green police?

ok… i’ve been a HUGE police fan since… well, forever… and was thrilled when sting, stewart and andy decided to get back together for this tour! i even happily doled out a few hundred dollars, per ticket, so i could fulfill my dream of seeing these three, incredibly talented, influential, iconoclastic musicians take the stage together one more time.

so the day finally arrived and, on saturday, as i’m walking into dodger stadium feeling like i’m 12 years old again, i thought there was nothing that could put a blemish on this moment (not even LA's horrific traffic) i’ve been waiting for more than half my life… sadly, i was wrong.

don’t misunderstand me. the concert was amazing (although I would have given my left eye to hear “tea in the sahara,” “one world (not three), "be my girl - sally," "hole in my life," or “lowlife,” among others… oh, and if I never hear “every breath you take” again, i’ll be quite content, thank you)… anyhoo, i’d seen sting solo quite a few times, so it was simply incredible to see/hear andy and stewart LIVE! not to mention that the foo fighters were ON! but i digress…

what bummed out this little ol’ green gal was two-fold. first off, there were NO recycling containers at the event, which meant the place was littered with plastic cups and other such wholly recyclable materials (and, btw, the clean-up crew wasn’t separating anything, either… grrrr)… and, second, when i approached the merchandise stand and asked to check out the t-shirts, not only were they not made of organic cotton but they were manufactured in nicaragua.

while i know the t-shirt issue was a bit too much to hope for, i was aghast at the lack of recycling! i really expected more from the police, who are performing at the u.s live earth concert in just 10 days. and I certainly expected far more from sting, who has vocalized his concern for the environment for decades. really, guys. there are plenty of “green tours” being run out there by innovative organizations such as reverb, and if you can’t convince a venue to behave ethically… who can?

simply enough, gentlemen, you ignored a prime opportunity to step up... and that made me a sad monkey girl :(