I Was Just Leaving... No Trace
Explicit content warning
07/24/24 • 54 min
Take a trip through the puzzle of porta-potties at a free-range event, highway happenings, and the new news about prep. This is deeper than “What is MOOP?” This is the ART of Leaving No Trace.
It’s part of the Burning Man ethos, and it’s why Black Rock City is the world's largest Leave No Trace event. Now nearly 100 other Burning Man events around the globe adhere to this attitude, this mindset. It’s an ongoing quest to leave less and less of a trace. As the principle is written, it invites us to leave spaces in better shape than we found them.
The 75,000 citizens of BRC pick up after themselves. It’s miraculous. And we can do more.
Those of us who take on the challenge, we see it as a process, a practice, a stretch goal. We look at ways to get closer to that zero point. Each of us is at a different point on the LNT learning curve. The next level is to develop techniques to do it collectively. It is a set of behaviors to be cultivated.
In this episode, we talk with some of the unsung heroes:
- blue: DPW Logistics & Project Manager of Recycle Camp
- Barbarella: Resto’s Highway Clean-Up Manager
- DA: Playa Restoration Manager
- Hazmatt: Associate Director of BRC Business Operations
We look at what gets left behind, so we can grok our cumulative impact, and make a better choice, a better cascade of choices, to teach good citizenship. Plus, eh, there may be a few poop jokes.
There’s an old saying in Black Rock City: “It was better next year.” Let’s leave no trace so that there will be a next year.
burningman.org/about/10-principles
Take a trip through the puzzle of porta-potties at a free-range event, highway happenings, and the new news about prep. This is deeper than “What is MOOP?” This is the ART of Leaving No Trace.
It’s part of the Burning Man ethos, and it’s why Black Rock City is the world's largest Leave No Trace event. Now nearly 100 other Burning Man events around the globe adhere to this attitude, this mindset. It’s an ongoing quest to leave less and less of a trace. As the principle is written, it invites us to leave spaces in better shape than we found them.
The 75,000 citizens of BRC pick up after themselves. It’s miraculous. And we can do more.
Those of us who take on the challenge, we see it as a process, a practice, a stretch goal. We look at ways to get closer to that zero point. Each of us is at a different point on the LNT learning curve. The next level is to develop techniques to do it collectively. It is a set of behaviors to be cultivated.
In this episode, we talk with some of the unsung heroes:
- blue: DPW Logistics & Project Manager of Recycle Camp
- Barbarella: Resto’s Highway Clean-Up Manager
- DA: Playa Restoration Manager
- Hazmatt: Associate Director of BRC Business Operations
We look at what gets left behind, so we can grok our cumulative impact, and make a better choice, a better cascade of choices, to teach good citizenship. Plus, eh, there may be a few poop jokes.
There’s an old saying in Black Rock City: “It was better next year.” Let’s leave no trace so that there will be a next year.
burningman.org/about/10-principles
Previous Episode
Art That Inflames
Burning Man culture brings people together across all kinds of divides, yet we’re seeing an uptick of intolerance toward art and experiences in our community. The default world is often divided by ideology, religion, and politics. Could that division seep into this culture that aspires to welcome everyone?
How can we navigate the turbulent waters between, say, Radical Self-expression and Radical Inclusion? How do we walk the line between free speech and hate speech? How do we keep our global community together in times of outright war?
Listen in on a roundtable discussion about concerns that don’t have easy solutions. A few folks explore how the act of conversation changes what might otherwise seem controversial or divisive:
• Stuart Mangrum is Burning Man Project’s Director of the Philosophical Center so he directed some philosophers to center around a microphone to discuss.
• Caveat Magister debated and discussed Burning Man philosophy, then wrote books about it.
• Kay Morrison is a veteran Black Rock City artist, active in the Global Network, and a Burning Man Project board member.
• Steven Raspa is Associate Director of Community Events for Burning Man Project, and a co-founder of the Regional Network Committee.
This conversation concerns art, yes, and behavior — as participants, as people. It’s about being open-minded and open-hearted, even when it’s difficult to do. What is a safe space? What is a brave space? How can jackassery be respectful? What’s with all the questions? Tune in for the answers that lead to more questions.
burningman.org/about/10-principles
Turn Your Life Into Art with Caveat Magister (Burning Man LIVE)
Kay Morrison and the Overall Wonderment Quotient (Burning Man LIVE)
Remember How to Burning Man with Steven Raspa (Burning Man LIVE)
Stuart Mangrum’s Serious Philosophy of Shenanigans (Burning Man LIVE)
Next Episode
The Future of Burning Man
Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man Project, talks with a lively audience as part of Robot Heart’s Residency in Oakland, California. She is joined by Candace Locklear (aka Evil Pippi), Erin Douglas of the Black Burner Project, and Robot Heart’s Justin Schaffer and Satya Kamdar.
It’s casual. It’s layered. It’s a room of Burners.
What constitutes culture jamming? Where does Burning Man bridge the divide to bring people together? How have pillars of our culture evolved from awkward beginnings?
They swap stories about the perks of unbranding. They joke about gifting and regifting, and the spectrum between talismans and swag. They go off the rails into how mainstream culture plays with Burning Man tropes.
Then they go beyond making a party in the desert, out into the world, to the Regional Network as a living embodiment of ‘Each One Teach One.’ They show how collaboration creates the community. They explore actually active inclusivity, and the question “Who are we?”
Marian Goodell: Burning Man Project Board of Directors
The Future of Burning Man (video version on youtube)
Burning Man LIVE: The Evolution of Robot Heart
Burning Man LIVE: Candace Locklear on Culture Jamming and Welcoming
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