One of my favorite internet facts is that the very first Google Doodle was a “gone to Burning Man” message left by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to let people know they would be out of office for the week. It’s just one of many striking examples of the overlap between the counterculture and thought associated with internet and technology visionaries that has been occurring in the US since the mid-century (we’ve all heard of Steve Jobs crediting LSD as one of the most important experiences of his life). Unforunately today’s tech leaders have gone off the rails and became and represent the very opposite of the original ideals of the movement.
I often use this fact as an introduction to the fascinating topic of the countercultural roots of the Internet and to evangelize people to look into the unexpected connections so fascinatingly made by the contributors to Hippie Modernism, an exhibition organized by the Walker Art Center in 2015. The exibition looked far beyond the stereotypes of the Flower Power era to appreciate the contributions to design, technological, and ecological thinking brought forth by countercultural movements and individuals in ways that continue to influence a wide range of cultural touchstones of today.
My research into the conclusions drawn by Hippie Modernism prompted me to reframe my own understanding of my attraction to the recycling industry and to gain an newfound appreciation of the interconnectednesss of the communities I presently find myself in, which can also clearly trace their origins back to the same countercultural roots. The recycling industry in which I’ve been working since 2011 may be directly traced back to the Bay Area ecological movements and counterculture of the 1960’s. The festival scene in which I got my start in the industry is just the latest iteration of of some of the most iconic cultural events of the era.
As to the influences on the “original” countercultural ecological thinking, it’s clear that traditional and indigenous practices figured widely in their thought.
I think alot about those who came before me and laid the foundations that came before my path. I was predisposed to this way of thinking from an early age, having been told the stories of my Japanese ancestors’ experiences as immigrants in the US, on my dad’s side, and of our familial connection to early US presidents on my mom’s side.
There are a few notable individuals and highly coincidental experiences which set me on my professional and personal paths. I’ve placed a lot of importance on acknowledging these individuals and ensuring that they know how influential and appreciated they are.
I’ve reconceptualized these influential persons and events as nodes that are extensions and outgrowths of the same network that stretches back to the original movements. I am acknowledging them here.
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PytrBob, aka my Trash Daddy. My first time volunteering at a festival was in Oregon circa 2011. I was put on the green team, which was my first time doing a waste management job. PytrBob was running the show. A few months later in the Fall I had started at SFSU. I was at a food festival in Oakland when I saw PytrBob coming around a corner driving a cart full of trash. I stopped him to chat, and he basically offered me a job on the spot.
- Mary, aka Green Mary. Mary is the mothership of the generation of waste professionals of which I am a part. Mary has been assisting large venues and events with waste diversion in the Bay Area and beyond for over 25 years. Mary was the first employer of many in the industry, including myself. She employed me while I was going to school in San Francisco. Work with her led to work with other employers and my career started to get rolling. Mary often retells the story of how she was inspired to start her business. She was volunteering at Sonoma County’s Health and Harmony Festival in 2000 “where I heard environmental activist Julia Butterfly-Hill speaking about her experience living up in a redwood tree for 738 days. She youthfully, bravely climbed to 180’ to take a stand for our natural resources. In a planet-fueled speaking tour, the fiery young woman pulled no punches at our local festival in jabbing at our eco-oversights and drew our attention to the overflowing trash cans at this “progressive” gathering.”
- Cartographer and The Trash Pirates. Cartographer and I met at Lightning in a Bottle in 2011. Before I got into waste, I was doing outdoor environmental education. I had been guiding tours in the Santa Ana mountains for my naturalist mentor Joel Robinson’s non-profit, Naturalist For You. In 2011, LIB reached out to him to ask if he wanted to provide programming for the festival, which used to be at Irvine Lake in the foothills of the Santa Anas. Joel reached out to me to ask if I wanted to help out (I was already planning on buying a ticket so being able to go for free to do nature walks blew my mind). Cartographer attended the first walk I was co-leading with Joel. I was set to do a birding walk the next morning, and Cartographer was the only person to show up. We spent the rest of the summer festivaling, and both met PytrBob in Oregon. While I went a sort of municipal work route, Cartographer went on to start the Trash Pirates, which became a name brand in festival waste management and a unique subculture of its own. I spent many a festival working with him and the Trash Pirates and we still do trash stuff together.
I ultimately started a consulting business, and continue to do that as my primary profession. In a turn of events that echoes my own introduction to the weird world of waste, I was connected to my business partner, Natalie, after she volunteered at a small festival in Joshua Tree that a friend and fellow Trash Pirate, Reno, was managing the waste for. The first time we actually met in person was unplanned. She was a last minute addition to an adjacent recycling crew at Burning Man.
I still enjoy working a few select events :)
Communities that I find myself in currently, and continually inspired by, are Long Beach Community Compost, and the Black Rock City Department of Public Works.