A comprehensive Leave No Trace plan begins long before you arrive on the playa. Included below is a list of items to bring, and a list of others it’s best to leave at home.
- The following items are most likely to become MOOP: glitter (not allowed in BRC), feathers, rhinestones, Astroturf, sequins, styrofoam coolers, plastic bags, paper, string, disposable drink cups, hay bales, straw, gravel — or anything that can blow away in the wind.
- If you must buy single-serving drinks, choose aluminum cans over glass bottles. Aluminum cans can be recycled at Recycle Camp.
- Carry a MOOP bag everywhere you go — deep playa, art pieces, dance floors — LNT applies to the entire playa, not just your camp.
- If you smoke, bring a pocket ashtray (for example, a mint tin) to collect cigarette butts and ashes (yes, ash is MOOP!).
- Kitchens, construction areas and workspaces generate the most MOOP. Packing a tarp to lay down in those areas can save a lot of clean-up time.
- Rope and other tie downs are required for securing everything in your camp and for strapping anything on top of your vehicle for the trip to or from the playa.
- A plastic milk or water jug with a handle is ideal for collecting MOOP around your camp (which you should do throughout the week).
- Showers are great on the playa, but shower water is gray water, and not allowed to hit the playa. Remember to bring a small inflatable swimming pool or other water containment device. Conserve shower water by reducing frequency, or taking shorter showers (or showering with friends! — with consent). The more water you conserve or evaporate, the less gray water you will need to collect from your containment device and bring off playa.
- Don’t want to haul greywater home? You have options! The Playa Living section of our website has great ideas for properly dealing with greywater.
Want more tips? Check out the Earth Guardians’ tips for keeping Burning Man clean and green.