LNT (Not TNT)
Estimated Population: 20
Nature and scale of our activities: Shared shade spaces, community bar and snack area, dance space, bike parking, private camping area, one to two shared showers, one to two shared kitchens.
As a camp we will:
- Reduce waste before getting to the playa
- Collect recyclable goods throughout the week, taking aluminum to Recycle Camp
- Keep our camp space clean down to the last person on-playa
- 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
- 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: Sean Hayes and Wes Stratton as daily LNT organizers
We designate Wes Stratton as the Ambassador to the Black Rock Desert and leader of our Leave No Trace Team, Camp Awesomesauce, BRC. The team will help plan what we bring to the playa and will encourage us to minimize waste, and recycle whatever can be recycled.
They will be responsible for waste management in our camp, making sure that the camp is kept clean throughout our stay in the desert. The team will see make sure that our gray water and black water are not damaging the playa and that any spills are handled properly. They will make sure that all camp members understand and agree with the policies and practices of Leave No Trace at Burning Man.
Throughout the week, daily sweeps are conducted to make sure that when it comes time to break down the camp we have little to no work left to do. We’ve come up Green on the yearly Moop Maps for six years running and will maintain that level of cleanliness in our space again this year. The ambassador will encourage our participation in community line sweeps and restoration with our neighbors and DPW.
Wes Stratton and the volunteers of Camp Awesomsauce 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
- We will check our camp daily
- We will clean as we go, realizing that any trash or MOOP can blow away or be buried at any moment.
- We will keep our recyclable and garbage 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
- 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 won’t dig large holes or trenches
- We will keep all items tied or weighted down
- We will not dump any grey or black water on the playa. Any spills will be properly taken care of before we leave
- We will encourage members of our camp to carry a personal trash (MOOP) container and a cigarette butt container when they are outside camp
- 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 own camp, we will volunteer additional time to general city cleanup
- We will leave extra space in every vehicle on the way to the desert to be taken up by extra trash on the return trip
- We will pack out everything, including any unevaporated gray water
- We won’t put trash in or around the port-o-potties
- We will help out our neighbors and fellow citizens and will do our best to spread information
We will be Good Neighbors
- We will encourage our guests to bring their own beverage containers.
- We will help out our neighborhood on a regular basis
- We will adopt the space around our camp, making sure that it stays traceless
- We will help careless or forgetful campers, providing spare MOOP containers and information
Here’s how we’ll do it:
Camp Design: We’ll make sure that open spaces are easily policed for trash, and that public spaces have receptacles for trash, cigarettes, and recyclables. Gray water evaporation is handled in a spot that gets sunlight throughout the bulk of the day, and we are prepared to take all remaining unevaporated water home. Our common area will offer large water coolers, eliminating the need for many smaller sized packaged water containers on playa.
Breakdown: Camp infrastructure will be itemized and accounted for during breakdown in order to ensure there are no forgotten items. LNT policing will continue down to the last person in camp on playa, making sure that all space under parked vehicles is searched several times before the end of the event.
Garbage Management: Trash will be separated and accounted for regularly throughout our time on the playa. As additional group trash is produced, a member will claim the trash for the return trip.
Water Management: We’ll make sure that all gray water, black water, drips from vehicles, etc are kept off the playa surface. Vehicles and trailers will be checked daily and any spills will be handled properly.
Education: We’ll make sure that all camp members and guest are aware of the proper way to handle their trash (self reliance first and foremost) and that everyone knows how to do their part to keep a clean camp.
We will bring the following items for camp operations
- Separate, sealed containers for recyclables and trash.
- A lost and found zone will be maintained for items that may not be trash.
- Reusable dinnerware and utensils, including a portable coffee cup for the café
- Several large water containers for camp water supplies (no small containers)
- Several five gallon buckets for doing dishes with minimal water usage
- Designated containers for grey water disposal
- Cigarette butt containers to discourage ashing/dropping on the ground
We will bring the following items for our camp’s breakdown and clean-up
- Large brooms
- Flat blade shovel
- Large rakes
- Sledgehammers
- Rope
- MOOP bags for collecting trash
- Contractor style reinforced garbage bags for heavy duty trash mangement
- Work gloves for the full crew
- Vise grips for removing stakes and rebar.
- Directions and hours of landfills and RV water dump stations for members/neighbors that need them
- 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 (It always happens!)
- Our restoration team will mark our camp’s borders, break up any dunes that formed around vehicles or structures, and divide our area to begin line sweeps. We will have each restoration volunteer carefully check their area while we move through the camp in a grid. We will pick up all debris down to the last hair or splinter of wood.
- We will try to give a helping hand to our neighbors and will help police empty space in the neighborhood before we leave.
Black Rock Desert Restoration
- We will each perform as much community clean-up as we can throughout the week and after finishing our own camp.
- 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 volunteer for and support ecological protection and restoration of the Black Rock Desert