farmer's market, the Recycling Store, and tents representing a wide-variety of non-profit organizations showing ways to contribute to a healthy environment and world. There is way more info available at www.sfoutsidelands.com and it is very worth checking out everything they did.

Sunday night I watched everyone clear out after enjoying a gorgeous San Fran evening with Jack Johnson and all his friends on stage. We were waiting for Allen Scott, one of the co-producers of the event through Another Planet. I was amazed to see that the polo fields, which had just hosted over 60,000 people, were almost completely clean, and this was pre-cleanup crew. I pulled Allen aside to show him the fantastic results of his and his crew's huge eco-effort.(of course he was sad that there was even a minuscule amount of trash out there) I wanted to be sure though that he saw and felt that he really did make a difference because there was proof right there on those clean, grassy fields. All those music and earth lovers really did take responsibility for recycling and cleaning up after themselves and their neighbors on a huge scale.
Thank you Allen, and the musicians and crew that made it all happen. Thank you for making a difference in our hearts, ears, and minds!!

"An individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change."