at Burning Man 2003
Conscious of the fact that we will have brought our worldly possessions to a dusty yet pure playa, we will leave no trace. Our clean-up will take place throughout the event, not just at the end, and will be mainly a function of planning and camp design.
Luv-A-Fair's props and decorations will be heavy wooden signboards, and the paper postings will be covered with acrylic to prevent any from being blown off. Our "heart garden" will be made from wooden hearts that are anchored with our large neon heart overhead on a solid pole. Our RVs will be camouflaged, and all waste water will be contained in internal tanks. There will be no glitter, feathers, confetti, or small wind-driven items in our camp, but we always are on the lookout for stray items blowing, passing through, or dropped at our camp.
As 4- and 5-year burners, we understand that the key to keeping a camp clean is to plan and not bring "stuff" that is in small or throw-away containers. Our water will be in 5-gallon spring water bottles. Our food will be in bulk and will be stored in the fridge of each of our RVs; there will be no food wrappers in our camp, and all glass will remain in our RVs. In lieu of a fire pit, we will have a small Weber BBQ that has a large sheet metal tray to catch everything but smoke.
Our outdoor garbage can will be tied in place with an attached and latched lid, lined with industrial strength trash bags. We will store full trash bags inside our trailer or in the storage bins under our RVs, and will take them home with us. We will pick up any loose trash that passes our way. In previous years at Burning Man, we have usually been the last camp on our block to leave; we expect this to remain the case this year, so we plan to do a full sweep of the area, including all nearby camps and the adjacent esplanade and playa. We will not dump our trash on the side of the road as some clueless burners have done; where possible, we will stop and pick up some of this side-of-the-road trash on our way home.
Luv-A-Fair camp designer, layout guru, and LNT czar: