Greetings BurningEnviroFreaks!

The Earth Guardians have compiled some really helpful tips and tricks for making LNT/Green Burns fun and sexy! Initiate and practice these skills and you will be able to create some kick-ass social and environmental art! Let's start with the basics.

For Green Man 2007, we developed some additional Green Principles to help you think green, even amongst the gray and brown. These are about the effect your decisions have on the environment and how to choose the least harmful option.

Which brings us to our...

These basics set the foundation for thinking and doing environmental and community heroics! Applying these principles and tips to your preparations and participation during the event in the forest, desert, resort, beach, etc. will make for a kinder, gentler, sexier experience for everyone...and will give your DPW/sweep team more time to drink and get into trouble.

Combining both LNT principles and Greening principles is a good way to address the different aspects of awareness before, during, and after the event. Sharing these with your participants – whether they’re volunteers, veterans, or virgins – will instigate some interesting conversations and possibly some crafty goings-on.

Now, let's move into some more details...

 

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LNT Principle #1 – Plan ahead and prepare
Green Principle #1 – Rethink and reduce what we purchase and bring

How are you going to be sustainable at/to/from your regional burn?  Things to take into consideration include the type and the materials being used, waste produced and energy consumed.

Pick a Leave No Trace team/guru for your camp. These folks will help set up the camp so that it doesn't blow away, cause a big mess, inhibit waterways, etc. They will help to plan your camp's cleanup and break-down ahead of time, reduce waste (especially stinky trash), design appropriate waste water disposal,  and identify what NOT to bring or burn.

Develop LNT & Green plans.  LNT and Green Plans – these are not just Clean-up Plans! Earth Guardians developed some examples, use them & evolve them ever further! You'll have less pack up (better gas mileage) and less to clean-up at the end. Less is More! Example plans are available at: http://earthguardians.burningman.com/burning_lnt_samplelntplan.htm

Use Greener Materials. Design your camp with reused or repurposed stuff. Use nontoxic, biodegradeable, renewable and salvageable materials. You will reduce cost and disposal headaches and save money for next year. Design your camp for reuse, easy deconstruction and salvage. Use screws instead of nails. Stake your tents and structures so they will stay secure in the heavy wind, rain, and dust storms (they will come, be prepared).

Reduce energy use. Consider renewable sources and incorporate energy- efficient power and lighting. Conserve energy, use human, solar, wind, or biodiesel energy sources and/or offset carbon emissions associated with transportation and energy (generators). Illuminate your camp with energy efficient light bulbs, LED's or EL wire. Coordinate with other camps to share resources, infrastructure, transportation and energy sources.

Minimize kitchen waste and clean-up by planning simple, low-dishwashing meals, repackaging and preparing food in advance. Bring less food than you think you'll need. Repackage and prepare food in  advance. If necessary, bring water in big reusable plastic or stainless steel containers and bring reusable cups, utensils, bowls or plates, not flimsy, blowable, trashy disposables. Ask visitors to your camp to BYOMK (bring your own mess kit) to any and all venues for which food and/or drink may be served. A carabineer or shower hook easily and fashionably secures it for transport around the site.

Avoid bringing glass bottles. There are many good beers in cans! Look here to find some good beer for this year! Decant your beverage of choice into a flask. Remember that every little shard of accidentally broken glass must be picked up by hand, by someone. Nasty!

Separate and sort trash in your kitchen, including compost and recycling. Collect and dispose of compost appropriately and pack out recycling (rinsing makes this more pleasant for everyone), unless someone is specifically collecting it at the event. Plan your camp to minimize clean-up efforts and don't wait until the end of the week to pick stuff up. Clean as you go. This will help you from getting overwhelmed by the mess and help keep trash from blowing out of reach or disappearing in foliage/waterways. Plan to seal the small amount of trash you have left in plastic bags, or in five-gallon buckets with lids, to take home, compost or, if you must, drop off some trash in local landfills.

 

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LNT Principle #2 - Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Green Principle #2 – Conserve energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels

Stay on trails for traveling to and fro and setup camp in designated areas. Keep digging holes to a minimum. This disturbs ecosystems and can be tripping hazards if not filled in properly when you leave.

Get your car's maintenance done on a regular basis.  A well maintained car produces lower emissions and will make it all the way to the event. Consider purchasing carbon off-sets from www.Coolingman.org to offset your transportation and energy (generators) emissions.  Their web site contains a handy spreadsheet to calculate your carbon emissions. Keep your vehicle from dripping oil or other fluids on to the ground. Use pans or other barriers under our cars, especially older cars, to prevent drips.

Conserve energy. Turn off unused lights and incorporate energy-efficient lighting such as energy efficient light bulbs, LED's or EL wire.  Use rechargeable batteries. There are also many handy lights that come with their own solar cells.

Use renewable energy sources (human, solar, wind, biodiesel). If you must use a generator, consider biodiesel fuels instead of gasoline.

 

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LNT Principle #3 - Dispose of waste properly
Green Principle #3 – Reuse what we can from year to year

Design your camp structures and shelters to withstand the conditions and be reusable. Stake your tents and  structures so they will stay secure. Recycle Your Structure:  If you reuse and repurpose the basic framework for your camp's structure, you can still reconfigure it to give your camp a new look and feel each year and save money!

If it doesn't come out of your body it doesn't go into the Potty. Put only single-ply toilet paper and human waste in the potties. Anything else will clog up the toilet vendor's two-inch hose resulting in unserviced potties, and that means trouble.

How will you dispose of your grey water from your kitchen and shower?  Reduce Reuse & Recycle Water- Simplify. Some camps have also developed technologies to reuse their water – contact them and flatter them through imitation. We cannot dump grey water directly on the ground, unless it contains only biodegradable soap (i.e., Dr. Bronner's) and dirt.  Scope out how waste water can be properly disposed or be prepared to filter, evaporate, and/or haul it out.

Take any trash you generate home with you and beware of the Hungry Wind and Animals.  Bring tethers, anchors, containers, and covers, to keep light stuff from blowing away and yummy stuff from getting eaten. Store anything that might smell good to an animal (including bugs) in a sealed container away from tents, the ground, accessible tree limbs, etc.

Don't let your trash fly off your vehicle, and do not dump it on the side of the road or at a rest stop!  Use an approved dumping facility or take it home with you.

 

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LNT Principle #4 - Minimize campfire impacts - how do we burn responsibly and cleanly?
Green Principle #4 –Recycle everything else - create zero waste

Use community burn barrels or a burn platform.

Reduce and Reuse: Fires are for celebration and spiritual connection, not places to dump garbage. Low temperature burning produces toxic emissions, so minimize what you burn. Recycle or reuse materials.

Burn Clean: Be careful to burn only clean (no paint) wood or paper!  Don't burn anything that is toxic! Carpets, cushioned furniture, PVC and other plastics release dioxins, formaldehyde, and other nasty stuff. The low temperature, incomplete combustion emits toxic gases and particulates. Do not put any trash into your burn barrels!

Composting food waste not only reduces garbage but repurposes the waste to fertilizer.  Be sure to use a container with a tight lid for transporting the compost.

 

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LNT Principle #5 - Be considerate of other visitors
GREEN Principle #5 – Coordinate with our neighbors to share resources

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." - Kahlil Gibran

Discuss the possibility of sharing water and water treatment needs with others in your camp and village.  Many theme camps within villages take advantage of shared resources to use larger scale processes to store their drinking and shower water and treat their grey water.  Do not bring small plastic bottles of water to the event; they equal more waste than potable water.

 

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LNT Principle #6 - Leave what you find

What we encounter on-site is exactly what we want to leave – or better.

Taking "souvenirs" from the land diminishes it for those who come after. Be conscious of the impact of parts of the environment disappearing. Those who live there and those who come after are no less deserving of the discovery and enjoyment of all the treasures to be found and savored – in place.

 

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LNT Principle #7 – Respect Wildlife
Green Principle #6 –Respect the environment

Don't use toxic products or engage in practices that leave plastic, latex, chemicals, or damage in your wake. Animals choke on balloon shards, chemicals create dead zones in soil and water, and burn scars interrupt vital biological processes. Follow the Platinum Rule at all times: Treat others (humans, other animals, land, water, etc.) as they want to be treated. This means listening and learning about someone who is not you and how they thrive.

Participate in Environmental Stewardship. Participate in nature walks. Promote more sustainable practices resulting in more awareness of conservation, ecological footprints, carbon equivalent offsets, and alternative energy sources, protecting our global habitat.

 

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Be a LNT and green member of our community

Promote LNT neighbors. Be proud of your neighborhood. Work together with your neighbors to keep your region clean and green. Every year some camps get overwhelmed and need help.

We all enjoy the generosity of our theme camps, artists, and fellow citizens. So look around and pitch in to help: offer a tool, an extra hand, a gesture of thanks.

Talk to others and help them to better understand how to leave no trace.

A note on Gifting in a LNT Community: thousands of "gifts" end up as trash. Avoid feather boas, or anything that sheds. Instead of bringing cheap trinkets for gifts that become MOOP, consider the gift of giving yourself. Look around and pitch in to help keep things clean. Try giving a smile, a helping hand or a joke. Help a neighbor set up camp. You are the best gift!

Please share these with your crew, your friends, your campmates, your parents, your dogs, your kids, and your politicians. The more we participate in our environment are participants, the more our environment will participate in our continued existence – and possibly even thrival!

Peace, Love, and Happy Planets,
FireHorse
Earth Guardian Regional Rep & Seattle Region LNT/Green Lead
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