Dancing to the techno beats of DeadMou5. Watching hundreds of biodegradable lanterns float off into the night sky as Dave Mathew’s Band unleashed on stage. Listening to Disco Biscuits play on for thousands of concert-goers unperturbed by the rising sun. These are all unforgettable experiences that are in no way comparable to the eye-opening experience the morning after the crowd has migrated to the campgrounds and the volunteers with the Clean Vibes team at Bonnaroo, a four-day music festival in Manchester, TN that hosts nearly 100,000, are faced with clean-up duty.
I signed up ultimately to get a free ticket, as all volunteers get a ticket, meal tokens, and free showers (key in the 100-degree weather in TN), in exchange for three six-hour shifts. The result: an immense satisfaction of having helped green such a large-scale event while making many new friends. Clean Vibes, a company hired by festivals around the country to spread an awareness of waste minimization, was responsible for the 261,480 pounds of waste recycled and 60,000 pounds of waste composted on site, diverting over 30% of Bonnaroo’s waste from entering a landfill.
If you want to get involved in the greening of upcoming festivals this summer or next, get a free ticket (and not to mention some good karma!) and meet some like-minded people, apply to volunteer through cleanvibes.com.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram