BurningSky

Camp Clean Up Plan

We estimate that seventy people will live in our camp, with an average stay of Wednesday through Sunday. Visitors will number in the hundreds. The first arrivals will be on Saturday to set up, with a clean-up crew staying through Monday. The last person will depart Tuesday after a final inspection of the area. Several of the camp leaders, including the author, are familiar with wilderness river running practices for leaving no trace and will monitor the group to ensure that nothing is left behind.

Trash: each tent or car unit is responsible for their own trash. Camp members will receive advance guidance in traveling light on trash and the 6 R's: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore, and Respect. In addition we will have two or three public trash cans for visitors. Aluminum will be taken to recycle camp. Clean burnable material will go in the neighborhood burn barrels or packed out. The campers will pack out all their personal trash and will be asked to take away some community trash. When traveling throughout the city Burning Sky members will be encouraged to carry small trash bags for collecting and disposing incidental MOOP encountered during our fantastic playa-voyages.

Fire/combustibles: we have no plans for any fire, grills, etc. in camp. All cooking will be on gas camp stoves. The one flame element is some lighting: kerosene lamps and possibly some paper lanterns illuminated with candles. The latter are completely contained and the candle stubs, once out, will go in our trash.

Food debris: there are no plans for organized communal meals, but we will encourage use of a communal kitchen space to confine all kitchen debris in an area protected by a tarp that will catch anything falling to the ground. Each day two members will be assigned to KP duty to make sure the kitchen area is clean and in order, and to supervise disposal of dishwater.

Gray water: long experience at desert camping will allow us to minimize the amount of water used. An evaporation pond will be built to dispose of shower and dishwater. Dishwater will be strained through a fine mesh strainer prior to entering the evaporation pond. The pond, constructed of a waterproof tarp and 2x4s, will be removed entirely, including all scum. Clean cooler water not used for showers will be sprinkled on the approaches to the camp to control dust. Communal showers will each be registered with the LNT team and each site inspected at break-down for MOOP.

Final cleanup: Once the camp area is emptied and macro-cleaned the LNT team will form lines and sweep the entire Burning Sky camp for micro MOOP. Push brooms will be used to disrupt and reveal MOOP that is covered by dust. This will serve as the final inspection of the camp cleanup efforts.

Other: our art and decor does not involve any fine, easily lost material such as glitter, sequins, feathers, etc. However, we will police the entire camp area and a reasonable perimeter (to the next camps or 300 feet out, which ever is first) prior to leaving.

With no fire element in the camp, we should have no burn scars. The only other evidence of our presence will be tire tracks and holes from the re-bar stakes supporting our art and shade. Having been through this before, we will have a stake-pulling device to ensure that even the most stubborn stakes are completely removed.

The following was authored by the Burning Man Earth Guardians and endorsed by Burning Sky members:

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 products 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 un-evaporated 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

We will bring the following items for camp operations

• Reusable dinnerware and utensils, including a portable beverage container and 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
• Tarps or other floor covering to ‘catch' any items that drop

We will bring the following items for our camp's breakdown, clean-up and restoration

• Big whiskbroom and push brooms
• Large landscape rake and smaller rakes for sweeping through 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.
• Magnets or magnet sweepers 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 burn scars.
• We will try to give a helping hand to our neighbors

Black Rock Desert Restoration

• We will each contribute 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