V2 Presents Recycle: Saving the Earth One Show at a Time, Starting with Deadbeats Tour Salt Lake City

It all started back in April, when Malynn Nelson of V2 Presents started making teaser posts about the newly established V2 Recycle program. This was right around the time that I started to really emphasize on The Dancing Dreamers with DJ Damashii our duty as respectful and responsible ravers to keep our venues clean and dispose of trash in the proper receptacles.

Seeing this new movement as the perfect opportunity to "put my money where my mouth is," so to speak, and let my actions speak louder than my words, I immediately sent in my application to volunteer for the program as soon as they put out a call to action to the community looking for volunteers. I didn't hear anything back from them for a while after that, so it kind of faded into the background for me, but I continued to stress on my radio show the importance of us all doing our part to keep venues clean.

About two weeks ago, I was contacted by Thiago Marques of V2 Presents, who let me know that I had been selected to participate in V2's first official implementation of the V2 Recycle program at Deadbeats Salt Lake City. Needless to say, I was ecstatic! I had all but forgotten that I had even put in an application to volunteer for the program, because it had been so long since I had sent it in. Of course I replied immediately and told him that I was definitely still very interested in being a part of it all, and that I was looking forward to doing my part at Deadbeats.

This past Saturday, I arrived at The Great Saltair for the Deadbeats tour and had a great time with my friends for a while, before it was time for me to head over to the designated meeting point for the V2 Recycle briefing. There were four volunteers there, myself included, and we were told that we would be working a half-hour shift, then have a half hour to enjoy the set, and then we would work a second half-hour shift after that, leaving the rest of the night free for us to enjoy until the event ended and we reconvened for one final sweep of the venue.

I immediately went to work outside the building, walking around in the grass area picking up all the plastic bottles that I could find. I was stopped by people several times, who either asked me why I was doing it, thanked me for what I was doing, or had a full-on discussion about the importance of the work that I was doing. It made me feel so good to see that so many other people felt the same way that I did about keeping the venue clean and doing our part.

I ended my first half-hour shift will a heavy bag full of bottles, surprising Malynn when I showed up to turn it in. She thanked me for my hard work and told me to go enjoy some of Spag Heddy's set and said she would see me in half an hour for my second shift. I met up with my friends and we raged out to Spag Heddy for a while, and then my friends just happened to need some fresh air right around the time that I had to go back for my second shift, so things worked out perfectly.

I reported back to the meeting point to pick up another bag, and I went back outside to collect more recyclables for my second half-hour shift. This time, there was even more trash scattered about the place, so I never had a shortage of things to collect. I was also stopped by more people who talked to me about what I was doing, and it was a great opportunity for me to spread the word about the V2 Recycle program. Several people even asked me how they could get involved, so I told them to watch the V2 Presents Facebook page because they would probably be announcing more opportunities to volunteer in the near future.

My second and final shift ended with another full bag, so I turned that in once the thirty minutes was up. Thiago thanked me for all my hard work, and reminded me to meet back up at that spot when the show ended so that we could perform one final sweep of the venue and pick up whatever bottles people left behind. With that, I took off to find my friends so that I could enjoy the rest of the night with them. I ended up eventually finding my way to the front rail during Zeds Dead, which was a personal goal of mine from the start. It was the perfect way for me to end the night.

When the music finally stopped and people started to make their way towards the exit, the V2 Recycle volunteers reconvened at the meeting point and we all grabbed a bag and started walking around the building picking up the bottles that were left. It was disappointing to see that there was so much trash left behind, but also encouraging to be part of a group of people who not only did not mind staying behind to pick it all up, but actually enjoyed doing their part to clean up the venue and get some recycling done.

I don't know what our final count was, all I know is that we emptied several full bags into recycling bins throughout the night, and we also had to empty our bags several times while collecting trash at the end of the night. All in all, the first official implementation of V2 Presents Recycle was a HUGE success! I am so grateful to Thiago and Malynn for allowing me to be one of the pioneers of such an important movement, and I am definitely looking forward to working with them again at future events.

I really believe that they are on to something here with this program, and I can definitely see it someday growing into an army of respectful and responsible ravers doing their part to uphold PLUR by keeping our venues clean. If you are interested in being a part of V2 Recycle, please watch the V2 Presents Facebook page, or find Thiago Marques and Malynn Nelson on Facebook and stay tuned for future announcements about volunteering!