• Tips & Hints
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Resources
• Send Us Your Ideas

Recycling in Black Rock City

Any city worth its weight in aluminum cans or two by fours has a recycling program, and Black Rock City is no exception. For a decade now, recycling has been a part of life on the playa; even though our mantra has always been “Pack it in, Pack it out” because “There is no garbage or recycling in Black Rock City.” In truth, that mantra means we must take responsibility for our own trash, including recycling — and some resources do exist to help participants keep their recyclables out of the landfill.

Burning Man, for many people, has become not so much the way they spend their lives for one week out of the year, but rather a way of thinking and acting all year round. The process of leaving no trace should be started before one even leaves their home for the desert, and should in fact carry over into one’s daily life, because the entire planet on which we live deserves to be treated with the same sense of reverence as the playa.

Landfills across the world are quickly filling up and more and more of our precious land is being taken to house the millions of tons of trash that our race accumulates every year. Studies have shown that 25-50% of this refuse is material that need not be filling up these landfills, as it is recyclable. Recycling is cheap and easy, and the benefits are immeasurable. By taking the time to minimize the amount of material that is brought onto the playa (see Trash Minimization), one can minimize the possibility of accidentally having something hit the ground. Additionally, citizens of Black Rock City are encouraged to separate and recycle their waste and to dispose of the trash and recyclable materials appropriately.

Tips and Hints

1. Create a plan and implement it.

   Figure out the who, what, where and how before you get on the playa.

2. A Place For Everything!

   Bring appropriate containers for all different kinds of recyclables. Burlap bags are great for collecting aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles, since they let air through.

3. What Is This?

   Label your separate containers boldly so that, even in the dark, your fellow camp mates can easily find the burlap bag for the aluminum beer cans.

4. The Elephant In The Room

   Set up a convenient location for your separation station. Call it something creative like that and people with talk about it and use it. Try to stick with one central location rather than multiple spots. This helps reinforce the importance of reducing how much trash we create in the first place.

5. Stay On Top Of It!

   Manage your separation station daily. Make sure things are being properly separated. Aluminum — Steel — Glass — Plastic — Paper/Cardboard — Organics – and finally trash.

6. Show us Your Cans!

   Take all of your aluminum cans to Recycle Camp. There you can help them crush and bag the cans. Then the cans will be delivered to Gerlach where the School organizes to get the cans recycled and they get to keep the deposit money.

7. Got Wood?

   Instead of burning all of your leftover, used-for-a-week, perfectly good wood, why not recycle it?  Burners without Borders will be back in force this year once again recycling all usable lumber and building materials, and they need your help!

   Starting Sunday, they will have recycling stations set up near 3, 6, and 9 on the Esplanade. They expect to be open from 10am-9pm, both Sunday and Monday. There you can drop off your usable lumber (full size pieces of 2 x 4, 4 x 4, and plywood only, please; no scraps), as well as certain building materials (pipes, conduit, wiring, tools, and other re-useful non-liquid hardware items). Got some time to kill after the Burn? Help them organize, clean & sort donations!

   You can participate even before the event: make sure to design your camp and art so that it can be easily recycled. They’ll be looking for full lengths of 2 x 4, 4 x 4, and full sheets of plywood, so before you lop off that little end piece, ask yourself if you really need to? And when you’re building, use screws instead of nails — they hold better, go in easier, and also make structures easier to disassemble.

8. Off-playa Recycling!

   There are several convenient locations throughout the region to responsibly dispose of all of your recyclables, trash, and gray water, and many of them are open 24 hours. Find them here in the Survival Guide.

For More Information on these and other tips:

Contact Blue of Recycle Camp at recycle@burningman.com
and Burners without Borders at www.burnerswithoutborders.org

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there recycling in Black Rock City?
   The answer is no and yes. There is no recycling service in Black Rock City, just as there is no garbage service. No recycling stations, no trash cans. We ask our participants to “Pack it in, Pack it out” and “Leave No Trace”. The one exception to this rule is Recycle Camp, where you can take your aluminum cans only. They collect, crush & bag as many cans as possible in a week and then donate them to the Gerlach School. There the school organizes to recycle them and the school gets to keep the deposit money.
2. Where do I take my plastic water bottles?
   Pack them out. There is still no camp that collects plastic in Black Rock City. Until there is, it is best to have you carry it home with you and recycle it there, or to dispose of them at various recycling locations to be found listed here in the Survival Guide.
3. Why can’t I recycle glass in Black Rock City?
   The truth is we discourage people from bringing glass to the playa in the first place. It is heavy and typically takes up more room in your car.  It is also dangerous when it breaks, especially when it gets thrown in a fire. It makes for an annoying mess to clean up that takes hours. If you must bring it, Pack it Out.
4. I have left over wood I don’t want to haul back home. Where can I take it? Can I burn it?
   Well, you could burn it but that wouldn’t be very smart. The smart thing to do would be to recycle it. Take it to one of the Burners without Borders wood recycling sites at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock along the Esplanade. Help BWB volunteers pull some nails, sort the wood and stack it in neat piles. You’ll feel good and your wood will have a future.
5. Now that I am recycling, what about composting?
   There’s a whole page devoted to composting, check it out. (see Composting)

Resource Links

1. Aluminum cans may be brought to Recycle Camp. You can volunteer to help them and ask questions at recycle@burningman.com
2. There are several 24-hour locations in all directions to responsibly dispose of your recyclables as well as trash and gray water to be found here in the Survival Guide.

Send Us Your Ideas

Do you have information that would benefit others by being shared on this page? Send it to environment@burningman.com and we will review it for inclusion here!

Burning Man is the largest Leave No Trace Event in the world

There are no trash cans at Burning Man. All participants are required to remove their own trash and garbage from the playa. Except for tire tracks and footprints, our policy is to leave the desert as the profoundly barren and empty corner of the world that it is. All Black Rock City citizens are expected to participate in our clean-up effort. Moreover, Leave No Trace should extend beyond the playa, all the way to your home.

We’ve compiled information about managing your various forms of trash on playa:

Reduce Trash

Trash is not something most of us think about. We live in a society where men come in the wee hours of the morning and take it all away. It is only when you have to live with your garbage for a week, without the opportunity to take it out, that you realize how much garbage 21st Century Homo Sapiens produce. Below you will find several tips for helping you reduce your trash before you even come to the playa.

One useful strategy is to try to reduce the weight, volume, and odor of the trash that your camp generates. Leave all unnecessary packaging at home. Choose cans over bottles, and reusable containers over both. Prepare food in sensible quantities that your group can finish at a single sitting — leftovers will quickly become a liability.

Bring plenty of trash bags, and take care that your trash doesn’t blow away. Consider bringing a waste container with a tight-fitting lid, and secure it so it doesn’t topple over. When onsite, separate recyclable items.

For those that find themselves with leftover aluminum cans, we encourage you to take them to Recycle Camp in Center Camp. Some of this material will be recycled into art.

To summarize:

• Leave unnecessary packaging at home.
• Choose crushable cans over plastic and glass, and crushable plastic over glass.
• Bring a reusable mug or cup for coffee and beverages from the Center Camp Cafe.
• Aluminum cans can be brought to Recycle Camp. You can volunteer to help them at recycle@burningman.com
• Use a pail with tight-fitting lid for wet garbage. Wet stinks, dry doesn’t. If you choose to dry out the garbage, make sure it’s secure from wind.
• Separate burnables from recyclable and wet materials.
• Avoid disposable utensils and paper products. Too much trash is a bigger problem than too much gray water.
• Onsite, prepare ONLY what you and friends will eat.
• Avoid handing out paper announcements.
• Do NOT burn carpets — the fumes are toxic.
• Do some food prep at home when possible (no round-trip tickets to Black Rock City for your chicken bones).
• Store cigarette butts in a candy tin.
• Do NOT throw bottles into fires, and don’t leave them lying around just because you’re done and can’t find a trash bag. Carry it away with you, or find an appropriate receptacle.
• Absolutely do not throw ANY trash of any kind into the porta-potties. This includes “organic” materials and others that “decompose” over time in a large public septic system. Putting anything but human waste and TP into the potties clogs the pumping mechanisms and makes it all but impossible for our waste vendor to maintain potties during the event. We’re already on probation with the Truckee/Tahoe Sanitation District over trash in our waste, which threatens the survival of the event. “If it wasn’t in your body, don’t put it in the potty!”

Most importantly of all, don’t be a litter bug. Leaving No Trace is much easier if you don’t let it hit the ground in the first place!

Lighter, Better Smelling Trash

Are you familiar with the Wayback Funk? It’s when you’re driving home from the playa with a stinking bag of trash in your car, and you’re reeking all the way back to civilization.

The funk begins to rise as soon as you start to drive and it gets worse the further you go, even when the funk is in the trunk. After all, there’s really nothing but a piece of cardboard between your trunk and the rest of your car, and it can get mighty hot back there.

Some people cannot abide the Wayback Funk. Last night they may have been wild primal beings, fearless and carefree and jumping over fires, but this morning they are deeply offended by the Funk. The odor of their own rotting history consumes them, enrages them, makes them mad. Where is my garbage disposal, my trash compactor, my sweet pine cleaner? Desperate, not thinking clearly, they jettison their bags in all the wrong places: in portajohns, at neighbor’s camps, near overflowing dumpsters and rumors of dumpsters, even along the side of the road; anything to be free of the Funk.

If this sounds like you, then roll down your windows and DEAL with it. With a little knowledge, and a little motivation, you too can limit your solid waste to a few compact, well-sealed bags that smell no worse than you do.

Gnostic Grocery Shopping

A successful garbage-reduction campaign begins in the supermarket. I mean your local store, not the one in Reno. While it may make sense to stock up on water and other heavy freight after you’ve cleared the mountains, there are a lot of good reasons to buy the bulk of your groceries at home, the day before you depart.

First, you’ll be able to do all your trimming and prep work at home, which not only simplifies cooking on the playa but also frees you from a particularly harsh source of Funk: animal bones and fat. Let’s face it: if you’re going to cut something off and throw it away, it makes sense to do it before you leave home, instead of buying that chicken bone a round-trip ticket to the Black Rock Desert. Moreover, it gives you a chance to jettison excess packaging and repack some of your perishable goods.

The fine line between food and garbage gets particularly thin on the playa. If Food plus Heat times Time equals Funk, then the only way you’re going to prevent excess stinkiness is to eat all your perishables before they head south.

When selecting menu items for playa dining, it’s important to keep the “long view” toward any particular food. Are you sure everyone in your party will like it? Are the portions appropriately sized? When dealing with foods with high Funk quotients, like meat and cheese, risk assessment is crucial. Before you put an item in your shopping cart, perform this simple exercise: briefly imagine what it’s going to smell like when it’s been out in the sun too long. Fill your mind with that smell. If it makes you gag, put it back. It’s that simple.

Also, don’t make the mistake of bringing too much food; excess always equals garbage. If you’re like most people, your appetite will dry up after a day or two in the sun. It’s a natural consequence of putting your body in such an arid, inhospitable environment. Based on an informal survey of many playa-goers over the years, the average appetite loss seems to be on the order of 35 to 50 percent.

For planning purposes, that means you only need 2/3 of the food that you think you’ll need, and everything else is dumb waste. If you wind up with an excess of canned or dried food, no big deal; you can just haul it home, dust it off, and pull it out again next year. But when it comes to perishables, excess really bites.

Bottom line: don’t bother taking more than two days’ worth of fresh bread, fresh fruit, or fresh produce to the playa; they won’t last any longer than that no matter what you do. There’s no way you can win on this one: if you pack them in plastic, the greenhouse effect will steam them into mush. If you pack them in paper, they’ll be croutons in no time. In the high desert, perishables truly live up to their name.

When it comes to packaging, choose aluminum over plastic, and plastic over glass. Aluminum can be recycled in camp, plastic can be crushed flat, and glass is just a big pain in the butt. My only exception here is in the realm of alcoholic beverages, where glass seems to redeem itself despite a tendency to split the seams of cheap trash bags and slice up the occasional foot.While beer is available in cans, good beer is not. Likewise, wine-in-the-box may be an efficient use of packaging, but it also reminds us of how very easy it is to take this whole trash-reduction thing too seriously.

Here are a few more tips for your shopping basket:

• Bring water in 1-gallon jugs instead of those 2.5 gallon “suitcases” — they’re easier to use, and much easier to cram into a trash bag. They’re also refillable, where suitcases are not.
• Forget the watermelon; you’re not going to eat it. Every year, people leave a mountain of watermelons behind, and they never get eaten. I will never understand this.
• Ask any miner: canned food is good food!

Purposefully Packing Provisions

After you get all your food and beverages home, it’s time to remove and discard all the excess packaging. For instance, your cereal’s already in a bag — why do you need a box as well? Buy a truckload of high-quality, “freezer strength” ziploc bags. Double-bag all your trimmed meats and freeze them solid — that way they’ll serve double duty as ice in your cooler (for style points, freeze in a marinade, then go straight to the grill when thawed). Bag everything you can bag, and freeze everything you can freeze, including fruit juices and plastic bottles of water. At our house, this strategy gives us an annual excuse to purge the freezer. We throw away all the year-old toaster waffles and fill it up with stuff we’re going to take out to the desert.

Pre-cooked and partially-cooked meals are well-suited to the relaxed pace of playa living — but only if you can find the time to cook before you leave (good luck!). One year I managed to smoke a bunch of game hens before I left, and that turned out to be a good move. We worked the birds into a variety of meals, or just gnawed on them cold when we were too lazy to light the campstove (which, come to think of it, was pretty often).

While you’re packing, please don’t forget to bring a flat-bladed shovel for scraping food accidents off the playa and two boxes of high-quality plastic trash bags. Be advised, a cheap bag can be worse than no bag at all. If it fails during a windstorm, or at 60 mph on the back of a Reno-bound truck, you’ve got an environmental catastrophe on your hands. Use a good quality bag, or better yet two, and make sure it’s tied off at all times to something reasonably sturdy, like a car door handle or a main tent support. We buy drawstring-top bags in the “tall kitchen” size, which we’ve found to be a lot easier to work with than the larger, 30-gallon size. Drawstrings help keep the trash in the bag, and make it a cinch to tie down.

Don’t air your grievances often; gravity does its job and keeps objects anchored to the playa in the expected fashion. But violent weather can arrive suddenly, at any time, and change that perception in an instant. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by clear skies and limp flags; the wind and rain are always on their way.

I’ve heard it suggested that a good way to reduce the funk factor is to spread one’s garbage out on plastic and let it dry in the sun before rebagging it and driving it out. While this can reduce the stench dramatically, a sudden storm could make you wish you’d left it in the bag. Better to separate the recyclables from the yuck as you go, and minimize the latter through good planning.

Waste Not, Rot Not

Camping leftovers are always nasty, and on the playa it’s even worse. If you choose not to finish your plate, where’s all that tasty organic goodness going to go? You might:

• Persuade someone else to eat it
• Scrape it into a trash bag
• Fling it under a car and forget about it

The first approach is of course the best (after all, Burning Man is about giving, isn’t it?), but if no one has the stomach to deal with your half-eaten bratwurst, it’s going to have to go somewhere else. If you put it in the trash, someone is going to be mighty unhappy on the drive home — hopefully you. Don’t even think about ditching anything under my car (or anyone else’s, for that matter). Are you sure you don’t want to just take a few more bites and finish your plate? You can’t hide your leftovers in the bushes, because there are no bushes. If you pour anything out onto the playa, it just sits there.

The simplest answer here is to only cook what you can eat, and to eat every scrap of what you cook. And if this sage advice fails? The only sensible way to deal with leftovers and kitchen slop is to bring a bucket with a tight-fitting lid and use that for all your wet garbage.

When it comes to the perishables in your ice chest, keep in mind that your only ally in that endless entropic race between “food” and “garbage” is our old friend Ice. If you let the ice melt, then your deli drawer is going to go septic faster than you can say “ham.”

I May Be Trash But My Trash Don’t Stink

Reducing your trash, sorting out the recyclables, keeping bags under control: these are all pretty simple tasks if you think about it. I guarantee it will make for a better camping experience, and help lighten our group footprint in the process.

• Recycling on playa at Recycle Camp
• Trash does NOT go in the porta-potties
• Managing hazardous human waste on playa
• Gray water disposal
• Where to take your trash and recycling after the event

Finally, do NOT discard refuse along the highway or in neighboring towns. Not only is litter irresponsible and costly in terms of energy, time, and money for others, it is also illegal and reflects very badly on Burning Man. If you have to portage garbage on top of your vehicle, make sure it is double-bagged and strapped down securely. Only dump your trash and recycling in authorized dumping locations!

Remember: LEAVE NO TRACE!

• Tips and Hints
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Resource Links
• Send Us Your Ideas

So You Want to Burn on the Playa?

You’re going to Burning Man this year, and you’ve decided to create something — a shelter, art installation, or whatever. Like most people, you are working with materials at hand or those freely or cheaply obtainable. And, like some, you’ve decided that your piece probably won’t make the trip back with you because you plan to burn it during the week. You’re tired, blissed out, in a hurry to leave, and your truck is looking awfully full. Besides, it is called BURNING Man, right? Truth is, the most efficient policy is to haul your piece out. Putting your structure back on the truck is much less time-consuming than waiting for it to burn in the Burn platform, for the ashes to cool, and to then remove them. Taking your art with you also helps reduce the amount of toxins produced. If you absolutely must burn your art before you leave, there are a few things you should know, including how to burn the environmentally-friendly way, and the health issues inherent in burning.

Tips and Hints

1. Do NOT Burn Toxic Materials

   Most importantly, do not burn materials that are toxic. That includes painted materials, plastics, PVC, couches, rugs, carpets, or decorative items. Treated plywood is NOT ok to burn, nor is composite board. Learn more below in the Frequently Asked Questions.

2. Offset Your Burn With Carbon Credits

   You can offset the environmental emissions of your burn by calculating its emissions, and purchasing carbon offsets in the form of carbon credits. Learn more at www.coolingman.org.

3. Do NOT Burn on the Playa Surface

   Never burn directly on the playa! Fires built on the playa surface create a burn scar or patch of discolored, hardened playa sediment that, unaided, take years to fully recover. The process of manually restoring them requires many hours of picking out residue by hand (mainly shattered bottles, nails and screws), breaking up the fire-hardened layer and returning the following year (after the rainy season) for further treatment. There are many dozens of these from past years events that we are still working on; it is our goal to not make any new ones! The ash and soot, which may be dispersed by the wind or leached by water, will contain toxic contaminants. These toxins will then be leached from any ash remaining at the site. This could lead to the contamination of surface water or ground water, and unquestionably to soil contamination. To burn without leaving ashes or a burn scar, fires must be elevated, staked down, attended and cleaned up. Learn to build a burn platform.

4. Use the Public Burn Platforms

   If you are creating a large piece that is impractical to elevate or insulate from the playa, you might consider dismantling it instead and burn a symbolic portion at one of the public burn platforms, which are located at the ends of each of the city’s radial streets, across the Esplanade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What toxins are produced when you burn?

Burning building materials like PVC, rebar, and plastic, or old couches and decorative objects can pose a serious environmental and health risk as they burn.In order to get a good idea of the toxins produced when items like these are burned, we looked at the production of toxins from accidental construction fires and open burning of household wastes.According to a study done by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, open household waste fires burn at low temperatures and can result in particulate emissions, heavy metal vapors, acid gases and other pollutants. Most are highly toxic and some can cause cancer.

Unlike incinerated waste, fire in a barrel or pile does not burn hot enough to destroy the poisonous substances released by burning materials. Since there are no safeguards to capture the toxins released in the smoke, they are released in a concentrated form at ground level where they are easily inhaled. A study conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that each pound of garbage burned in a barrel emits 40 times more particulates than if that same pound of garbage was burned in a high-temperature incinerator with air pollution controls.

Another chief concern is the production of dioxin and furan. Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known to man; burning common household trash at low temperatures can form these compounds, both of which are carcinogenic. Benzopyrene is another potent carcinogen produced by low temperature fires. Open fire smoke contains 70 parts per million of carcinogenic benzopyrenes, about 350 times higher than cigarette smoke. Studies of construction fires point to another major hazard of playa burning.

PVC — the playa construction material of choice — is highly dangerous to both personal health and the environment when burned. PVC is one of the worst offenders when it comes to toxic substances. PVC can emit highly corrosive and toxic hydrogen chloride when burned. It is also is a source of dioxin and phosgene gas when burned at temperatures below complete combustion. Coincidentally, phosgene, an odorless gas that can damage the lungs, is one of the substances used in chemical warfare. Samples of soot taken from fires in PVC-containing buildings that have burned have been found to contain dioxins in very high concentrations. The soot, however, represents only a small part of the problem: more than 90 of the dioxins produced in a structural fire are found in the gaseous phase and escape into the atmosphere. For these reasons, PVC should never be burned. Please make sure anything to be burned is PVC-free.

What items are safe to burn?

In reality, there are no materials that are safe to burn. Everything emits a wide range of toxins, some more directly lethal than others. Even plain, untreated wood contains over 100 different chemicals or compounds when burned. Some of these compounds are extremely poisonous and carcinogenic. Cancer of the skin in chimney sweeps was linked to soot as early as 1775.If you do intend on burning an item, there are some materials that should definitely be avoided. Some of these are:

• PVC
• tires
• glues
• treated lumber
• plastics
• railway ties
• drywall
• rubber
• asphalt
• paint, especially lead based and oil based paints — use water based whenever possible
• fuel and petroleum lubricants
• tar paper

What can I burn then?

If you are going to burn an item, hopefully it was constructed with that purpose (and the list above) in mind. Don’t burn anything that is toxic. It is dangerous to you, your neighbor and the environment. Strip out any carpeting, plastic, large pieces of furniture and decorative items before burning to minimize the amount of toxins released.If you plan on burning, use our burn pyres. Bring a shovel and adequate containers to haul your ash and debris out with you.

Resource Links

• Burning on the playa has adverse effects to your health. Learn more in Health Risks of Playa Fires
• Offset the environmental cost of your burn at www.coolingman.org

Send Us Your Ideas

Do you have information that would benefit others by being shared on this page? Send it to environment@burningman.com and we will review it for inclusion here!

• Tips and Hints
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Resource Links
• Send Us Your Ideas

Materials? What’s That?

In this context, we’re referring mainly to building materials, and to a lesser extent anything else that’s not food (costuming, accessories, gifts). What you’ll use to build your shade structure, your camp’s dance or chill space, your art, or your mutant vehicle does have an ecological impact, even if it doesn’t immediately become trash post-event. The greenest among us may trot blithely to a big box hardware giant to pick up a pallet of the most eco-unfriendly virgin-forest lumber because it’s what’s on sale. Why not re-think that? There are options that are not only more responsible, but cheaper too!

Tips and Hints

1. Reuse, Reuse, Reuse

   Using used materials in your art is hella eco-friendly, and often hella cheap! In the resource link section below you can find information on used materials and environmentally conscious paints, stains, and flooring.

   When costuming, instead of buying brand new fabric, raid secondhand shops for clothing that can be torn apart and repurposed, or just “adjusted”. Some ghastly drapes might become your new favorite thai wrap pants!

   Secondhand shops, as well as sidewalk/garage sales are great places to look for cheap accessories, bikes, furniture, or footwear.

2. Build it so you can re-build it

   In the old days, a brick road left unused for too long would become the brick wall of an animal pen or the foundation for someone’s house. These days, we’re more likely to haul exactly the same number of virgin two by fours out to the playa every year, build nearly the same thing with them, then throw them onto a burn pile.

   Why not use screws instead of nails? Or bolts instead of screws? Why not pack out those two by fours and let them be re-born, on-playa or off-, as a new structure? Plan ahead to make your reuse easier and you’ll save energy, money, time and, to some extent, your ecosystem.

3. Build with environmentally responsible materials

   If you choose to use new materials, there are still some choices that more environmentally friendly than others. Many hardware stores carry “green” products. Check out http://www.planithardware.com for directories of retailers that carry green construction products.

4. Avoid materials that release toxins as they burn

   In addition to painted wood, plywood, and particle/composite board, DO NOT use or burn pressure treated lumber. Typically, though not always, it has staple-like impregnation marks in it, and if it’s new it may have a greenish tint. Not only is the smoke from certain types of pressure-treated lumber harmful to inhale, the ash is as well.

   Most plastic items and non-natural fibers will release toxins if burned — yes, that includes your grandfather’s lime green polyester leisure suit that you wanted to burn on the playa after wearing it for five days straight. Pack those items out for future re-use or recycling

Frequently Asked Question

• How do I build my structure with eco-safe materials? Using used materials is generally a greener approach than using virgin stuff, unless you’re going to burn it, in which case the toxins issue has to be considered. In the resource link section below you can find information on used materials and environmentally conscious paints, stains, and flooring. If you’ll be using virgin materials, look for products that have been rated as eco-friendlier. You can check with http://www.planithardware.com for hardware stores that carry greener goods. It’s also a good idea to ask your hardware store worker about eco-friendlier options.

Resource Links

Used Materials

Resources for recycling/reused information include the following (most municipalities have their own recycling coordinators that can direct residents to local resources):

• http://www.stopwaste.org/docs/buildersguide-05.pdf
• http://www.rethinkwaste.org/index.php
• http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages

The above URLs will have some but probably not all of the following used building materials dealers:

• The Reuse People (Oakland) http://www.thereusepeople.org
• The Reusable Lumber Co. (Woodside) http://www.reusablelumber.com
• Building Resources (SF) http://www.buildingresources.org
• Urban Ore (Berkeley) https://urbanore.com/
• C&K Salvage (Oakland)
• Garbage Reincarnation (Santa Rosa) http://www.garbage.org/index.htm
• Caldwell’s (New & some used. SF) http://www.caldwells.com
• Ohmega Salvage (Berkeley)
• Whole House Bldg Supply (E. Palo Alto) http://www.driftwoodsalvage.com
• This & That (San Pablo)

These local organizations sell inexpensive donated materials for art projects:

• S.C.R.A.P. http://www.scrap-sf.org
• The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse http://www.creativereuse.org

The Build it Green Product and Service Directory also provides some useful information:

• http://www.builditgreen.org/guide

Here’s even more sources for cheap and free stuff:

• http://www.recycleworks.org/cgi-bin/bin/user/searchdatabases.pl
• http://www.recycleworks.org/reuse_center.html

And, wouldn’t want to leave out the online exchanges:

• FreeCycle http://www.freecycle.org
• CalMax http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/calMAX
• Craigslist http://www.craigslist.org

Paint, Finishes, and Flooring

• Buyer’s Guide to Paints – http://www.greenhomeguide.comThis buyer’s guide lists and reviews low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints. Use it to find the best paint for your specific situation.
• Buyer’s Guide to Stains – http://www.greenhomeguide.comThis buyer’s guide summarizes the environmental pros and cons and durability of the three major categories of wood stains: natural oil, acrylic or urethane, and water-based. Use it to find the best stain for your specific situation.
• Buyer’s Guide to Clear Finishes – http://www.greenhomeguide.comThis buyer’s guide compares and contrasts clear finishes on their environmental and health qualities, and includes selection tips.Use it to find the best clear coating for your specific situation.
• There is an excellent store in Berkeley for low-toxicity paints and coatings called Eco-Home Improvement. http://www.ecohomeimprovement.com
• For a comprehensive, 9 county Bay Area directory of suppliers for environmentally friendly flooring materials an products, visit Build It Green’s AccessGreen Directory – http://www.builditgreen.org/guide

Send Us Your Ideas

Do you have information that would benefit others by being shared on this page? Email environment@burningman.com and we will review it for inclusion here!

• Tips and Hints
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Resource Links
• Send Us Your Ideas

We probably don’t have to tell you about the global impact of automobile emissions, and their contribution to the accumulation of greenhouse gases and the like, right? Nor do we have to tell you that greater than 95% of participants take automobiles (whether that’s a car, truck, or RV) to the playa, because other viable options are significantly limited. And some folks fly into the Black Rock City airport, which method has its own emissions issues, of course.

While we can’t tell you to buy an electric or hybrid vehicle, we can certainly suggest it. And we’re not gonna ask you to ride your bike or walk to the playa.

Our goal here is to give you some ideas about how to rethink and reduce your transportation impact getting to and from, and around on the playa. Hopefully these are some ideas you can take with you back into the default world, too.

Tips and Hints

Here are some tips for reducing your environmental impact as you get to, from and around the playa.

1. Rideshare!

   Visit our rideshare board to offer or ask for a ride to or from the playa. Lots of people use it, and it totally works.

2. I don’t need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game…

   If you’re bringing a lot of stuff (like, major amounts of stuff) to the playa, consider truck-, flat-bed-, semi-, or van-pooling with others who are doing the same. You can consolidate your loads, and bring a lot more to and from the playa, while expending a lot less gas, emissions and money. Meet up with folks on the eplaya or on the rideshare board, or through your local regional contact.

3. One word. “Hybrids”

   Consider buying or renting an electric or hybrid car (we did say we could suggest it).

4. Tour de Playa

   People have ridden (and still ride) their bikes to the playa. It’s by no means for the faint of heart, riding in that harsh environment on a nasty dangerous road, but we do know brave souls who do it, bless their hearts.

5. Here comes the sun

   If you’re doing an art car (that only has to hit speeds of 5mph, remember), consider converting it to use solar power.

6. It’s people.

   And of course, when you’re getting around the playa, bike bike bike. Or walk.

7. Don’t be a drip.

   If you drive your car to the playa, when you’ve parked it, secure a piece of cardboard, a tarp or something else that will catch any errant oil drips, which are toxic to the environment (obviously), and can seep into the groundwater (Yes, there’s water under there. The playa often becomes a lake during the winter).

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I rideshare or carpool to the playa? Why yes you can. Visit our rideshare board to post a ride to offer, or needed.
2. I’m flying into Reno from out of town. How do I get to the playa from there? People have been crazy enough to take cabs from the Reno Airport. If you do that, at least find other Burners lurking around the airport to share the ride. Many people rent cars. You can also jump on the rideshare board to post a ride needed from the Reno airport on the day you land. It works! You can also do the same for getting back to the airport after the event, but if you don’t meet at least a dozen people during the event who are heading to Reno and are willing to take you along, you weren’t paying attention. We also operate a Burner Express bus service from Reno.
3. Are there buses that go to the playa? The last we checked, MUNI doesn’t have a bus line that goes out to the playa. You should check into our Burner Express bus service from Reno and San Francisco.
4. What is the deal with biodiesel? Biodiesel is a fuel for engines that’s made without petroleum (you know, that nasty black oil that everyone’s always fighting over), so it burns “clean”, with little or none of the smoggy, smelly emissions we’re used to. It’s generally made from vegetable oil or animal fat, like leftover French fry oil, or soy oil. It’s a cheap, clean-burning alternative to fossil fuels that can be used in any diesel engine. Traditional gasoline engines cannot be converted to run on biodiesel — gas engines are physically and chemically different from diesel engines. However, diesel engines (like on older German cars or many trucks) can easily use biodiesel or biodiesel blends, sometimes without any work at all. Visit Greasecar or Golden Fuel Systems to learn about DIY kits (around $600) for converting your car to biodiesel. More and more filling stations are providing biodiesel, as it becomes more popular.
5. I ride my bike on playa. I’m cool, right? Well, yes and no. Bikes are by far the transportation of choice on the playa, but at the end of the event, way too many people abandon their bikes, which is just thoughtlessly wasteful. It means you have to buy another playa bike for the next year, and you’re needlessly adding more waste to the landfill. Bring your bike to the playa, take care of it, and bring it back home with you, then fix it up so you can bring it again next year. Then yes, you’re cool.

Resource Links

• Greening Your Mutant Vehicle:
  burningman.org/event/preparation/leaving-no-trace/greening-your-burn/4
• Burning Man rideshare board:
  http://rideshare.burningman.com
• Burning Man ePlaya:
  http://eplaya.burningman.com
• Burning Man regionals:
  http://regionals.burningman.org
• Greasecar:
  http://www.greasecar.com
• Golden Fuel Systems:
  http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/

Send Us Your Ideas

Do you have information that would benefit others by being shared on this page? Send it to environment@burningman.com and we will review it for inclusion here!

• Tips and Hints
• Frequently Asked Questions

What is gray water? Gray water is water that has been used for cooking, washing, dishwashing, or bathing and contains soap, detergent, food scraps, or food residue.

Why is it a problem? It’s hard to make it disappear. Almost anywhere else in the world, a campsite is near absorbent soil (filled with microbial activity, and usually with plants) where it is safe and decent to dump gray water. But it’s different on the playa, on dried clay, striving to avoid contaminating our surroundings.

Don’t dump it! Dumping large amounts of untreated water on the playa introduces contaminants and can turn the clay into instant slippery, sticky mud. This can make walking nasty for your neighbors, and violates Burning Man’s contract with our landlord, the Bureau of Land Management. You could get a citation and a fine.

Don’t put it in the Potty! Each potty serves 40 to 50 people, and can handle only pee, poop, and special toilet paper — absolutely nothing else. Toilets are for black water, not gray water.

Tips and Hints

So what does work? There are several acceptable ways to dispose of gray water; pick one that’s right for you.

1. 1. Contract a removal service: Large camps may contract in advance with United Site Services for removal of gray water in multi-hundred-gallon containers. Check with USS early so you don’t miss their deadline. Contact United Site Services at 1-775-826-5646, in Reno. USS does not deliver fresh water. For delivery of fresh water in volume, contact Meco in Reno at 775-475-2602. Have USS empty your RV tanks on-playa. You can flag down a USS truck, one that isn’t busy servicing potties, and ask them to send a pumper to your RV location. It’ll cost you $60 or more.
   2. Pack it out: You can accumulate your gray water and pack it out when you leave, perhaps reusing your resealable freshwater containers. Caution: once you put gray water in them, your containers should never be used for anything else. Watch out for single-use containers that require you to stab an air-hole in them; they would leak graywater during the return trip. You’ll need to have a funnel and bottles which are both re-fillable and disposable, so plan ahead. While you store your gray water, you’ll need to keep it chlorinated (explained below). Take it all the way home, or to a dumping station along the way. Haul to RV Dump Station. Several RV parks and truck stops are listed below. Dumping tanks costs around 5-10 dollars.
   3. Install an evapotron in your camp: Evapotrons are Burner-built devices for evaporating gray water in the playa’s intensely dry air. The Pumped Cascade design is powered by sunlight on a solar cell; the Gray-B-Gon is powered by a small windmill. Either design can meet the disposal needs of ten or more people.
   4. Share an evapotron. Camps with evapotrons usually have excess capacity, and often will help neighbors dispose of gray water. Ask first, of course.
   5. DO NOT USE evaporation ponds (yesterday’s technology). Evaporation ponds — black plastic sheeting laid on the playa, over a rim of two-by-fours on edge — were the earliest evaporative devices invented for the Playa, but we cannot recommend them.Ponds take an enormous amount of space to make a shallow layer of water, they’re hard to make perfectly level, and they eventually fill with mud. Pond evaporative performance relies on a sunlight-absorbing black surface, and playa dust gradually disables it. Then you have to pump out the pond, and clean or reline it.

      

      Your pond may attract slip-and-slide buckaroos, whose antics can tear up the plastic surface. Many other mishaps can cause pinhole leaks, which eventually make large muddy patches on the Playa. Even if it never leaks, it will probably spill when you try to empty it. At the end of the event, you have a very nasty mess of stuff to take home in your vehicle. And it didn’t even get rid of that much gray water.

   6. Be a sanitation expert. A very few Burners are experts in water sanitation, and in past years have brought and used professional-level water-purification systems; yesterday’s shower becomes today’s fresh coffee. If you are an expert, you know it. But beware trying out an advanced technology if you’re not an experienced professional. More than one camp has discovered that (for example) their flocculation tank pH was off, so they had no gray water disposal at all.

1. Dump station tips Remember these tips from www.rvdumps.com when emptying your gray water holding tanks:
   • Use a heavy-duty sewer hose about 6 to 8 feet long to make handling easier.
   • Carry an extra garden hose for rinsing in case the dump station doesn’t have one. Store this in an area where it won’t come into contact with your drinking water hose.
   • Never use your fresh water hose for rinsing sewer hoses or the dump station area.
   • Wear protective rubber gloves and avoid touching the outside of the gloves.
   • If others are waiting to use the dump station, skip the tank flushing and hose rinsing steps. Pull away from the dump station and then add some water and chemicals to the holding tanks.
   • Never put anything other than the contents of your holding tanks into the dump station.
   • Leave the dump station area cleaner than you found it.

   Dump Station Abuse

   (also from www.rvdumps.com)

   For years RVers have been pulling into Interstate rest areas and other areas with free dump stations to empty their holding tanks. But because of abuse, many states are removing dump stations from their rest areas, and campground owners and others view their dump stations as an expensive maintenance headache due to abuse of the facilities. Dump station abuse amounts to folks leaving a mess or putting things into the dump drain that just don’t belong there. Remember: somebody has to clean up the mess or clean out the drain. Dump station abuse causes aggravation, creates a health hazard, and costs money. You can do your part to ensure RVers and campers will continue to have free and clean dump stations by following the simple tips mentioned above.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How dangerous is gray water? What can I do about it? Gray water is inherently unsanitary. It may contain bacteria, fungi, viruses, or other life. Gray water left to stand untreated in the desert warmth eventually becomes black water as microbial populations increase. To disinfect gray water, and suppress funky aromas, mix in Concentrated Clorox Regular Bleach or other chlorine-based bleach periodically. For some antibiotic-resistant pathogens, chlorine bleach is the only reliable killer. The active ingredient in chlorine bleach is sodium hypochlorite, a powerful disinfectant that decomposes into water and salt. Age, sunlight, warmth, and gray water impurities (including playa dust) all increase the rate of decomposition, soon exhausting the disinfecting power. Make sure your bleach is newly purchased, not left over from last year.
2. How much bleach do I need to disinfect? The following rule will help compensate for all these uncertainties. Use the No-Measure Rule of Thumb for Disinfecting: Follow Your Nose.Loosen the cap of your bleach jug one-half turn: no farther, or it may come off. Using your thumb to restrain the cap, tip the jug over your gray water and dribble for about two seconds per gallon. Slosh or stir to mix, and half an hour later, sniff. If it doesn’t have a strong chlorine tang (like a public swimming pool) dribble in more bleach and check it again later. Make this a morning and evening habit.When buying chlorine bleach, check the label for the concentration of sodium hypochlorite. Concentrated Clorox Regular Bleach has about 9%. If another brand has 6%, it should cost two-thirds as much and you’ll need to add 1.5 times as much. Scented products are always lower in hypochlorite. Bleach has a limited shelf life, and this year’s leftover jug won’t last until next year. Disclaimer: We are not sanitation experts, but an expert at Clorox Corp reviewed this text. Following the guidelines above is not guaranteed to fully disinfect your water.
3. How can I reduce my gray water? The easiest gray water to dispose of is the gray water you don’t produce. If you bring less water, you will use less; but bring at least a gallon and a half per day per person, mostly for drinking.Use waterless disinfectant lotion (available at drugstores) to sanitize your hands before you handle food. For dish or bath soap, go ecofriendly with Campsuds. For general cleaning, try Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds. In your kitchen area, set up a low-volume water spray over a basin, for dishwashing and hand cleaning. A personal spray bottle, like the Cool Blast, is a good starting point.Bring several small hand towels (say three per person); use one towel end on clean dishes and the other end to wipe your hands and face clean. You’ll need remarkably little water to wash up with. Wipe out dishes with paper towels rather than washing, or before washing. Save a dish; eat from the cookpot. Lick out the cookpot, or scrape and rinse it with clean water, then think “This soup is thin but wholesome” and drink it. Save up your cooler’s ice-melt water to refill your solar shower bag. When you shower, first get wet and turn the water off; then soap up and scrub down, then turn the water back on to rinse off. Or shower with a friend, and trade off controlling and directing the water supply.Hard core: take a sponge bath instead. It’s possible to wash your body clean with a pint of water, soap and a washrag.

For More Information:

Contact: Earth Guardians at earthguardians@burningman.com

By now you’ve probably gathered that this Burning Man thing isn’t as easy as it looks. So many things to bring, remember and purchase. How’s a body to cope with all this intense preparation?

Fear not. Below is a compilation of some handy-dandy tips gleaned from the wisdom of seasoned Burners. Heed their advice, and your playa experience will go much more smoothly.

Better Living

I LOVE my inflatable mattress. A double-size mattress fills the tent perfectly, with room left at the foot for unscented baby wipes, lotion, some clothing and miscellany. Keep a couple of plastic snap-top “shoeboxes” filled with various necessities (flashlights, batteries, walkman, camera, film, hard candy, etc. in one, sunscreen, 1st aid kit, lip balm, etc. in the other) under my tent’s vestibule with my boots, a couple of bottles of water, mug…

Pitch a second tent, aka closet, for everything else. AND keep clothes in giant Tupperware-type bins so they don’t get all dusty. Make everything easy to find by throwing undies & socks in ziplocks. Hell, throw nearly everything in giant ziplocks. There is nothing worse that grabbing your “clean” towel and finding it covered in playa dust.

Another good thing to have is a ground sheet for your tent; make sure it doesn’t extend out from the sides and act as a water collection device, though. Chez Heloise stayed dry during the downpours in 1998.

And tent stakes… DO NOT FORGET to cover any rebar used as stakes with rebar caps, empty plastic bottles, stuffed animals, SOMETHING. Be careful while doing that; a good friend sustained a major gash on his shin while in the process of covering his rebar.

For a no-mud, no-mess playa shower, Pepper Mouser suggests:

Bring a shallow crate (like a painting would be shipped in) about three feet square. Line it with slit open garbage bags so it will hold water and used it as a pan/pad under the solar shower. It caught the shower water that then evaporated during the day. No muddy spot in camp. No soapy water (gray water) dumped on the playa. The crate somehow later caught fire.

This year I plan to bring a larger one that I can also drain the coolers in. (I know some people talk about recycling their cooler water but mine always seems so dirty and slimy.)

List of good things to have:

• Camelback or similar (for portable hydration)
• dust mask (for storms)
• aloe gel (for sunburn)
• gloves and shovel/rake (for cleanup)
• bungees (for shade structure)
• duct tape (for everything!)
• flag for camp
• breezy cot or chaise for day
• lantern
• ziplock bags, ziplock bags, ziplock bags (I only wish they made them in a 5-gallon size)
• every camp should have a full-length mirror

Food and Coolers:

• Elevate your ice chest above the ground a few inches, even if it’s in the shade
• 2 smaller coolers work better than the 104-qt. monstrosity
• make tabouli and other re-hydratable foods in a ziplock bag instead of bowl
• milk crates used as stacking storage — keeps things from flying around; put cutting board on top for work surface

Necessities:

• wonderful colored plastic wineglass instead of disposable; makes it easier to find your drink and creates zero trash
• pitcher for mixing margaritas
• cocktail shaker
• wash basin
• mesh bag for drying dishes
• more ziplock bags
• A reusable mug or cup for coffee and beverages at the Center Camp Café

Food tip o’ the day: hard-boiled eggs. Nutritious and compact; cook ’em and peel ’em before you go and throw them in some Tupperware, and you have a great meal with no mess! And Miso soup to keep the salt content in the body up.

Health & Wellbeing

Start hydrating now! Practice for the desert! Your body and skin will thank you.

Heloise has become a pedicure enthusiast. Getting a good one before you hit the playa makes it much easier to maintain your feet. And there is nothing better than starting the day with your Personal Playa Partner for mutual foot massage with lotion and clean socks. Really. The Body Shop makes a peppermint foot lotion that rocks my world.

Playa Foot
(From Greg Rodenberg)

Going barefoot on the playa is not a good idea. But it happens, and often, the result is “Playa Foot,” a painful drying, cracking, rash caused by prolonged contact with the alkali lakebed.

Nothing seems to better prevent, or relieve, Playa Foot better than a liberal coating of Dr. Bronner’s Soap. Use it straight from the bottle; once a day to prevent Playa Foot or several times daily to cure it. Most cases heal up within a day or two after treatment begins.

Contact Lens
(From Wally Glenn)

Bring a back-up pair. Then bring a back-up pair for the back-up pair. You can get extended wear disposables for a reasonable price from your eye doctor, or if you have a recent prescription, walk into Costco and buy disposables.

Bring a bottle or two of rewetting drops. Try Similsan, a homeopathic allergen-free product from Switzerland found at many eye docs or drug stores. Unlike Visine, it doesn’t constrict the blood vessels which ends up making the problem of red eyes even worse. Similsan can really help with the dust build up. Then again, so does rinsing your eyes with solution. The Playa creates some nasty eye boogers.

Bring a full bottle of lens solution and a back-up bottle of lens solution just in case one leaks or gets misplaced.

Clothing and Miscellany

Heloise LOVES skirts. Especially men in skirts (And particularly bearded redheads in kilts, but that’s another webpage…) Gentlemen, come over to the breeze side. Loose cotton skirts, sarongs, simple fabric wrapped at will. Super comfy and air-friendly.

Long beautiful lengths of fabric can be worn as saris, sarongs, turbans and scarves.

Pajamas are comfy and provide great protection from the sun, both tops and bottoms. And there are all kinds! Go to your local Asian center or Chinatown for silk lusciousness, cotton comfort or satin gleam vivid colors. Hit the thrifts and vintage stores for old cotton or satin.

And then there’s lingerie. Yum. Great colors, fabrics that flow with the breeze and tons of fun. Who said that peignoirs had to remain in the honeymoon suite? Dead sexy.

Find your local “Chinatown” for fabulous outfits, fabric, umbrellas, hats, etc. Clothing hints — some of Heloise’s Favorite Things:

• rubber Birkenstock clogs/shoes that won’t get trashed by the alkali
• several pairs of cotton bike-style shorts
• small long-strapped bag instead of fanny pack
• sarongs; skirt, dress, turban, Interplanetary towel
• hiking boots (light ones just don’t have enough support)
• long sleeve cotton PJs (provide great protection from sun)
• comfy, loose shorts
• warm tops & sweatshirts for night
• POCKETS ON EVERYTHING
• cotton bras
• long-sleeved lightweight shirts (100% cotton SPF)
• Chinese PJ’s in bright colors
• Chippewa steel-toe boots
• clean socks & undies (stored in ziplock bags)
• bandana square-dance skirt with the “Seven Year Itch” movement whenever the wind blows
• The Big-Assed Shade Hat
• parasols

Leave the turkey feather boas at home this year and go for marabou! (Picking those damned feathers out of the playa at clean-up is a major pain.)

More playa necessities!!

• lip balm-on-a-string (just put an “O” screw in the top)
• water bottle holder
• goggles
• respirator or particle/dust mask
• headlamp flashlight
• clean towels (sealed in ziplocks)
• AA batteries, lots of ’em
• rig some kind of basket on your bike

Decorate EVERYTHING but keep the principles of Leave No Trace in mind when choosing your adhesive so you’re not spending all your time picking up that trail of googly-eyes that have fallen off your one-of-a-kind parasol.

Here are some important drinking water safety points to keep in mind, and an overview of what is available in the Reno area.

The bottom line: 1.5 gallons of water per day per person.

Now a few words of caution:

First, on using used containers: even if the container is rated as “food grade” and you thoroughly clean and disinfect it, there is still a high probability that there will remain a taste from the previous contents. Keep in mind that if your water tastes crappy, you will be less likely to drink it and will risk dehydration (which can lead to serious injury, even death). It is highly recommended that if you do bring water in used containers that you use that as utility water for cleaning and bathing, running mister systems, and such, and keep your drinking (and cooking) water only in new containers.

Second, never use garbage bags to store drinking water. The lining of garbage bags is usually impregnated with chemicals that retard spoilage and suppress odors, and are not safe for human consumption.

Third, keep your water bottles out of direct sunlight and away from strong odors. Sunlight is energetic enough to cause chemical reactions in the bottle’s plastic, imparting unpleasant odors and tastes to the water. Also, if there is anything in the water, like bacteria or algae, the sunlight will foster growth, which could cause illness as well as bad taste. Keep in mind that the “milk jug” style plastic (polyethylene) breaths, allowing outside air to reach your water. Do not store your bottles near any chemicals or other things with strong odors — don’t store in a box next to a bag of onions unless you like onion flavored water!

And lastly, store your empty bottles with the caps loose or off. The desert heat can make the air in the bottle expand and alter the bottle’s shape (round bottom or ruined handles) and can even split the seams.

Public Pools and Showers

Public pools and public showers are not permitted in Black Rock City. Water for private use that entails full body contact or consumption must be potable and come from Nevada State Health Division approved water sources such as water stores and supermarkets (see below). In other words, don’t fill your water from a gas station water hose.

Where to get water in Reno, Sparks and Gerlach?

Gerlach General Improvement District
330 Short Drive, Gerlach – 775-557-2601 – map
Water sales are at the town shop behind the post office. 

Saturday 8/19 — Monday 8/28: 9am–8pm

Water is $0.50/gallon for first 100 gallons, $0.45/gallon for second 100 gallons and $0.40 for any amount over 200 gallons.

The Gerlach GID (the local governing body of Gerlach) will be selling potable water to fill up RVs and water tanks of any size, with the funds going to support the town of Gerlach. Look out for directional signs just as you enter town on Main Street, the station is located in front of the town’s Community Center. Rates are 50 cents per gallon up to 100 gallons, 45 cents per gallon between 100 and 200 gallons, and 40 cents per gallon for above 200 gallons. 6 and 7—gallon water containers also available (free water with purchase of container). Cash only, but ATM is onsite.

Reno and Sparks

Reno and Sparks lay in a basin known as the Truckee Meadows, an area of former wetlands through which the Truckee River flows. So lots of great water here! There are currently four establishments dotting throughout the Truckee Meadows devoted exclusively to water, one in Gerlach, and one just for water delivery to the playa.

Simply Water 
1070 Gentry Way, Reno — 775-337-8111 — map
Open Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-3pm, but will have special (8am-8pm) hours for Burning Man – call ahead for possible after-hours appointments. Located right next to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and just off US-395. Simply Water’s purified water is 40 cents per gallon, and they are able to fill any-sized container – including RV’s. They also stock a wide variety of bottles and jugs in sizes ranging from 1/2 liter to 5-gallon.

Fresca Waterhouse
1196 Rock Boulevard, Sparks — 775-358-9893 — map
Open daily 10am-6pm, open 9am-9pm from Aug. 22-Aug. 30. Call ahead for possible after-hours appointment. Very accommodating, Fresca Waterhouse provides water purified by reverse-osmosis at 40 cents per gallon to fill also sizes, including RV’s.  15, 30, and 55-gallon water barrels are also available.  Water bottle sizes available up to 7 gallons, and they also have collapsable/reusable bottles, spigots, caps, and pumps.   Two vending machines also operating 24 hours.

Red Rock Spring Water
1145 Icehouse Avenue, Reno — 775-331-5908 — map
Open Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, extended or weekend hours by appointment. Red Rock provides naturally-filtered spring water drawn from the Red Rock Spring 30 miles north of Reno. Which means it is higher-quality, tastier, and perhaps healthier water than what you may find elsewhere. Water is $7.50 per 5 gallons. 3 and 5-gallon containers can also be purchased and returned for a $8 deposit/refund. BPA-free bottles as well as spigots and pumps are also available, and you can fill up your RV with tap water. Red Rock also provides delivery of water of only 50 bottles and up to participants/theme camps as well as pickup of their empty containers in Black Rock City. If interested in delivery, send an email to dan@redrockwater.com.

Spring Water Depot
895 South Center Street, Reno — 775-843-7852
925 W Williams, Fallon
100 Douglas St,  Dayton
Bring your own sanitized containers, fill up 24-7, well lit at night. Spring Water and Distilled water is .50 per gallon. Website is www.watervendingreno.com. Sells 3- and 5-gallon bottles on request.

Finally, there is another company in the Reno area that provides regular and only potable-water delivery service to camps and RVs in Black Rock City:

MECO Water  
Sparks — 775-722-1515 — 775-771-0720
Highly recommended you make reservations for water delivery through filling out the form on their website before you head out to the playa. Or you can send an email to meco-reno@live.com or call them.

For Water Containers larger than 5 gallons, such as barrels, you can find them at Twin City Surplus, Fresca Waterhouse, some of the Save Mart Supermarkets, and at the Sportsman’s Warehouse.

Twin City Surplus  
1675 East 4th St — 775-323-5630 — map 
Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-4pm. Also known as “The Big Red Barn,” Twin City Surplus is located in the center of the Reno-Sparks area, near I-80 and US-395. They try to keep 20, 30 and 55-gallon sizes – both new and used “food grade” containers – in stock for Burning Man. As they are a surplus store, their prices and stock on-hand vary. By the way, they also have just about every kind of camping and adventure gear and military surplus you can imagine – tents, tarps and parachutes are a specialty. From I-80 take the east 4th Street exit (#16) and turn right going west on 4th Street. Twin City will be down about ¾ mile on your right.

Fresca Waterhouse
1196 Rock Boulevard, Sparks — 775-358-9893 — map
Open 9am-9pm during Burning Man, call ahead for possible after-hours appointment.

Save Mart Supermarkets

• 555 Keystone Avenue — 775-786-2150 — map
• 565 East Prater Way — 775-359-9060 — map

All open 24/7 during Burning Man. Carrying 15 and 55-gallon water barrels, spigots and pumps, as well as bulk water in 2.5 and 5-gallon sizes.

Sportsman’s Warehouse 
3306 Kietzke Ln — 775-828-1500 — map 
Open Mon-Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 10am-9pm.  Sportsman’s near US-395 in southwest Reno carries water barrels in 15, 30, and 55-gallon sizes, as well as water pumps.

Finally, there is also a great alternative to plastic bottled water called BIOTA. It comes in a corn-based bottle that has all the characteristics of plastic but will biodegrade in 80 days without any harmful effects to the environment. Although studies on the leaching properties of toxics from plastics (i.e. PET) may be inconclusive at this time, we know that BIOTA’s corn-based bottle is 100% safe, especially when used/reused under extreme conditions. BIOTA is available in 12oz., 1/2 liter, and full liter sizes at many natural and health food stores throughout California and Nevada including: Rainbow Grocery, Whole Foods, Raley’s, New Leaf Community Markets and Better Nutrition stores. For a complete listing of locations, visit the BIOTA website.

And for further resource options in Reno-Sparks, visit our Reno pages.

Are you planning to go to Burning Man with a group? Even a small one? edensomberg@yahoo.com, a Burning Man veteran, has created some guidelines to help groups build a communal kitchen and plan group meals. Also included are meal suggestions and shopping lists for foods and supplies. May you be nourished!

Group Planning

At your first planning meeting, your group will need to make some basic decisions about eating. If you’ve been to Burning Man before, you’ll know that most people feel satisfied eating much less than they normally would and tend to consume a lot more water. My group committed to serving two meals a day, and snacks at teatime and in the evening. We laminated a week-long calendar and penciled in lines for “chef” and “helpers” and “clean up,” allowing people to sign up for shifts. We kept the calendar on a clipboard with the suggested meals and recipes.

Following are some good questions to ask when planning group meals:

• Are we all comfortable eating the same foods?
• Is there anyone that has special dietary needs?
• Can we agree on how we’re going to share the shopping, costs, transportation, set-up, cooking, clean up, and trash?
• Can we bring enough water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking?

Costs

An easy way to calculate how much each person should pay is to charge each person $10 for food per day. This should also cover water and supplies.

Health Regulations

This will not apply to most of you, but it’s still good to know the rules. No one wants to see any communal kitchen get shut down or have problems. Giving food away, or trading for food is the same as a restaurant in the eyes of the Health Division, and permits and cooking standards will be enforced. Nevada State Health Division (NSHD) policy on communal kitchens is as follows: Any camp that is serving meals on a large scale (to 125 or more fellow campers at every meal consistently) must also obtain a permit. More information on obtaining that permit can be found on the Nevada State Health Division website.

Water

The following water calculation worked best for my camp: one 2.5-gallon container of water per person per day, used for cooking, cleaning, and washing

If you’ve got a small enough group, have each person bring the water they require, and ask that everyone donate one gallon to the kitchen for each day they will be there.

If you have a large group, I recommend arranging to pick up water from one of the filtered water companies in Reno (you’ll have to leave a small deposit on the bottles). Always err on bringing more water than you think you’ll need, and recycle as much water as possible.

Kitchen Set-Up

Even for a small group of people, having a well set up kitchen can not only make for a pleasurable place to cook and eat, but also serve as a communal gathering place.

I would recommend that each person in camp bring their own silverware and dishes, which can be labeled with a sharpie or masking tape. Plastic tablecloths are excellent if you’ve got a way to secure them to the table (duct tape works in a pinch here). If you have a small group, bring chairs to have a family-style dinner, or bring a bunch of blankets and pillows.

As for building the kitchen structure, my group brought a “carport” that you can buy at Costco. This is 8 poles with a triangular, sloping top that has a fitted tarp on it. Make sure that whatever structure you use has poles with decent heft, as thinner aluminum poles may bend or break. We tied down all of the corners to rebar for extra support.

Our “walls” were constructed out of old curtains and hooks, which attached to the horizontal poles and were affixed to the vertical poles as well. Two of the side spaces were left open for ventilation. For wind and dust protection, you should have the three sides around your stoves covered, but make sure they’re tied down and not a fire hazard. Have a fire extinguisher close by just in case.

If you have more than ten people, you’ll need at least one two-burner stove (my group was lucky enough to have two commercial propane dual-burners, which were enough for about 100 people). Depending on your use, it will probably be cost-effective to bring one or two 5-gallon propane tanks. Keep these in the shade and a decent distance away from the flame. If you’re using Coleman-type stoves along with a larger tank, you’ll need to buy an adaptor and a hose, available at most large camping stores.

In addition to a “prep” table, around which you may want to build a pantry (see below), consider bringing at least two other folding tables to use as serving and washing stations.

Building a Pantry

The best way to build a pantry is around a large folding table. On either side of it, stack up 5-6 milk crates (with the open space facing you, like you would in your closet). You want your top milk crate to be your height or a little taller. Secure the crates to each other with cable ties (two ties on each side, all the way up). You’ll need a 2 x 4 or a similar piece of wood that’s 1.5′ longer than your table and has a hole on each end (or a nail on the underside of each side of the board that fits securely in the holes of the crates). This goes on top of the crates and gets secured by the method of your choice or with more cable ties. Then secure the middle crates to the table, and you’re all set up. Buy a bunch of screw-in hooks and attach them to the underside of the board. This is where you can hang your cookware and utensils.

I used this table for the cutting boards and the knife block. It’s most useful arranged at a right angle to your cooking stove(s). My group used one side of the milk crates to hang a bulletin board (with yet more cable ties). This was a good place for the kitchen clipboard.

Storage

We stored our large bags of beans, lentils, and rice on a pallet with a tarp cover. Large baskets (available in thrift stores) work great for smaller bags of food, spices, and supplies. Store the baskets and pallets under your tables.

You actually don’t need refrigeration or ice for any of the foods I’ve listed. We kept most of our fruits and veggies covered in our Ryder truck, and by the end of one week, we had some veggies that had gotten a little dried out (which we refreshed by soaking in water), but nothing had spoiled. Vegetables can be stored in burlap bags on pallets or stacked in vegetable flats, which you can get from grocery stores. These have good ventilation. What might work well is to keep damp burlap bags over all the veggies. See the Fruits and Veggies shopping list for produce that stores well.

Sanitation

Especially after a few days, sanitation can become an issue. While you’re getting ready to serve the next meal, set up a few dish racks next to the “sink,” which for us was a 5-gallon sparketts bottle on a tabletop dispenser over a large, plastic bin. You can add grapefruit seed extract (it’s germ-killing and serves as a bleach substitute), and sunlight should take care of the rest.

Live Foods

You can easily add sprouts to your Burning Man diet. All you need is a mix of seeds and/or nuts. If you’re mixing, you need to know the approximate sprouting times for each (alfalfa, lentils, black beans, garbanzos, sunflower seeds, etc.), and a few mason jars with the metal list replaced with a piece of screen and then screwed on with the top. In most cases, the seeds should be soaked overnight and then strained and rinsed or misted a few times a day. Keep the jars tilted so they can drain. You can recycle the rinse water to wash dishes.

Meals and Recipes

Considerations for Large Groups

It is especially important when cooking group-size pots of rice to note that you’ll use proportionally much less water. Try to calculate portions of pasta, beans, rice, and granola ahead of time so you’ll have a fairly correct assessment of how much food to bring. Even with making calculations based on per-person consumption, we tended to cook more than we needed, particularly with bean and lentil dishes. When you’re cooking with dried beans, make sure to give them adequate soaking time, which will lessen the cooking time. If you forget to soak, add more water than you think you’ll need (which you can strain later), and keep that pot on a low simmer for several hours that day.

Breakfast

Serve with sliced bananas, oranges, grapefruit, apples, and tea or chai

• Granola and soy milk
• Oatmeal with almonds, raisins, and bananas
• Pancakes (if you’re strictly vegan, pancake mixes without egg are hard to find, but you can make your own mix). Cook sliced bananas for a few minutes before you top your pancakes with them.
• Make fruit compote out of apples, pears, and a little citrus. A banana or two can be added. This is delicious over cereal or by itself.

Dinner and Recipes

When making rice dishes for dinner, prepare extra plain rice (store overnight in a covered pot), and in the morning add soy milk (or water), honey or maple syrup, raisins, apples, bananas, and cook it up for breakfast!

The following are recipes that worked well for my group:

• Dahl and rice with apple chutney:
  Cook the lentils (they can be soaked to lessen cooking time) until they are ¾ done, then add: salt, fresh ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cayenne, ghee, cumin, coriander, and some very thin lemon slices (with peel). It’s best to dry roast the spices in a cast iron pot before adding them to the dahl. For apple chutney, cook several chopped apples with some orange and/or lemon juice. Add cinnamon and a dash of cardamom and nutmeg, and cook it down until it’s the consistency of apple sauce. Add a can of the chutney of your choice, then garnish with a few thinly sliced orange halves and serve with the dahl.
• A nice rice dish to serve with dahl: Fry rice in ghee on low heat until it starts to color. Add cinnamon and cardamom and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add almonds, raisins, and water, bring to a boil, then simmer until rice is cooked. A variation can be made with coconut milk and curry paste.
• Vegetables can be added to any meal:
  • Steam any type of vegetable and add to your pasta. Top it with the tahini sauce (see below), or pasta sauce. A variation would be to sauté the vegetables with spices and/or curry for an Indian meal.
  • Make curried squash, bell peppers, and carrots with a peanut sauce, sesame oil, coconut milk or tahini sauce.
  • Steamed (or raw) marinated veggies:
    Marinate beets and carrots, or carrots and cucumbers in a combination of rice and balsamic vinegars, a dash of lemon, garlic, and sesame oil. Add a few very thinly sliced red onions to the raw cucumbers and carrots. This is especially delicious served with falafel in a pita with tahini dressing.
• Indian potatoes and cabbage:
  Slice and chop potatoes and boil until they’re soft. In the meantime, sauté the following in olive oil or ghee: Crushed, dried red chilies, ginger, whole mustard seed, cumin, bay leaves, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Add sliced cabbage and potatoes. Drizzle on some lemon juice, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
• Pasta and sauce:
  It’s best to buy your pasta in bulk and your sauce in jars. Cooking them should be self-explanatory.
• Mac and “cheese”:
  You can make a “cheese” out of nutritional yeast and spices.
• Vegetarian sushi:
  Steamed carrots, squash, or raw carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, avocados. You can add sunflower seeds and/or sprouts.
• Vegetable soup:
  Boil sliced potatoes while you sauté onions in olive oil, or ghee. Boil a pot of water and add bouillon for soup base. Drain potatoes and add to soup base along with onions and other veggies. Leftover plain pasta can be added, as well as beans.
• Burritos:
  Cook black beans and rice, add steamed or raw veggies to tortillas, along with salsa, sprouts, etc. Fried bananas would make a delicious dessert.
• Falafel:
  Fried foods can be very satisfying on the playa. Buy a boxed or bulk falafel mix, add water and fry, and serve in pitas with tahini and a mix of small, cubed, raw veggies (cucumbers, red onions, carrots, and some red onions).
• Tahini:
  Mix tahini with enough lemon juice that it starts to thin out. Do this in a glass jar with a screw-on lid and just shake it. Add soy, tamari, or Braggs. I don’t use proportions, but there’s probably about a third more lemon juice than soy, and probably twice as much tahini as lemon. This ranks as one of my favorite hippie foods ever. Serve it on salads, steamed veggies, and on falafel. After a day, it will thicken up and can be spread on bread as a mayo substitute, or thinned again with a little water.

Snacks

• Chips and salsa
• Sliced fruit
• Sliced veggies
• Hummus
• Peanut butter and graham crackers
• Date rolls
• Chocolate
• Popcorn (season with nutritional yeast and herbs)

Shopping Lists

The following lists are just to get you started. Shop in bulk. It’s cheaper, and you’ll have less packaging to deal with.

Basic Items

• Dried black beans (Don’t get canned beans. You’ll have more trash to deal with.)
• Dried lentils
• Soy milk
• Granola
• Pasta
• Pasta sauce
• Chips (Go to Costco for chips and salsa.)
• Salsa
• Date rolls (They store well without refrigeration.)
• Dried fruit
• Nuts
• Rice- sunflower seeds can be toasted in a pan and are yummy served on almost anything
• Tortillas
• Nutritional yeast
• Emergen-c (available at health food stores)
• Chai
• Cooking oils
• Chocolate
• Nori (for sushi)
• Popcorn
• Tahini
• Falafel mix
• Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, fennel, curry power (or store-bought paste), saffron, turmeric, salt, pepper, mustard seed, ginger, cardamom, cayenne, coriander, bay leaves, dried red Chilies/peppers
• A few jars of Indian chutneys
• Pancake mix (I recommend making pancakes over French toast; bread’s no fun to store, or you can make a solar oven and bake your own.)
• Garlic
• Nuts and seeds for sprouting
• Wine
• Peanut butter
• Vegetarian bouillon. Bring a lot; this can be used in any rice or soup dish for extra flavor.
• Pita bread

Fruits and Veggies

Get lots of unripe fruits and veggies, like avocados and pineapple, so you’ll have some for later in the week. See the Storage section for tips on how best to store your produce.

• Potatoes*
• Cucumbers
• Bell peppers
• Carrots*
• Onions (yellow, white, or red)*
• Squash* (get several different varieties)
• Cabbage*
• Coconuts (or coconut milk)*
• Bananas (unripe)
• Watermelons (unripe)*
• Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and limes*
• Melons*
• Apples*
• Pineapple
• Garlic*

*Starred items will last particularly well.

Condiments

To save on money and time, I recommend raiding your cabinets and those of your friends for the following:

• Soy sauce
• Braggs
• Balsamic vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sesame seeds
• Lemons
• Nutritional yeast
• Cooking oils
• Sesame oil
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Ghee (This is butter without milk fat. It can be stored indefinitely without refrigeration. Available at most health food or Indian specialty stores.)

Supplies

Hit up the local thrift stores for some of the following:

• Dish racks
• Water dispenser (like a tabletop base with a spigot that a 5 gallon jug can be inserted into)
• Large plastic bin (“the sink”)
• Biodegradable dish soap
• Sharpies
• Large baskets
• Sponges and scrubbies (tie with bungee to “sink”)
• A few 5-gallon buckets with lids (for storage, garbage, compost, etc.)
• Ziplocs, a bunch of plastic bags, and some aluminum foil
• Large cooking pots (at least two)
• Large cast iron pan
• A few saucepans and a large griddle (a large baking sheet can be substituted)
• Long-handled cooking spoons and slotted spoons
• A few spatulas
• Serving bowls, trays, and dishes
• Sharp cooking knives
• A knife block
• Several large, wooden cutting boards
• Toothpicks
• Tupperware
• Cloth napkins
• Large mixing/prep bowls
• Large strainer
• Measuring cups
• Extra cups and bowls
• A veggie steamer (baskets, metal etc)
• Cable ties
• Duct tape
• Masking tape
• Plenty of milk crates
• Folding tables
• Comfy chairs
• Pallets for storage
• A bulletin board
• Thumbtacks
• Notepad and pens
• BBQ lighter (Tie to or create a holster for it next to stove.)
• Fire extinguisher
• Trashcans with tight lids
• Heavy-duty trash bags
• Hammer
• Sledgehammer
• Nails
• Screws
• Screwdriver
• Matches
• Tarps
• Bungee cords
• Rope (Buy a whole spool. If you don’t need all of it for the kitchen, I can guarantee someone will need it to tie down his or her tent.)
• Pieces of carpet/rugs

You’ve returned from Burning Man, and things — from your car to your brain — are in various states of disarray. Here are some tips for your post-playa re-entry and cleaning efforts. If you have some great tip you think absolutely must be included here, email it to us at webcontent@burningman.com.

Your Body

Right now, your skin is probably about as dry as it’s ever been. Moisturize like crazy, every day. And odds are, unless you took really good care of them, your feet and hands are pretty battered. Soak them in a warm water bath with some lemon or lime juice to cut the alkaline dust. Then follow that up by rubbing them down with some Vitamin E foot cream. The stuff works wonders. A pedicure and/or manicure will help too.

Put some vaseline in your nose if it’s sensitive and painful, and use saline spray to restore its moisture. Become friends with a Neti Pot.

Did you get a cold? That’s not really surprising, given the amount of cups we share, hands we shake, and people we kiss out there. If you happen to develop a cough, it should clear up on its own, but watch if it doesn’t. Particularly if it starts to get painful, see a doctor before it develops into bronchitis.

Finally, if it burns when you pee, beeline to the local clinic. Just sayin’.

Your Clothes and Boots

Wash your clothes immediately after returning from the playa. The longer you let them sit, the more stale the playa dust gets, and it can get pretty nasty. Add a splash of white vinegar to your laundry (in addition to your regular detergent) to cut through and break down the alkaline playa dust. If you wear leather boots, clean them thoroughly with a rag soaked in a vinegar and water solution, then rub them down with mink oil. Finally, take the clothes you use exclusively for Burning Man, and put them in labeled tubs so you can get at them easily when August rolls around again. Oh, and definitely wash that wig.

Your Stuff

The key here is kicking procrastination in the shins, buckling down, and getting it done. The longer you wait to deal with your stuff, the harder it’s going to be. Do it while you’re still somewhat one with the dust. Take all your stuff out, clean it (using a vinegar-based cleaning solution helps), organize it, and repack it. If you’re really organized, make lists of what’s in each box. Take note of what you need to replace (see Your Plans, below), and what you had excess of. Professional Burners learn over the years how to organize their stuff so they can practically grab a few totes, toss them in the car, buy some beer, and head to the playa. Practically.

Your Camera

Cameras, especially fancy ones, require very special care. See the equipment section of our Photographer’s Guide for detailed information.

Your Car

If you drove your car to the playa, wash it as soon as you can after returning home, because the alkaline dust can corrode your electronics, and do damage to your upholstery, plastics, etc. Before you do anything, get an air compressor (or go to the air station at your local gas station) to blow all the dust off your engine. (Unless you really know what you’re doing, don’t spray water on your engine, as it can damage your sensitive electrical components.) Then, put on a pair of goggles, open all the windows, and turn your AC fan on high. Then switch your temperature control from cold to hot on ALL your different vent options, including both recirculating the air and not. This will start to get all the dust out of your vents.

Then wash your car with a splash of white vinegar in the soapy water. Vaccuum the hell out of it with the strongest vaccuum you can find, and then use Armor All on your plastic and leather parts, as it cuts the alkaline playa dust really well.

So you can do all this, or (be lazy like me and) take it to a professional car wash place. In San Francisco, they recognize playafied cars, and take extra steps — and charge you for them — to wash your car thoroughly, usually running it through the machine twice, and applying extra elbow grease to your playafied bits. It’s worth the money.

Your Bike

Clean the hell out of your bike. If you know what you’re doing, you can pull it apart and clean the moving bits, grease them up good, and put it all back together again. If you don’t know what you’re doing, take it to a bike shop. It’s worth the money to preserve your investment, and not drag around some creaky pile of bolts next year.

Your Plans

While it’s fresh in your mind, make a list. What did you use on playa? What didn’t you use? What didn’t you eat after all? What was the ONE thing you REALLY wish you had brought with you, but didn’t? What was that Really Cool Idea That You Want To Do Next Year you came up with in camp that one day? Make a thorough packing list now, because by next August it’s highly likely you’ll have forgotten all of it.

Your Brain

It’s extraordinarily disorienting to come back from the freewheeling experience of Black Rock City to be smacked in the teeth by the real world, and the impact can be no laughing matter. Know that it takes a while to get back into the swing of the real world and get reoriented. Take some time to ground yourself, connect with like-minded friends, and share your experiences. You can also connect with other Burners in any of a variety of ways. We’ve listed them here. And please, if you find yourself feeling truly overwhelmed, find somebody to talk to, and/or seek out some professional help.

NO PLANTS AT BURNING MAN

Remember: Burning Man is probably the largest “Leave No Trace” event in the world.

Live plants die on the playa. Ask anyone that has brought them. They always make a mess. In our history, participants who have brought in plants, sod, trees, or cut palm fronds, have created a MOOP (Matter Out of Place) disaster. Every site that has used them in any quantity has cost the Burning Man Project days and days of work post event.

The Gate, Earth Guardians and DPW Playa Restoration Crew are highly sensitized to the issue and keep a close eye out for anything that enters our city. They will stop you at the gate or come and find you. They have been known to incinerate projects before they were even begun.

For this reason we have long banned live plants on the playa.

Please support us in this effort. Help us keep the Restoration Crew sane! Artificial plants work just as well and look better with a quick watering. Better yet, construct your own plants and trees from recycled materials that won’t cause MOOP in desert high winds.

Leave your live plants behind. Leave behind ANYTHING that will break up and/or blow away in the wind, living or dead (trees, twigs, loose paper, palm fronds, etc.)

Dogs. Love ’em and leave ’em. Due to the numerous issues surrounding dogs at Burning Man, the organization has decided not to allow them at the event.

Do not show up at the gate with your animal at Burning Man and expect to be admitted to the event. Reno is a long way to drive back, and it will be hard to find kennel space during the week before and weekend of the Labor Day holiday. The best thing to do is to plan ahead and find a petsitter, family member or friend, veterinarian’s kennel or boarding facility near home that you have visited and feel comfortable with. If your pet will be staying somewhere new and unfamiliar, take time to introduce them (several times for short visits) to the person or place that will be caring for them while you are at Burning Man, and that may reduce the anxiety they may have of being away from you. Remember to leave your veterinarian’s information with the caretaker and clearly explain any medication or special treatment your pet needs while you are away.

A one to three foot tall, four legged, non English speaking, fur coat wearing canine will not enjoy the weather conditions and “alien” environment at Burning Man the way humans do. The alkaline soil is corrosive to noses, paws and bellies. Dehydration and heatstroke happen very quickly, and there is no animal medical service at the event. Pets are also prone to responding adversely to loud noises, huge sound systems, explosions, fireworks and crazy costumed people. Many animals have been lost each year, and problem dogs have caused disputes between camps.

This decision was made with the utmost concern for the health and well being of both dogs and participants. As fellow participants and animal lovers, we thank you for understanding and implementing this policy.

E- mail dogs@burningman.org if you need further information or have any questions.

By Velvona

Have you ever traveled with a friend overseas, or crossed the country in a car? By the time your journey is over, one of two things has happened: you have become closer and bonded for life, or you never want to speak to each other again.

Here are a few tips that might help you preserve relationships of all sorts at Burning Man, culled from the experiences of people who have been there before.

The People-UNfriendly Playa

Like dogs, some people just don’t belong at Burning Man. Does your partner go into convulsions when there’s no place to plug in the blow dryer? Does your best friend hate crowds? Do yourself a favor, and leave them at home. Not only will they have a horrible time and complain all week long, but you will end up babysitting, and will resent them for ruining your vacation. This is a huge issue for couples. Trust me, the time apart will do you good.

Know Thy Campmates

Black Rock City is happening at night. You’ll be out frolicking and enjoying the sights after the sun goes down, but what will you do when the sun is up? You’ll be sitting under your shade structure with the people you came with, day in and day out. This bonding time can be incredibly fun, provided you like everyone in your camp. In 1994, I attended Burning Man for the first time with eight hardy, easygoing and resourceful individuals … and one neurotic and insecure woman who we invited on a whim. Her incessant and inane babbling had us all running for cover in the next camp. If you’ve ever stayed out late to avoid your roommate or spouse, you know this game. This is your home for the week. As such, it should be as comfortable as possible.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto

With any organized group, people tend to fall into their natural roles. If you have a large group, chances are you will have somebody who becomes Mama, Chief Construction Foreman, Organizer of Outings or Head Chef, to name a few. It’s good, though, to make sure everybody in your group has similar goals, and that they will pull their weight equally. Like Dog People vs. Cat People, the People Who Want Party All Night and Eat Food Out of a Can should not camp with the People Who Prepare Elaborate Meals and Do Yoga Every Morning. You don’t want to end up taking care of a bunch of people who aren’t taking care of themselves.

Welcome to Camp Dis/Harmony

Theme camps require huge amounts of cooperation and effort. Everyone in your group needs to be committed to building and/or staffing your space. Make sure people know what is expected of them ahead of time, and find out how people want to contribute. Nothing will tear you apart quicker than making assumptions on what others have committed to. Ambitious projects quickly become forced marches when only a couple of people shoulder the load. Don’t get upset when things don’t come together on the first day. People will need time to acclimate, unwind and decompress when they arrive. And don’t forget to factor in the unpredictable weather. If your theme camp comes together by Friday, you’ll be doing better than many.

Playa Time

That old expression, “Best of Plans Mislaid” is especially apropos to the Burning Man experience. There’s a lot to do and see, and simple tasks take much longer than you think they will. People get sidetracked, caught up, distracted and too busy to keep their promises. Prior to the event, it probably seemed like a great idea to hook up with friends Thursday evening at sundown, but when Thursday evening rolls around, a nap seems like a much better idea. Unfortunately, you can’t pick up the phone and let them know you won’t be making it. Cut yourself, and your friends, some slack, and don’t take it personally. It’s not that they don’t love you; most likely they were too exhausted to make the effort.

Take Care of Yourself

It takes about two minutes to become over-stimulated at Burning Man. Between the people, the sights and the sounds, you will find yourself in a place where the rules have changed and few things are what they seem. Add in a couple of days of exertion in the heat, sleep deprivation, mild dehydration and decreased appetite, and you may find yourself feeling a bit edgy. Chances are you will take it out on those people who are closest to you. When you find yourself getting ready to pitch a hissy fit, stop. Get out of the sun. Drink some water. Eat some food. Take a nap. There. Don’t you feel better?

Sex and the Single Burner

Once upon a time, I did a stint as an advice columnist. Here is the answer to a question I received.

Q. I’m going out to Burning Man for the first time and I’m curious about the sexual energy involved. Could the Goddess of Love give me a survival guide to sex at Burning Man?

A. As you state, there is a lot of sexual energy swirling and whirling about. Anything and everything can and will happen when you stick a bunch of human beings in an empty desert. Here’s the inside skinny that will make your journey through the sexual side of Black Rock City more pleasant.

• Figure out what you want. Love? Sex? Your wildest fantasies? It’s all there for the taking. And for goodness sake, make sure the person across from you wants the same thing. If she or he doesn’t, there are 500 others who do. Don’t go breakin’ no hearts.
• Be respectful. Just because people are walking around naked does not necessarily mean they wish *you* were naked in a small enclosed space with them. Learn to take no for an answer.
• Pay attention to your body. The desert is a dangerous place, and the climate alone will push you to the limit physically. Get plenty of rest, monitor your substance intake and carry water with you at all times (you also have to drink the water).
• Always play safe. If your budget for supplies didn’t include condoms, stop by and see the fine folks at Safer Sex Camp. They’ll hook you up.
• Make love to the playa, and she will love you back. Become one with the sun, the stars, and the omnipresent dust. (Word up to Annie Sprinkle for that piece of advice.)
• Don’t be afraid to try new things. If there was ever a space for exploring, this is it! Who knows, you may even like it and want to do it again…and again and again….
• Take responsibility for your own pleasure. You can find anything your little heart desires, but you have to ask for it first! If you don’t get what you want, look in the mirror.

Joined at the Hip

Burning Man is particularly hard on couples. If you can make it through Burning Man, you can make it through anything! Here are a couple of pieces of advice from those who have been there.

From Greg X. Presley:

Burning Man has stressed my relationship more than any other single event/episode/situation I can name. There are, however, precautionary measures I can recommend…5 Ways to (Maybe) Keep a Relationship Beyond Burning Man

• Watch each other’s hydration! The first sign of dehydration is irritability — a bad mood. Who gets the brunt of that? You and your partner, of course. Try it yourself. Just skip a few quarts, then pick a fight over anything. Works like a charm out on the playa. Of course, you’ll probably have to find another ride home.
• Make dates, and keep them. Knowing that your beloved will be back, say, around dusk, to escort/be escorted by you on a pre-planned evening is an effective counter for that ‘left behind’ feeling. And make your next date as soon as the last one’s over, before the glow fades.
• Massage — anytime it’s not too hot. Feet especially. Increase your tactile time to compensate for the inevitable shortage of routine relationship reassurances that playa life entails.
• Push boundaries? Nyet! I know it’s Burning Man. I know it’s about self-expression. Does that matter to the heart? No! Even if he/she says ‘it’s ok’ now, it won’t be then, or later.
• Secret treats. You know the drill: flowers and chocolate, wine and cheese, whatever. The name of this game is “I Went to Burning Man but I Thought *Only* About You.” If you can’t stand playing this one, then better sell one of those two tickets before it’s too late.

From ActionGrl:

Take care of one another. Watch to insure that enough water is going through you both — more than you think you need. If you don’t stay hydrated, you’ll be broken up by the end of the event, I can almost guarantee.

Equally important, be sure to take time with and time away from one another. Don’t forget that you are individuals. Exposure to the event has a different impact on everyone. One of you may be way into it, while the other might have a hard time adjusting. One of you might be into sitting around camp and making stuff, while the other wants to don costumes and do performance art in the cafe. Don’t be pushy and expect your partner to do the same things you want to do at every second.

Spend all the time together you want, but leave room for yourself and your own interests, too. Remember that there are thousands of new friends for you each to meet as well, so each of you should feel encouraged to spend time with other people as well as each other. Still, be sure to schedule plenty of ‘dates’ together, and keep them. Take time to plan trips around the city with each other, or have a standing date for coffee each day. Just make sure that you honor your time together, but also apart.

And in the End…

Burning Man is an experiment in temporary community. You are free to make new rules, and find different ways of relating with people. Learning more about other human beings — and yourself — is a big part of the reason we’re here!

Big or small, diesel or gasoline, generators have become a ubiquitous part of Burning Man. Black Rock City is a noisy place. Music, laughter, questionable performance art, chanting, shouting, singing and drumming are all part of the experience. Yet, while the drone of raves in the night is something we can all adapt to, the relentless brrrrraaaaaaaaappp of a noisy generator is quite another. Just as bad, the exhaust — bet you never thought about that! — can be like sleeping inside a garage with a car running. 

You should first consider environmentally friendly energy solutions, such as solar, but if you do choose to bring and share a generator, please be considerate of others by following these guidelines for both diesel and gasoline fueled machines.

GASOLINE GENERATORS

Yours will be one of thousands of small, gasoline burning generators brought to the playa every year. While convenient and easy to transport, they are the least efficient and clean source of power generation when considering the amount of fuel they consume for the power and pollution they produce.  

Using newer models and keeping them well maintained is essential for reducing both fuel consumption and pollution, as well as prolonging the life of the machine. 

• Bring the quietest generator you can afford, and the smallest that will meet your actual needs. Larger generators are more difficult to transport, use more fuel and create more pollution. Newer machines tend to be more fuel efficient, cleaner and quieter.
• Between trips to Black Rock City run your generator for a short time every few weeks. This will help keep it running efficiently and cleanly. 
• If you only use your generator once a year, or store it unused for more than a few weeks, when putting it into storage consider running it with the fuel line closed until it stalls. This will clear the fuel out of the carburetor and fuel lines, reducing the build up of gummy deposits that will ultimately damage your machine making it hard, if not impossible, to start, and causing it to run dirty.
• Better yet, if storing it between burns, drain the fuel tank completely or at least add a fuel stabilizer to the remaining fuel. Old gasoline goes “stale” and loses combustibility, and it can also attract water which in turn may cause corrosion of the internal metal parts of the generator. None of these improves the health of your generator.
• Regularly clean and maintain your generator. Thoroughly cleaning your generator as soon as possible after leaving the playa will help prolong the life of the machine and help keep it running as cleanly as possible.
• If possible, have your generator professionally serviced annually – this will reduce fuel consumption and reduce pollution.
• Gasoline generators can be lethal if not used correctly. They produce carbon monoxide (CO), an odorless, colorless, and deadly gas. NEVER run a generator inside or immediately next to tents, yurts, and other structures where people are living and working.  
• If you are near a running generator and start to feel sleepy, dizzy, nauseous, or headachy, turn off the generator (if you can) and immediately leave the area and find fresh air. 
• RVs with onboard generators are designed to eliminate the danger of CO poisoning, however, every RV should have a working CO alarm installed.
• Don’t overload your generator – this can be dangerous and increases fuel consumption and pollution.
• Don’t leave a gas generator running unattended.
• Make sure people can’t trip over any power cords.
• Don’t run your generator late at night or early in the morning.
• Place the generator as far from other camps as possible. 
• Surround your generator with a sound shield or baffle. Do NOT bury it to shield the noise. No matter how well it is filled afterwards, the hole leaves a tremendous gouge in the playa. Make sure that any baffle box is well ventilated as well as allowing good air intake. A quick online search – general and on burner specific information sites – will reveal numerous designs for DIY baffle boxes. 
• Protect the playa surface by placing your generator on a barrier such as cardboard or plywood. 
• NEVER refuel a gasoline powered generator while it is running. Fuel spilled on hot surfaces can easily ignite or explode. Allow the generator to cool completely before refueling.
• Use secondary containment when refueling to prevent accidentally fuel spills from contaminating the playa.
• Do not overfill your generator.
• Gasoline MUST be stored at least 25 ft away from your generator (a source of ignition) and placed in secondary containment. (Check out this excellent overview of safe fuel storage on playa.)
• Make sure you have an ABC class fire extinguisher nearby and in clear view.
• …and consider developing a plan to use alternative energy generation for future trips to Black Rock City.

Some sources of information for the safe and efficient use of portable gasoline powered generators:

• Generator Safety Tips from the Red Cross
• ESFi Safety Info Sheet

DIESEL GENERATORS

The large generators you see in Black Rock City are often powered by diesel fuel.  Proper sizing of diesel generators is important, and can be tricky when considering the operational rise, peak, and fall of the event cycle. Picking a generator with the highest power output might seem like an easy failsafe, but it can cause equipment issues and be a potentially costly mistake.

Oversizing your generator to account only for peak load will actually work against you during the build and strike periods of your operation. When underloaded, a diesel generator has to work much harder to reach its operating temperature. This will not only strain your glow plug, but also the diesel engine. Underloading creates low cylinder pressure, making your diesel genset work that much harder to remain efficient and causing the build-up of soot that can quickly clog your cylinders. More seriously, running your generator at lighter loads also causes glazing. These issues combined will quickly grind your generator to a halt and can cause serious damage if left unchecked.

The ‘load’ of your diesel generator is the power being consumed from the generator. The difference between your anticipated peak power usage during build/strike vs. event operations may warrant a second, smaller generator.  This will not only protect the large generator from underloading, but will help you reduce your fuel consumption.  

Some groups may go about it a different way and bring in a load bank to increase the load on the generator for periods when the population of their camp is low.  While this is an effective method, it also will cause an increase in your fuel consumption.  Consulting with someone familiar with proper power grid sizing is advised.

Now for the next challenge — environment. Engine manufacturers usually guarantee a certain performance provided that some values are not exceeded, this is considered its rating.  Site conditions that affect a generator rating may include, temperature, altitude, humidity, corrosive atmospheres, and dust.  In order for the generator to meet its performance expectations in the hot and dusty environment of the Black Rock desert, a formula must be used for your specific equipment in order to calculate and ensure that the connected load does not exceed power derated for ambient temperature. Consult the equipment manufacturer specifications for further info.

More often than not, groups with large diesel generators are participating in the BRC Fuel Program. This fuel safety program is in place to reduce the amount of large fuel loads transported into the city and stored within camps.

For further information on participating in the BRC Fuel Program you can visit THIS webpage.

Important event guidelines on fuel storage safety can be found HERE. 

Best practices for Theme Camp layouts that include generator and fuel storage placement can be found HERE.