Ethos & Sustainability

Lightning in a Bottle is designed, built, and curated based on a core ethos centered on sustainability, harm reduction, cultural respect, and most of all, creating an environment for extraordinary experiences. These principles guide LIB’s vision and its team’s decision-making every step of the way.

Sustainability

WE WANT YOU to Leave It Better, Leave It Beautiful. As an integral part of our community, please find ways to “Leave A Positive Trace” from our time together. THIS MEANS TAKING CARE OF YOUR OWN WASTE, RESPECTING THE LAND, AND NOT LITTERING.
LIB reduces as much energy use as possible through energy management initiatives. These include investing in LED stage lighting as much as possible, and using compact fluorescent bulbs in all other areas. Where possible, we also use solar lights.
Since 2006 we have been giving away free water and are happy to see other festivals around the world pick up on that trend. This initiative creates zero waste, zero shipping, zero fuel, and eliminates plastic packaging and toxic chemicals leaching into the water.
LIB’s Green Team tirelessly works to keep the event green and clean. The Green Team educates attendees on recycling, composting, and keeping the grounds clean for a greater festival experience. Click here to be a part of the Green Team!

Health & Safety

Have a question? Need medical attention? Want to talk with somebody about your experience? LIB has many resources to support a healthy and happy festival journey. See map onsite for locations.
You’ll see these folks walking around wearing khaki t-shirts and sporting a radio. They are skilled in conflict resolution and calling for any help needed.
Harm reduction and medical services are available, check the map for our two locations. In an emergency, find someone with a radio and medical attention can come to you.
Stop by their booth for a free pair of earplugs or to learn how to have a better and safer festival experience. DanceSafe has been promoting health and safety since 1998, and on site at LIB since 2013.

Enthusiastic Consent

LIB’s Zero Tolerance Sexual Harassment Policy and the Safety Teams That Support it

Since its inception, we at Lightning In A Bottle have worked hard to create a safe and caring space where everyone can feel free to celebrate and express themselves without fear. The recent reports of sexual harassment and assault at festivals breaks our hearts and remind us all to remain vigilant around the issue of consent.

To be clear, LIB is a space with zero tolerance for any form of harassment or assault!
It is our responsibility as a community to foster a safe space for everyone in attendance at LIB. Festival’s are dynamic environments where it is easy for signals to get scrambled. Only yes means yes and enthusiastic consent must be obtained for any type of physical touch or sexual encounter.
If you, or someone you know, experiences harassment at any time please immediately reach out to our medical, security, ranger, and/or harm reduction staff (our Safety Teams). If you see anyone being harassed or a vulnerable person in danger of being assaulted find the nearest ranger (dressed in khaki and wearing a radio) and alert them to the situation. If there are no rangers nearby find any staff member with a radio, calmly explain the situation to them, and wait for assistance. Please respect the privacy of all involved and practice discretion and confidentiality when reporting an incident.
LIB’s Safety Teams are available day and night to ensure that you are safe, comfortable, and thriving at LIB throughout the entire weekend. The rangers and medical team are trained and ready to support you and ensure confidentiality to the highest extent possible in any situation of harassment or assault, so please make use of this valuable resource if you feel unsafe or hurt in any way.
The above goes for any type of situation you experience or observe that may be dangerous, harmful, or threatening. Our Safety Teams are here to help and support. Please rely on them.
Thank you for keeping our community a place where people can escape the worries of everyday life to gather, create, and inspire those around them. With each individual positive action, we take a step closer to changing the world.

Cultural Respect

LIB champions cultural respect of all kinds. We focus special attention on music festival culture and its relations to Native cultures. Embracing the current tribal trends does not assert individuality, rather it situates oneself comfortably among a culture of power that continues to oppress Native peoples.

Sporting a headdress or other imitation accessories that were not received through cultural rights or permission, and the understanding that comes with it, means being a walking representative of 500+ years of colonialism and racism. Native peoples are still here, fighting for basic human & religious rights, and for respect. The realities they face often remain invisible because the majority of society learns about Native cultures in textbooks, cartoons, and movies. At Halloween, Indian costumes are sold alongside Spiderman, mermaids, and fictional characters. Many people grow up playing “cowboys and indians” or watching sports that have Indian mascots. These experiences support the entitlement of non-native people to perpetuate stereotypes (noble savage, warriors, pristine environmentalists, shamans or magic indians).

6 Ways of LIB

The 6 Ways of LIB are our community’s guiding principles that can be applied to all aspects of the LIB experience. They are simple, but when we all put them into action they are powerful. Let’s remember these Ways of LIBing and create magic together!

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Celebrate Life

In every action and experience at LIB we cultivate feelings of fun, joy and togetherness. We always remember that we are here to create and share the best time!

Celebrating the joy of being alive is at the very core of the LIB experience. This is why we all come together to create Lightning In A Bottle. The music, the art, the learning together, the camping together, the being together ~ all of our endeavors and expressions at LIB are meant to bring us back to the reality that life is beautiful and worth celebrating. LIB’s primary purpose is celebrating this fact.
The 6 Ways of LIB are here to remind us of how to come together as a big group and be together in a fulfilling and joyous way. They are practical and useful, and the better we are all able to put them into action, the better LIB will be for all of us. To always remember to Celebrate Life is the most important Way of LIB. In celebrating this beautiful gift of life we all embody, we show our true selves. We show each other that we care. This is the magic of LIB we create together.
We Celebrate Life by bringing joyous attention to as many moments of LIB as we can. Large and small. With all the peak experiences on offer at LIB, it can be easy to miss the simple opportunities LIB creates for celebrating being alive. Follow these tips throughout your festival experience to make the best of an incredible weekend:
- Keep an open mind
- Open your heart to the people around you
- Explore and get out of your comfort zone
- Embrace challenges and focus on solutions
- Spread and seek out good vibes
- Connect with your body
- Share your talent
- Keep smiling
- Breathe

Create Community

At LIB we act in accordance with a shared sense of belonging. LIB belongs to all of us and we are happy to share it with one another in all its spaces and interactions.

LIB is a festival community where we all belong and contribute. When we come together at Lightning In A Bottle, we are not just attending a festival, we are creating a unique and special mini city together that only exists for a few precious moments in time a year. It’s exciting! And it takes all of our efforts to make it great. We all help each other, we share, and we look out for one another. It is one big team effort.
When we are all acting as good neighbors and treating each other with respect, we are able to let our guards down and connect in a way that fills our hearts with love and happiness. At LIB we are exploring the possibilities of returning to a village way of life. This way of life is in our bones and comes from our roots. It helps us see the world in a way that is more caring than we are used to. We take joy in the happiness of others and selflessly come to the aid of those in times of need. We no longer feel alone because we know we’ve all come to LIB to share an amazing experience together, and in that we are bound together in love and celebration.
This one works all over the festival at all times, but there are a few particular times and places where we can really have a positive impact and help create community.
- The Campgrounds: Don’t take more space than you need, respect your neighbors, don’t be disruptive, keep a clean camp! Especially when packing up and packing out all your trash.
- The Dance Floor: Share space and be mindful of other’s good times. Move through the crowd carefully and calmly ~ there’s never a need to rush or knock into people.
- Harm Reduction: Offer support to those in need. If you see anyone that looks lost or not well, help them get to medical or security staff.
- Be Responsible for Your Actions: Consider those around you, don’t overdo it, be able to take care of yourself.
- On Social Media: Treat each other with respect and good will! Stay positive and don’t feed the trolls.
- Waiting in Line: Both inside and outside the festival, having to wait in some lines is inevitable. Remember that we are all in it together. A calm and orderly line is a fast one. Accept instructions from staff and keep a positive attitude.

Be a Citizen

We keep the wonderful experiences and learnings of LIB with us after the event so they can guide us in exercising our citizenship in our wider communities.

As citizens we have particular rights and responsibilities that are necessary for the beneficial functioning of society. While LIB offers a blissful opportunity to experience a world with more love, acceptance and celebration than we are used to, the mini city that is LIB still exists as an extension of the civil society we all live and work within. Most of us have not looked at the specific civil rights and responsibilities of whichever country we hail from (you can view the US’s here) since high school, if at all. Re-acquaint yourself with the good foundations our society is built on. There is a give and take and spirit of cooperation that we can all take pride in. Give them a look and do your part.
The beautiful experiences at LIB can radiate out and make the world a better place. There are a number of simple but valuable actions we can all take to bring the perspectives of love and acceptance at LIB into the wider world ~ but only if we participate in our wider communities and share the love and be the change. This is the true power and expression of LIB. Its moments can stretch out into the days of our lives and into the lives of the people around us, in our homes and families, in our workplaces, and in our communities.
- Vote! ~ The most basic and important civic responsibility of all.
- Accept the call to Jury Duty ~ Jury Duty is a rare chance for all of us to experience and contribute to justice in action.
- Know your rights ~ to exercise your rights you must know what they are. Oppression loves ignorance.
- Respect the rights and opinions of others ~ Democracy is built upon reasoned debate. Reasoned debate is not a shouting match, or an opportunity to make others feel stupid or wrong. It is our best chance to find solutions and common ground. So don’t feed the trolls. Respect and compassion wins in the end.
- Stand up for your beliefs ~ Contribute financially and/or actively participate in the causes or organizations you believe in.

Respect

We recognize and respect personal boundaries. In respecting boundaries, we take responsibility for how our actions affect our own bodies and minds as well as the bodies and minds of those around us.

We are all essentially bodies and minds aiming to have a good time at LIB. To have the best time we treat our bodies and minds with love and respect and we are rewarded with good feelings and good experiences. A great LIB starts with how we treat ourselves, how we treat those around us, and continues to ripple out from there.
We don’t just want everyone to have a great time at LIB, we also want LIB to keep happening, year after year. The health of everyone at LIB is central to the health of LIB as a whole. We each have a responsibility to make the best of not just this year’s LIB, but all the LIBs to come. So stay healthy, hydrated, and happy! It’s not just about you, it’s about us all!
- Take Care of Yourself ~ know your limits & don’t push them, drink water, take breaks, get sleep, be present, and if you don’t know who gave it to you or what is in it dont take it! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and know ahead of time where LIB’s Harm Prevention services are (check the map). Bottom Line: Be smart and exercise good judgment ~ the future of this event depends on you!!
- Take Responsibility for Your Actions & Words ~ What you say, the costumes you wear, and the things you do can positively or negatively impact those around you. Check yourself regularly, educate yourself, be open to constructive feedback, and when in doubt ask.
- Respect People’s Bodies & Boundaries ~ LIB is a space of enthusiastic consent. Keep your hands to yourself unless given clear verbal consent, always ask before you make a move, never assume & always listen, approach every person respectfully, compliment kindly not crudely, a “harmless” touch to you can be unwanted or uncomfortable for somebody else.
- Share Space ~ be aware of your surroundings, be mindful when setting up camp or moving through crowded areas, if you want to be in the front row at a set commit to arriving early, forcefully pushing your way through a crowd is a surefire way to quickly become the most unliked person at the festival ~ don’t be that person.

Actively Participate

We all take an active role in creating the LIB experience for ourselves and those around us. We stay off the sidelines (and our phones!), exploring the possibilities of being the best versions of ourselves.

Actively Participating means not sitting on the sidelines or being a spectator. It means putting the phone down, taking your eyes off the tiny screen and beholding the big beautiful world around you. LIB is meant to be picked up, played with, and passed on to the next member of the team with more love and energy added to it than before. It means having an attitude of interaction, openness and play. We are all part of the show at LIB, so whether that means dressing up and being a character, or leading the charge on cleaning up trash on the dancefloor, or making the best camp breakfast your friends have ever had, Lightning in a Bottle is you, so bring your A game!
Life is more meaningful and memorable when we are playing an active role in it. LIB is a special time and place where we all get to contribute to making life more surprising, enlightening, and full of heart. We all have the spark within us to make it better, but only when we stop watching it happen and start making it happen. This will help you to experience The Most Fun You’ll Have In Your Entire Life!
- Put down the phone! Turn it off, leave it at camp, let it go. Instagram will still be there when you get back.
- Dress up in your Sunday’s best or a crazy costume. Doesn’t matter what you dress up as, just put some thought and excitement into it.
- Live in the moment so you can spot opportunities to share a smile, make someone laugh, or help a friend in need, or even better, all 3 at once!
- Don’t wait for the fun to begin, run out and find it.
- Identify your fears and find ways to overcome them. Feeling shy? Well, there are no strangers at LIB, only friends you haven’t met yet. Meet some friends!
- Lead by example ~ don’t wait for others to do the right thing, show everyone how it’s done. So go ahead and pick up some trash and watch the person next to you do the same. Kind acts are contagious, see how many you can create!
- Share your creativity! LIB is a canvas with many opportunities for beautiful expression. Bring a gift or take a drawing class or find a piece of participatory art and leave your mark. Just don’t deface or damage someone else’s art! Create with respect.

Honor the Land

We have gratitude for the land and community where LIB is held. We strive to leave the land better than we found it and make a positive impact as part of the community.

Honoring the Land means having love and respect for the place where we come together and celebrate. The land was here before us and it will be here after us. We humbly accept the privilege and responsibility to leave it better and more beautiful than we found. The Land refers to both the Buena Vista parklands where the festival occurs as well as the surrounding community that is hosting us as guests. Our actions during LIB and when we are coming to and leaving the festival site are our opportunities to Honor The Land where LIB is held. Seize these opportunities.
It is good for the soul to show appreciation to one’s hosts, and it is good for LIB’s continued existence as a festival. Remember that we are guests and as guests we hope to be invited back. But more deeply, we want our time on this planet to be connected to positive impact.
- Pack It In / Pack It Out ~ LIB is a leave no trace event. Learn how to manage and minimize your camp trash, properly break down your tents and shade structures, and leave a spick and span space where your camp once was.
- Respect the native plants and animals ~ Don’t trample the plants outside of the park’s main paths, and don’t disturb the wildlife at the park.
- Respect the local community ~ Drive the speed limit. Don’t blast loud music when driving through local towns. Don’t leave any trash by the side of the road. Be friendly and courteous to anyone you meet on the way in or out of the festival. Thank them for hosting the festival in their community. We all appreciate it!