Burning Man Earth Guardians
   
  Burning Leave No Trace - Sample LNT Plan  
 

Leave No Trace and Green Plans, Burning Man

The amazing thing about Burning Man is that it happens at all. How is it possible, in our consumer-driven world, that so many thousands of people can gather in one place, build a city, have fun for a week, and vanish without a trace?

The answer is simple: YOU make it possible, by organizing your camp and limiting what you bring to Black Rock city so that you can clear up every speck of the non-playa material you brought with you, and then some. As Earth Guardians, we all do this for each other, as a gesture of our commitment to the beauty of the Black Rock Desert. We also do it out of necessity, we are guests on the land, and if we don't take care of it, we won't be invited back.

Every year Burning Man grows, and every year it seems our window for cleaning up afterward shrinks. This year, please make this simple pledge: After cleaning up all my traces, I will devote a minimum of two hours to cleaning up the Black Rock Desert. By picking up the stuff that has been left by others, drifted by the wind or simply forgotten, you can become an integral part of the greatest vanishing act ever. You will become an Earth Guardian.

Experience the satisfaction of healing the world, and enjoy the reward of a beautiful andn natural desert.

Apply these ideas to your campsite, large or small as you develop your own LNT and green plans! Consider the committments carefully and how your campers will apply the practices. You'll be amazed at how camping smarter will make your Burning Man experience happier and easier. LNT Plan (microsoft word) LNT Plan (pdf).

To guide more sustainable choices for camp creation and planning, consider some of the many ways you can also make your theme cap Green. Here is a sample Green Plan that you can use.Green Plan (mics word) Green Plan (pdf).

----------------- HTML version of the LNT plan

About Our Camp

Camp Name : _____________________________________

History, background: _______________________________________________

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Estimated Population: __________

Nature and scale of our activities: ____________________________________

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As a camp we will:

  • Plan Ahead
  • Practice the 5 R’s: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore, and Respect
  • Keep our camp clean before, during and after the event
  • Adopt the seven principles and practices of Leave No Trace at Burning Man
  • Do what is necessary to protect and restore the Black Rock Desert
  • Identify potential problems and issues that may arise
  • Create a strategy or plan for Leaving No Trace
  • We will educate all camp members about minimizing our impact on the playa

How we will organize for Leave No Trace

Our LNT leadership and structure: ____________________________________

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We hereby designate ___________________________________________as the Ambassador to the Black Rock Desert and leader of our Leave No Trace Team, __________________________________________________ The team will help plan our purchases, what we bring to the playa, and encourage us to reuse, recycle, reduce and restore our materials. They will think about how we and all of our stuff will get to the playa and make it home again. The team will keep our camp clean and fun before, during and after the event and delegate and enlist help when it is needed.

They will be responsible for cleanup and trash management in our camp, including activities and parties we host. They will see that our gray water does not impact the playa. They will make sure that all camp members understand and agree with the policies and practices of Leave No Trace at Burning Man.

They will oversee daily tasks and will have a plan in place when we get ready to leave, when it's time to break down and sweep our camp for every last trace. The Abassador will make sure EVERYTHING left goes with us.

The Ambassador will encourage our participation in community line sweeps and restoration with our neighbors and DPW.

__________________________, will oversee our camp breakdown and cleanup

Our Commitment to Leave No Trace

To minimize our impact on the Playa, we will follow these rules:

Before the event

  • We pledge to Leave No Trace in and around our campsite, including our own and others’ waste.
  • We will read the survival guide, complete our camp’s Leave No Trace Plan and share it with the entire camp.
  • We will plan the assembly and takedown of our structures and decorations and tape the edges of our carpets
  • We will inventory vehicle space so that we can pack out everything
  • We will take the packaging off of just about everything and stock up on reusable producs and containers
  • We will shop for simple finger foods and prepare meals in advance to reduce waste.
  • We will bring no glass, cheap trinkets, small feathers, and anything that might get left on the playa
During the event
  • We will check our camp daily
  • We will clean as we go, realizing that any trash or MOOP (matter out of place) can blow away or be buried at any moment.
  • We will keep our recyclables, burnables, and non-burnables clearly separated for easy disposal,
  • We will recycle our aluminum, either on-site or back home
  • We will have special cleanup crews for any high traffic activities we host and take care of any trash left by guests, invited or otherwise.
  • We won’t leave trash in or around the port-o-potties
  • We won’t light fires on bare ground or dig pits, leaving scars. If we must burn, we’ll use a public burn barrel or burn platform
  • We will burn only clean untreated wood or paper (nothing synthetic) and follow the safety guidelines for fires and burn scar prevention.
  • We won’t dig large holes or trenches
  • We will keep all items tied or weighted down, and leave papers at home.
  • We will not dump any grey or black water on the playa
  • We will encourage members of our camp to carry a personal trash (MOOP) container and a cigarette butt container when they are outside camp.
After the event
  • We will put aside time and have designated volunteers for the final cleanup
  • We will take all trash in sealed containers to a landfill on the way home.
  • After cleaning our camp, everyone in our camp will devote at least two hours to the general city cleanup (e.g. trash fence, local port-o-potties, café, etc).
  • We will leave extra space in every vehicle on the way to the desert, knowing that repacking will inevitably take up more space and ensure that no items can detach during the ride home.
  • We will pack out everything, including any unevaporated gray water and scum
  • We won’t put trash in or around the port-o-potties
  • We will help out our neighbors and fellow citizens

We will be Good Neighbors

  • We will encourage our guests to bring their own beverage containers.
  • We will help out our neighbors
  • We will adopt the space around our camp, making sure that it stays traceless
  • We will help careless or forgetful campers

Here's how we’ll do it

 Design our camp in a way that is easy to keep clean: _______________________________

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Select materials and decorations for our camp that lessen waste and are recyclable or reusable:

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Create a detailed plan for the breakdown/cleanup of our camp, accounting for every board, stake, and scrap, and pack necessary tools and supplies:

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Plan for extra cleanup and trash generated by activities and parties at our camp:

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Have a plan for proper disposal of our grey water, including containers to haul out what’s left:

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Plan enough space and storage in our vehicles for trash hauling:

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Explain the ground rules to all camp members and post our LNT plan on our website.

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Plan a secured trash separation station with signage and tags and plenty of heavy duty garbage bags

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We will bring the following items for camp operations

Separate, sealed containers for recyclables, burnables, and non-burnables, a found bin and signage and tags.

  • Reusable dinnerware and utensils, including a portable coffee cup for the café
  • A large water container for camp water supplies (no small containers)
  • 5-gallon bucket and painter’s mesh for wet kitchen scraps.
  • Containers for Grey water disposal
  • Containers for smokers’ butts
  • Tarps or other floor covering to ‘catch’ any items that drop

We will bring the following items for our camp’s breakdown and clean-up

  • Big whiskbroom and push broom
  • Flat blade shovel for burn scar restoration or dune MOOP
  • Large Landscape Rake and smaller rakes for sweeping though dust piles
  • Stiff long handled broom for breaking up dunes
  • Rope and string for tying loose stuff down.
  • Small spare bags for collecting trash as we wander.
  • Lots on industrial strength trash bags: more than we think we'll need.
  • Cheap work gloves for everybody.
  • Long-handled sledgehammer for compacting 5-gallon buckets and driving stakes.
  • Vise grips for removing stakes and rebar.
  • Directions and hours of landfills and RV water dump stations
  • Magnets to remove every last nails, staples, scrap of metal.
  • Vehicles and/or trailers to haul everything out

Packing Out and Restoration of Our Site

  • We will take away everything we brought with us plus a few things we didn’t know we’d have.
    • Our restoration team will use cones on the outside of our camp’s border to define our boundaries, break up any dunes that formed around vehicles or structures,  then divide up our area and begin line sweeps.If we don’t have enough folks on our team to form one line across the site, we will break our space up into smaller areas and have each restoration volunteer deMoop their area.We will pick up all woodchips, broken glass, plastic debris, metal debris, fire works and plant material. We complete restoration of any hotspots (micro-MOOP collections), or burnscars.
    • We will try to give a helping hand to our neighbors

    Black Rock Desert Restoration

  • We will each perform at least 2 hours of community clean-up
  • We will pitch in with our fellow citizens and community service teams to restore the natural characteristics of the playa in our neighborhood, removing all burn scars, dunes, leftover debris, or other physical traces of our presence.
  • We will participate in DPW line sweeps and local restoration efforts.
  • We will volunteer for and support ecological protection and restoration of the Black Rock Desert