Hello! We are adopting a common policy of goals for our festival: LEAVE NO TRACE
I adopted this from a Burning Man letter I received from an organizer, Poosie Cat (THANKS)
The information is geared toward that festival, but these goals should be realized at every event!
Michigan Peace Festival Organizing Committee
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Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
This is includes cigarette butts, beer cans, loose glitter, feathers, etc as well as the big stuff like your bike, tent, trash/garbage bags etc. Communal Effort and Civic Responsibility. When you're at an event, a hosts home, anywhere, it's your responsibility to clean up after yourself. You don't want to pick up after someone else, so don't make someone else pick up after you.

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Think ahead!:
1. Everything you bring with you, you must take back home. This might sound like a no-brainer, but think about it beforehand. Bring a bucket with a tight-fitting lid for stinky garbage. Bring a small container with a lid for ashes and cigarette butts.

2. Everything you bring will *expand* once it's been unpacked and hurriedly packed back into your vehicle at the end of the week.

3. If you run a camp, *you will end up with other people's trash*. And once they've left it at your camp, it's your responsibility to bring it back to civilization! -Corollary: The bigger your camp, the more of other people's trash you'll end up with.

4. If you create a fire, you will need to stick around to *clean it up.

***Prepare a LNT Plan, not a Clean-up Plan*
You'll have less to haul up to the playa, have less to clean-up at the end of the week.
Check out our sample LNT plan. [from the earth guardians]**

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*Camp Structures and Shelters.*
Stake your tents and structures so they will stay secure in the heavy wind, rain, and dust storms that are sudden and usual on the playa.
Consider using materials that can be reused or repurposed at home or at other events.
You'll have less cost and less disposal headaches at the end of the event.

* Plan simple, low-dishwashing meals.

* Avoid bringing tons of food, and don't bring food that spoils.
Experience says you won't want to do a lot of cooking; you probably will never get around to it. Eat finger foods (wraps, sandwiches) that do not need individual plates.

* Bring reusable cups, mugs, utensils, and dinnerware

* Disposable cups tend to blow all over. Ask visitors to your camp to BYOM (bring your own mug). If you use paper plates, save yourself a headache by scraping off the food, then stack 'em, let them dry and take 'em home. BYOM!

* Repackage and prepare food in advance. There is a lot of unnecessary wrapping that you can rid your stuff of, that would just have to be packed out as garbage.

* Stock up on sturdy plastic containers and dispose of the cellophane, plastic wrap, excess cardboard and other cruddy packaging.
Bring water in big reusable plastic containers and have a personal canteen. If you bring dozens of small plastic bottles, you must take every one of them home with you! Avoid bringing glass bottles.
There are many good beers in cans! Decant your beverage of choice into a flask. Remember that every little shard of accidentally broken glass must be picked up by hand, by you.

* Plan to separate and sort trash in your kitchen.

* Bring containers and sturdy signs for separating food waste, recyclables, burnables (paper and wood), and nonburnable trash. Using mesh bags to dry food waste will reduce the smell and amount of trash you generate. Take aluminum cans to Recycle Camp. Use tubs or sinks to wash dishes and collect grey water. Seal the small amount of trash you have left in big plastic bags or in five-gallon buckets with tight lids. Bring tethers, anchors, containers, and covers, to keep light stuff from blowing away.

1.*Never Let it Hit the Ground!*
Throw things away immediately, and you won't have to worry about coming back to clean it up later. Nor will you have to worry about it blowing away into someone else's camp!

2.*Never Leave Loose Stuff Around!*
The wind can wreak havoc, and anything that can blow away in your camp, will.
Two good examples of things you never thought would blow away, but did:
-six foot diameter mirrors, lying flat on the playa. They flew for hundreds of feet and could easily have decapitated someone.
-Porta-potties (okay, they were only blown over. Still, you get the point - *big wind*.)

3. *Create a Daily Cleanup Ritual*.
Cleanup can be fun! Make a game every day out of cleaning up your camp. Dress up in those French maid outfits.

4. *Take Pride in your Neighborhood*.
Get to know your neighbors. Make cleanup a shared priority. Keep in mind that whatever mess you leave behind, your neighbors may get stuck with.

The last day arrives. It's time to go home. So we'll throw all our stuff in the truck and head out as early as possible, right? Wrong. While you were out here partying, you made a mess. Be prepared to clean it up!

1. *Sweep your camp for every last piece of litter*.
Every feather, sequin, staple, and watermelon must be removed. A good way to do this with a group is to lay out an imaginary grid, then sweep from one end of each section to the other with a line of people spaced every 6 feet or so.

2.*Remove all tent stakes and rebar*.
If you don't, they become a potential source of injury, and a sure cleanup problem for someone else.

3. *Combine efforts with your neighbors!*
This will give you more people and will make the whole cleanup process more fun.

4. *Check your neighborhood*.
What's in the streets? What sort of mess did the camp next door leave? Clean it up for them. Take pride in contributing to the beauty.

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LEAVE NO TRACE is YOUR responsibility
Radical Self-Reliance. You must take care of yourself, and if you see someone MOOPing, you can and should remind them of the Leaving No Trace principle in a friendly and helpful way....Communal Effort and Civic Responsibility.

Pack it in, pack it out. If you bring it to the event you need to take it back out with you.

If it didn't come from your body, don't put it in the potty.
No trash in the porta-potties. Not in the hole or just anywhere around the porta-potty in or out. This is nasty, rude, and causes the porta-potty vendors to not work with us in the future, thereby jepordizing the future of the event.

No MOOP. Matter out of place!

Sorry for the lecture darlin's. After seeing the mess that can be left after a party/event/gathering I just had to make sure that you all knew what's expected of you at burner community events and beyond.
We're all smart, responsible adults so taking care of ourselves and our messes or potential messes should pose no problems, it's simply an extension of what we (should) do everyday.
Starting now, in the comfort of your own home, is a great way to be prepared for Burning Man in matters of LNT.

Cheers!
April / Poosie Kat