One of Burning Man’s founding principles is Leaving No Trace, which all attendees are expected to honor and teach: “The Burning Man community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.”

Whether on the Black Rock Desert or beyond, Leaving No Trace is a demonstration of the Burning Man community’s integrity and commitment to the environment of the Black Rock Desert. 

Here’s our annual compilation of tips and tricks for greening your Burn. It starts with careful planning, carries on to your practices on playa, then disposing of your trash and recycling after the event.

The Man burns in 54 days.

If you want your Leaving No Trace advice bite-sized, it boils down to this:

1. MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) is the Burner word for “litter,” meaning anything left behind not native to the immediate environment. Examples include: trash, cigarette butts, fireworks, wood debris, plastic debris and metal debris. If you see MOOP, please pick it up and educate your fellow Burners about the importance of keeping the Black Rock Desert clean and beautiful. 
2. Never let it hit the ground. If you’re prepared to never let anything hit the ground (carrying a MOOP bag, using a mint tin to ash cigarettes), you’re doing it right!
3. Pack it in, pack it out. Include all your clean-up needs in your game plan for getting into and out of the event.
4. Conserve energy. Use renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biodiesel). Take Burner Express Bus or Air!
5. Buy minimal and environmentally friendly supplies. Reuse instead of replace. Avoid packaging. Share.
6. Make the most of your waste and recyclables. After the event, recycle it. If you must pack out landfill trash, dispose of it responsibly.
7. If it wasn't in your body, don't put it in the potty.
8. Have a plan to deal with gray water.
9. Spread the word. Clean up with your neighbors.

REMEMBER: Your environmental impact at Burning Man affects our ability to hold this event. If we don't minimize our impact and treat the land and people with respect, they won't want us to come back.

Burning Man is the largest Leave No Trace (LNT) event in the country. The LNT Outreach and Environmental Compliance team’s mission is to educate people about LNT practices and identify issues within camps that need to be remedied. If this team comes to your camp or leaves you a message, it means you need to fix something! You will have 48 hours to make the fix, and they will help, but if you don’t comply, your issue may get escalated to law enforcement. So read up!

LNT Outreach and Environmental Compliance Team priorities

Burn barrels

Burning directly on the playa bakes the surface into a dark, brick-like material.

• Keep burn barrels off the playa surface. Find non-flammable ways to raise it off the ground by at least two inches.

Vehicle leaks

Engine fluid leaks are common, especially in older vehicles — especially RVs.

• Check under your vehicle daily. If your vehicle is leaking, use a drip pan, tarp, rug, plywood, or anything that can be secured to the ground to catch the fluids.

Fuel storage

Most fuel spills result from improper storage and transfer.

• Fuel expands with heat. Never fill fuel containers past 80%, no matter whether you use a five-gallon jug or a 55-gallon drum.
• Protect the playa from spills. All fuel containers, regardless of size, must be stored within “secondary containment” basins. These basins must be capable of holding 110% of the volume of the largest single container stored in it.
• Spill size matters. If the spill and contaminated playa fits in a five gallon bucket, dig it up, put it in a container and take it home with you. If it’s bigger than that, get help. BRC has teams that can handle any spilled substance. Find someone with a radio or go to any Ranger or ESD station.
• Fuel safety is critical. More tips here.

Gray and black water spills

If you see a spill, do the following:

• Stop causing it. No more showers, toilets or baths until you fix it.
• Contain it. Use a bucket to collect the leaking fluids and contaminated playa. If you’ve got a large spill, get help. Find someone with a radio or go to any Ranger or ESD station. You won’t get in trouble for trying to fix something.
• Fix it. If your spill is due to a crack or other malfunction, you may have to stop using your tanks. If it’s just overfilled, get your tank pumped by United Site Services (USS). You can flag down a truck on site, but it’s better to arrange for servicing pre-event.
• Get help! Anything over 25 gallons spilled is considered an environmental emergency. Get help if something is not easily cleaned up or is actively spilling with no way to stop. We don’t want any spill to go unmitigated. Find someone with a radio or go to any Ranger or ESD station.

MOOP (Matter Out Of Place)

Never let it hit the ground. If you don’t actively MOOP, you jeopardize the Burning Man permit and the annual Bureau of Land Management (BLM) post-event site inspection. 

• Monitor your camp. Don’t leave cigarette butts, ashtrays, bottles and cans lying around. Before you leave camp, make sure everything is secure; whiteouts and dust storms always happen when you’re not around.
• Pack it out. There are no trash cans in Black Rock City. All of your waste is your responsibility to take home.
• Manage waste throughout the event. Sort your trash. Crush your cans. Separate food waste and dry it in a mesh bag in the sun.
• MOOP Sweeps. Get your campmates together and line up everyone arms width apart along your camp boundary and walk from one side of the camp to the other while picking up any MOOP you see along the way. Do this before you set up camp, and during and after the event. Your area should look cleaner than when you got there. If your camp is particularly moopy, be sure to have rakes, shovels and magnet sweepers.

PRO TIP: Bring a five-gallon bucket.

• A bucket underneath a leaky tank will capture drips.
• If you have a spill and the contaminated playa fits in a five-gallon bucket, dig up the soil and dispose of the bucket off site.
• Use your bucket to gather MOOP as you clean up your camp.

You made it past the bullet points! Yet there's much more to learn. The Survival Guide is your one-stop-shop for doing it right on the playa, and the First Timer's Guide gives you the high-level overview of what Burning Man is about. If this is new to you, start there.

Whether you’ve burned zero or 27 times, it can’t hurt to brush up on the Earth Guardians’ tips and information about keeping Burning Man clean and green. And for good measure, here are more eco-friendly Burner resources.

How are you going to be sustainable in BRC this year? Consider the materials being used, waste produced and energy consumed. Use greener materials. Use nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable and salvageable materials, and those that can be reused or repurposed at home or at next year's event.

Camp

Select construction materials and decorations that are reusable (it’s cheaper in the long run!). If you can’t reuse it, make sure it’s recyclable. Design your camp structures for reuse, easy deconstruction, storage and salvage. Use screws instead of nails. Use reclaimed wood and metal when possible.

Clothes and Costumes

Reuse and repurpose old clothes, and be cognizant of your costuming. Things that can be particularly problematic include feathers, glitter, sequins, beads, bindis, body gems, glued-on stuff, fake eyelashes, etc. Here’s a list of notoriously moopy items and alternatives to using them.

Food and Water

Minimize kitchen waste and clean-up by planning simple, low-dishwashing meals, repackaging and preparing food in advance. Bring less food than you think you’ll need. Take off every piece of unnecessary packaging and put food in reusable containers.

Bring water in big reusable containers and bring reusable cups, utensils, bowls or plates. Don’t bring single-use bottled water. Ask visitors to your camp to BYOC (bring your own cup) and take your own cup to the Center Camp Café and bars. A carabineer easily secures it to you for transport around the city.

Reduce energy use by getting creative about ways to conserve. Incorporate energy-efficient light bulbs like LEDs or EL wire instead of glow sticks. Use rechargeable batteries. Many lights are now solar powered.

Use renewable energy sources (human, solar, wind, biodiesel). The Alternative Energy Zone has been generator-free on the playa for many years! If you must use a generator, consider biodiesel instead of gasoline.

Coordinate with other participants to carpool or jump on the Burner Express, to reduce your transportation costs and impacts! Share transportation and energy generation with neighboring camps. Many Regional Contacts coordinate to ship camps’ supplies to the playa. Check with your regional contact and check out the Burning Man rideshare page.

Get your car tuned before heading to the playa. A well-maintained car produces lower emissions and will make it all the way to BRC (and back again). Consider purchasing carbon credits to offset your transportation and energy (generators) emissions.

There are no trash cans in Black Rock City. You must take all trash home with you.

Plan to recycle. Buy aluminum cans and dispose of them at Recycle Camp. Separate any other recyclables (glass, steel and plastic) at recycle centers on your way home.

Plan your camp to minimize clean-up efforts, and don’t wait until the end of the week to pick stuff up. Clean as you go. This will keep you from getting overwhelmed by the mess and keep trash from blowing out of reach.

Food, Water and Other Liquids

Collect food waste in a mesh bag. The food will dry up, becoming light and nearly odorless. Here's food wisdom from a decade on the playa.

How will you dispose of your gray water from your kitchen and shower? Camps can use small footprint evapotrons, take it to one of the RV dump stations along all Exodus routes, or contract with United Site Services to handle gray water disposal. If you’re in a small camp, with minimal dish- and body-washing water, we have pro tips to treat your gray water. Camps that have gray/black water tanks pumped by USS should labor under the assumption their tanks will be pumped a day later than expected and plan accordingly. (Delays happen on the playa).

If it wasn’t in your body, don’t put it in the potty! Only single-ply toilet paper and human waste in the potties. Anything else will clog the toilet vendor’s hose, resulting in unserviced potties. Don’t pee on the playa. Having a pee jug near your bed will cut down on trips to the potties.

Promote LNT neighborhoods. Initiate a MOOP sweep with your neighbors to keep your part of the city clean and green.

Carry a MOOP bag as you walk around the city. What’s a MOOP bag? Ideally, it’s a narrow fabric bag with a strap or clip. MOOP bags give you a place to stow your MOOP as well as MOOP you find on the playa. Pick one up at Earth Guardians early in the week before they run out!

Devote two hours to general clean-up in Black Rock City. This means MOOP sweeps in the streets, public spaces and open playa, removing burn scars, dunes, leftover debris or other physical traces of our presence. Stop by the Earth Guardian camp during the week and jump on the MOOP train mornings at 11 am. They’ll give you a beautiful reusable MOOP bag. If the MOOP train is already out, they’ll direct you to the areas of the city that need the most attention. Consider staying an extra day to help clean up and avoid the Sunday and Monday traffic!

Partner with other camps to share resources. Many camps collaborate on energy sources and gray water management. If you’re in a village, work with organizers to place camps so sharing generators (or — even better — renewable power sources) can happen.

Consider sharing water and water treatment needs with others in your camp and village. Many Theme Camps within villages use larger scale processes to store their drinking and shower water and treat their gray water.

Don’t burn anything on the unprotected playa. The playa surface is vulnerable to scarring from careless burning. Use community burn barrels or a burn platform.

This year’s Burn Gardens and Wood Reclamation Stations will be along the Esplanade at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Trained volunteers will assist you. Staffing begins Sunday at 9 am and continues 24 hours a day through the Tuesday after the Temple burn.

Burn clean! Burn only clean (no paint) wood or paper! Carpets, cushioned furniture, PVC and other plastics release dioxins, formaldehyde and other nasty stuff, and are not allowed to be burned. The Community Burn Gardens are low to the ground and produce smoke that is easily inhaled. The low temperature of these fires, combined with incomplete combustion,  emits toxic gases and particulates. Don’t put trash in your burn barrels!

There are several 24-hour trash and recycling centers along the route out of Black Rock City that accept our recycling and trash. Recycling is free, and trash disposal is usually $5 per 35-gallon trash bag. There are 17 locations, each of which offer slightly different prices and services.You’ll find the locations and their services in the Survival Guide, as well as on a handy rear-view mirror hang tag you’ll receive as you drive in the gate.

Before you leave BRC, secure your load. Don’t let your trash fly off your vehicle, and do not dump it on the side of the road or at a rest stop, dumpsters, neighborhoods or in Reno. For several years we’ve received complaints from Reno residents and businesses that participants are dumping their trash in dumpsters and trash cans in Reno and the surrounding communities. When dumping is reported, we have to remove it.

Karina writes:

“The Earth Guardians have volunteers that lead the LNT Outreach teams and coordinate with Rangers on the Environmental Compliance teams around BRC and also have volunteer shifts to support our information desk, and many performances, speakers and workshops in the pavilion. We also need folks to participate in our hot spring and MOOP train patrols. Interested? Visit our website or email us for more information. You can sign up for shifts using Shiftboard or on playa (early in the week so that you can attend one of our volunteer trainings).

We are expanding our LNT Outreach and Compliance teams this year and need volunteers before the gate opens and during the entire Burn week! If you are interested and new to volunteering, email us at earthguardians@burningman.org!

Please do pay us a visit on playa (we’re right on the Esplanade at 5:30). We host over 50 activities on environmental topics ranging from natural history and biodiversity loss to practical tips on how to live more plastic-free, reduce waste and incorporate alternative energy technologies into your on-playa and off-playa life. We also offer hands-on DIY workshops that encourage a greener lifestyle, provide solar baked cookies and veggies and have dance and music performances.”

DA, the Playa Restoration Manager writes:

“Burning Man is proud to be the largest practicing Leave No Trace event in the world, and now we want you to join our post-event 150 person cleanup team as we fight the War on MOOP and help to leave the Black Rock Desert clean and beautiful! Apply to volunteer with the Playa Restoration All-Star MOOP Army from Monday, September 18 to Monday, October 2 as we prepare for the Bureau of Land Management’s site inspection!”

Apply to join the Playa Restoration All-Star MOOP Army

More briefing materials for the MOOP Army:

“MOOP Is on the Rise” video
Short video from Playa Restoration Manager DA about the rise of MOOP in Black Rock City.

Quick and Easy How To Leave No Trace the Playa Restoration Way
Slideshow designed by the Playa Restoration Manager DA specifically for you, your camp, or your art project to get Green on the MOOP Map.

Educational Video of the Playa Restoration Manager’s Leave No Trace Presentation
DA holds a Leave No Trace MOOP rally at the 2017 Theme Camp Symposium and talks about the Top 10 Worst MOOP Offenders and how best to clean it up.

Previous Jackrabbit Speaks Preparation Editions:

• Health & Safety
• Kids at Burning Man

Adan Jodorowsky, Jon Handelsman, Alejandro Jodorowsky — Poesía Sin Fin (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2017)

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Spark: Connecting people with projects
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Credits:
Editor: Jon Mitchell
Looking Over Shoulders: Megan Miller, Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley
Design & Development: Silvia Stephenson
Original Jackrabbit (O.J.): Marian Goodell
Jackrabbits Emeriti: Andie Grace, Will Chase
Header Photograph: MOOPing in the Midday Sun
Photographer Credit: John Curley

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