Zoom! Clean Up Plan 2010
(leave no trace)
About Our Camp
Camp Name : Zoom!
History, background: We came
together as a camp six years ago and have been recruiting a number of
hard workers over the years. We decided on a permanent name and model
for camp four years ago and !Zoom! was born.
Estimated Population: 20-29
Nature and scale of our activities:
We have nightly dinners prepared by 2-4 members of camp, and a kitchen
with bins for burnables/compost, aluminum cans, plastic recyclables,
and trash. The lights, sound, and projections are powered by two 2000
watt silent generators with regulators that only burn as much gas as
is being drawn (we normally only need one on at a time). Our rocket
ride is powered by human movement.
As a camp we will:
- Plan Ahead
- Practice the 5 R’s:
Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Restore, and Respect
- Keep our camp clean
before, during and after the event
- Adopt the seven
principles and practices of Leave No Trace at Burning Man
- Do what is necessary
to protect and restore the Black Rock Desert
- Identify potential
problems and issues that may arise
- Create a strategy
or plan for Leaving No Trace
- We will educate
all camp members about minimizing our impact on the playa
How we will organize for
Leave No Trace
Our LNT leadership and structure:
I, Marcy Protteau, take on the main leadership role and we then break
into small sub groups for control of the camp. I maintain all the recyclables
and trash system. Jason is charge of burnables. Shimmer does the pre-packing
evaluation of supplies being brought so we are not bringing any packaging
that we do not need or can not be reused. Ken is in charge of camp moop
pick up during the week though everyone pitches in. Cary leads the garbage
bag pick up crew at the end of the week that spends a couple of hours
roving the playa. Everyone performs two sweeps of the camp at the end
after everything is picked up and the vehicles have been moved off the
lot.
We hereby designate Marcy Protteau
as the Ambassador to the Black Rock Desert and leader of our Leave
No Trace Team, for camp !Zoom!. The team will help plan our
purchases, what we bring to the playa, and encourage us to reuse, recycle,
reduce and restore our materials. They will think about how we and all
of our stuff will get to the playa and make it home again. The team
will keep our camp clean and fun before, during and after the event
and delegate and enlist help when it is needed.
They will be responsible for
cleanup and trash management in our camp, including activities and parties
we host. They will see that our gray water does not impact the playa.
They will make sure that all camp members understand and agree with
the policies and practices of Leave No Trace at Burning Man.
They will oversee daily tasks
and will have a plan in place when we get ready to leave, when it's
time to break down and sweep our camp for every last trace. The Ambassador
will make sure EVERYTHING left goes with us.
The Ambassador will encourage
our participation in community line sweeps and restoration with our
neighbors and DPW.
Jon Dickinson, will oversee
our camp breakdown and cleanup
Our Commitment to Leave
No Trace
To minimize our impact on
the Playa, we will follow these rules:
Before the event
- We pledge to Leave
No Trace in and around our campsite, including our own and others’
waste.
- We have read the
survival guide, completed our camp’s Leave No Trace Plan and shared
it with the entire camp.
- We will plan the
assembly and takedown of our structures and decorations and use rugs
and carpets with finished edges (so there won’t be any moop).
- We will inventory
vehicle cargo space so that we can pack out everything as we have done
every year.
- We will take the
packaging off of just about everything before coming to the playa, and
will use reusable products and containers.
- We will shop for
simple finger foods that don’t have individual packaging and prepare
meals in advance to reduce on-playa waste.
- We will bring minimal
glass, and no cheap trinkets, small feathers, or anything that might
get left on the playa. All our playa gifts are substantial items people
will use like fire dancing toys.
During the event
- We will clean as
we go, realizing that any trash or MOOP (matter out of place) can blow
away or be buried at any moment.
- We will check our
camp daily for trash and moop.
- We will keep our
aluminum, plastic recyclables, burnables, and non-burnables clearly
separated for easy disposal. All burnables are deposited into the burn
barrel.
- We will recycle
our aluminum on-site with Recycle Camp. All other recyclables and trash
are taken back home by Marcy, Warren and Josh M.
- Josh V. will make
sure that the public areas of our camp are kept clean at all times,
including the model home and sales office
- We won’t leave
trash in or around the port-o-potties.
- We won’t light
fires on bare ground or dig pits, leaving scars. If we must burn, we’ll
use a public burn barrel or burn platform
- We will burn only
clean untreated wood or paper in the public burn barrels (nothing synthetic)
and will follow the safety guidelines for fires and burn scar prevention.
- We won’t dig large
holes or trenches.
- We will keep all
items tied or weighted down, and leave papers at home.
- We will not dump
any grey water on the playa.
- We will encourage
members of our camp to carry a personal trash (MOOP) container and a
cigarette butt container when they are outside camp.
- Everyone in our
camp will devote at least two hours to the general city cleanup (e.g.
trash fence, local port-o-potties, café, etc).
- We will help out
our neighbors and fellow citizens.
After the event
- We will put aside
time and have designated volunteers for the final cleanup; we will do
two full sweeps of camp at minimum.
- We will take all
trash in sealed containers to a landfill on the way home.
- After cleaning our
camp, everyone in our camp will devote at least two hours to the general
city cleanup (e.g. trash fence, local port-o-potties, café, etc).
- We will leave extra
space in every vehicle on the way to the desert, knowing that repacking
will inevitably take up more space and ensure that no items can detach
during the ride home.
- We will pack out
any unevaporated gray water and scum in a 20-gallon holding tank.
- We won’t put trash
in or around the port-o-potties
- We will help out
our neighbors and fellow citizens.
We will be Good Neighbors
- We will encourage
our guests to bring their own beverage containers.
- We will help out
our neighbors and establish open and friendly communication with them
as soon as we/they arrive.
- We will adopt the
space around our camp, making sure that it stays traceless
- We will help careless
or forgetful campers.
Here's how we’ll do it
The public area of our camp
along the street is designed with moop-free materials and a fence between
the public and private areas of our camp collects moop that blows in
off the playa, and we collect it throughout the week. The rest of camp
has rugs instead of carpet so there is no carpet MOOP and at the end
we roll them up after picking up as much of the MOOP off of it as we
can. We use small water bottles that we drink during set up as rebar
caps that get recycled at the end. Some of our rebar caps are stuffed
animals as well.
Our selection of materials
and decorations for our camp are reusable each year, which reduces waste.
All of our structures – domes, scaffolding, shade structures – and
their covers are reusable. Many are now secured by bungee cords instead
of zip ties. The flags, blacklight garden, lighting, and pretty much
all of our décor and art we reuse year after year and sometimes at
other events during the year. The ZOOM Lunar Estates model home yurt
will be new this year, but will be reusable for years to come, whether
as the ZOOM lunar estates yurt or for another camp purpose.
We have a detailed plan for
the breakdown/cleanup of our camp, accounting for every board, stake,
and scrap, and pack necessary tools and supplies. We’ve got it down
to a fine art after many years with the same materials and campers.
During breakdown (go Tom Petty!) we start with the public area, as it
normally has the most MOOP from outside our camp and the largest structures
that need to be packed into our trucks first. After that we work on
most of the shade cloth and dome covers. One person is on zip tie patrol
though all the snippers should be putting them in their pockets. Ken
is always on the prowl picking random MOOP as we are clearing things
away. Jason is in charge of pulling all the rebar stakes. We do not
use anything smaller than a 1-foot piece of rebar so there is no chance
of missing any small tent stake.
Plan for extra cleanup and
trash generated by activities and parties at our camp: After each party
and at the end of each day, we do a round of trash pick-up and sort
our garbage cans, which can be tedious, but Marcy is a trooper. Trash
collected in our fence is picked up on daily basis. Cary will be organizing
an open playa trash pick up for the whole camp near the end of the week.
Have a plan for proper disposal
of our grey water, including containers to haul out what’s left: We
use a small evaporation pool but we also have a small water pump that
pumps the remainder into a large 20-gallon tank, which gets hauled away.
Everyone in camp uses either a solar shower (never the whole bag) or
sponge bath method of cleaning themselves. We also pack up our dirty
pots and pans from dinner to be cleaned at home, back in the default
world.
Plan enough space and storage
in our vehicles for trash hauling: Everyone in camp hauls at least one
bag of garbage, and Warren, Josh M. and Marcy are responsible for making
sure everything is hauled out. We also have a flat bed and a 15’ box
truck, so there is always room for extra trash and recyclables.
Explain the ground rules to
all camp members and post our LNT plan on our website: Although we have
only a few new members each year we explain thoroughly the importance
of leaving no trace.
Plan a secured trash separation
station with signage and tags and plenty of heavy duty garbage bags:
We have a can for aluminum cans, a can for plastic, a bag for food waste
and other burnables, a can for trash with signs for all. This is normally
set up by Sunday, right after the kitchen dome is constructed, and before
most of the other domes go up.
We will bring the following
items for camp operations
Separate, sealed containers
for aluminum cans, plastic recyclables, burnables, and non-burnables
and signage and tags.
- Reusable dinnerware
and utensils, including a portable coffee cup for the café and burnable
cups and plates for those outside of camp that don’t have anything.
- A large water container
for camp water supplies (no small containers).
- 5-gallon bucket
and onion sack for wet kitchen scraps to dry out.
- 20-gallon container
for Grey water disposal for everything that does not evaporate.
- All smokers in our
camp (3 people) have little altoids containers that they carry with
them for cigarette butts.
- Rugs and shade cloth
as floor covering to “catch” any items that drop
We will bring the following
items for our camp’s breakdown and clean-up
- Big whiskbroom and
push broom.
- Flat blade shovel
for burn scar restoration or dune MOOP.
- Large Landscape
Rake and smaller rakes for sweeping though dust piles.
- Stiff long-handled
broom for breaking up dunes.
- Rope and bungee
cords for tying loose stuff down.
- Small spare bags
for collecting trash as we wander.
- Lots of industrial
strength trash bags: more than we think we'll need, everyone or every
couple brings one box.
- Work gloves for
everybody.
- Long-handled sledgehammer
for compacting 5-gallon buckets and driving stakes.
- Multiple pairs of
vise grips for removing rebar.
- Magnets to remove
every last nail, staple, and other scrap of metal.
- A 21’ flatbed
and 15’ box truck with trailer to haul everything out.
Packing Out and Restoration
of Our Site
- We will take away
everything we brought with us plus a few things we didn’t know we’d
have.
- Our restoration
team will use cones on the outside of our camp’s border to define
our boundaries, break up any dunes that formed around vehicles or structures,
then divide up our area and begin line sweeps. We will pick up all woodchips,
broken glass, plastic debris, metal debris, fire works and plant material.
We complete restoration of any hotspots (micro-MOOP collections), or
burn scars.
- We will try to give
a helping hand to our neighbors, time permitting.
- We will each perform
at least 2 hours of community clean-up.
- We will pitch in
with our fellow citizens and community service teams to restore the
natural characteristics of the playa in our neighborhood, removing all
burn scars, dunes, leftover debris, or other physical traces of our
presence.
- We will support
ecological protection and restoration of the Black Rock Desert by participating
in the Friends of the Black Rock restoration/clean-up days.