Beyond performing glitchy dance music in a full intergalactic jumpsuit at festivals around the world, The Polish Ambassador (real name David Sugalski) is something of a spokesperson for environmentalism in the festival world. The Oakland-based producer launched a program called Action Days in 2014, an organization that looks to "catalyze the energy of the millions of people that are attending music events worldwide" into environmental action. The project initially ran in tandem to one of Sugalski's own tours, where after each gig, the artist and volunteering fans would hit the streets to work on everything from planting seeds to river cleanups. Now, the program is expanding to Lightning In a Bottle (LiB) in Bradley California, where the artist is performing, with more events in Portland, and Denver in the coming months.

Those participating in the LiB program will be able to enter the festival grounds a day early, and join the artist in building a demonstration garden that will include a seminar on the farm-to-festival food production model, long-term ecological planning for the festival grounds, as well of course, planting a few oak trees. In addition, Sugalski told THUMP over the phone about the group's plans to construct a cob pizza oven, and a couple art installations—including a bike-powered soundsystem—that they hope will remain for years to come. "LiB is making a commitment to see this through," says Sugalski. "We're starting in the festival's main village and potentially expanding out over the next five to ten years. The festival is asking the question about how we can regenerate this land back to health. We're creating the map this year."

To celebrate Earth Day, we caught up more with The Polish Ambassador about how you can hit summer festivals in ways that will better serve the earth—and thus, our lives. Study up!

Plan ahead to invest in products and companies that are conscious of their own waste cycles. Look for products that in their packing are using compostable materials, and if not that, then recyclable packing. Check if the product has the #1 or #2 sign on it; then you'll know most counties in the country will recycle it. When you get into the higher numbers you know that the facilities that can handle recycling the items are few and far between. Just being conscious of the things you're picking up at stores, and look for stuff you know won't just create trash.

Try to purchase and unpackage new items before you depart, and dispose of waste appropriately. A lot of time when you go to a festivals you see people bringing in a bottles of soda or a six pack, and you start to see little loopy pieces of litter on the ground. Don't chuck that frisbee that you just bought inside your bag with its packaging—leave the packaging at your house. Be conscious about not bringing down a bunch of extra waste to the event.

Pack foodstuffs and gear in reusable containers that serve multiple functions; IE, bring in produce, and bring out compost. Frozen smoothies also serve as awesome ice-blocks. Once they melt, you eat them up!

MOOP is acronym that developed at Burning Man, and stands for "matter out of place." There's a MOOP squad with people who are vigilant about things that aren't native to specific landscape. It's something that goes above and beyond with the real do-gooders—the people that are always looking out for the MOOP that isn't theirs, like a little plastic ring that was made in China that shouldn't be there. After a festival you just have bracelets and bottles and earrings, and shit all over the place. Prepare to pick up MOOP by carrying a small sealable tin for butts and other micro-MOOP found along the way. No MOOP left behind, if you see it, do something about it. Help out the land that we're celebrating on.

If you have a chance, don't drive an SUV down to a festival like Lightning In a Bottle by yourself. Partner up with other festival goers for carpooling and kitchen sharing to lighten the load! Not only is it better for the environment, but you'll probably get to the festival faster being able to rock in the carpool lane the whole way, as well as have more fun.

It's hard to convey to people sometimes that if you're putting something on your body, like soap that's cleaning their skin, it's not what the soil below them wants. It's not going to bring health to the soil or the environment. There are products out there that are biodegradable (like Tom's), and you can go to your local Whole Foods or even local markets like Safeway and look on the packaging to see if the ingredients are all biodegradable. That means that if you're taking a shower with shampoo, even if it falls to the ground and goes all the way under the ground into the water table (which everything eventually does) it's not going to damage the ecosystem or toxify the water table in someway. Chemicals, soaps, sparkles, scrubbing beads and other personal care items go straight into the water supply, so avoid them.

I'm seeing a lot more people sell reusable water bottles at festivals now, which is awesome. I think we need to learn how to hang on to our bottles more though, especially when we're traveling where it becomes so easy to go into a gas station and buy a water bottle. Attach your water bottle to a rope and carabiner and put it on your belt or around your neck on a necklace to keep track of it. Ecologically-practiced festivals provide water refilling stations, so remove single use bottles from your life! It's going to be hot at these festivals so you're going to want an easy way to fill up and not spend cash and pollute by buying plastic.

Utility Belts are Awesome! Besides pockets for essentials, and snacks, you can carry your own utensils with you! Attach a spare carabiner to hook those sandals to your belt when the earth calls for bare feet.

If you must purchase things that you won't be able to use or take with you after the festival, remember that second hand stores are the shopping mall of the conscious travelers. People who live lightly count on finding that item when needed, so take it there and keep things circulating in a good way.

Check out our non-profit ActionDays.us. We work with festival producers to catalyze the energy of festival goers into community action before, during, or after these events. What will our world look like when we get all of these hands up in the air partying back into the earth to co-create together?

Find more info about Action Days on Facebook