Glo-sticks on the increase calls for some creative blinking

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:44 am

As many of you are aware, Glo-sticks, and the abundance of said sticks on the playa has become an issue.

lets figure at 10 sticks per person (i think this is a fair approximation) the city in innundated by HALF A MILLION of these little plastic do-hickeys which at least 250,000 of them end up on the playa floor.

they are are one time use nuisance, and something needs to be done, short of confiscation.

i think that re-usable, sustainable light sources are readily available, and should be utilized.

i'm not sure which is worse, a darkwad, or some schmuck whose attached glo-sticks to every orafice in an attempt to look "trippy'...

i suppose, if they are to be used as a sex toy, or swizzle stick, then maybe for this or other usage, carefully monitored, some could be allowed in, but the vast majority is used, and then tossed, like kleenex. Perhaps the model of the "Hanky" would be appropriate...sure, it means having a rag filled with snot in your pocket, but hey, you wash it and its as good as new, ready to receive your nasal offerings again and again.

nobody saves used glo-sticks, they just dont...

so here is a forum to suggest, cajole, offer alternatives and the like to the neon scourge that has, like a fungus, spread and grown in the city.

it's time to evolve, already, and put this little luminescent problem in the trash for good.

StarShineScars · Post by **StarShineScars** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:21 am

I agree. Perhaps people would be less likely to throw them on the ground if they were reusable: http://www.dreamrave.com/digital-glow-sticks-c-37.html

I've had the battery powered ones before and I kept a closer eye on them than with the regular sticks. They last for quite a while and I would say for sure worth the extra money.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon May 04, 2009 7:42 am

thanks for the website suggestion...it has MULTIPLE battery operated sticks, batons and other re-usable blinky blinkies.

all righty....we've got the ball rolling...no pun intended for all of you e-tards out there...

any other ideas? natural phosphorescent dye? hang out at the local nuclear plant? evrybody have sex all the time so we're all "glowing'...

i know the community can finger this out...

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Mon May 04, 2009 8:52 am

I second the battery operated glowstick. They are sold everywhere now.. all the usual retail joints have em. I get the ones I use from Walgreens for 2 dollars each. They are multicolored LED with numerous blink patterns. I also like the ready to go EL wire for my camelbak. As far as flashlight go I try to bring some decent bright ones like my surefire g2. I also try to bring some of those finger lights for gifting.

There really is no need for chemical trash anymore.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:53 am

Simon of the Playa wrote: i think that re-usable, sustainable light sources are readily available, and should be utilized.

I disagree here. I'm pretty damn sure that glow-stick manufacture is cleaner than electronics manufacture. Lots of blinkies end up being single use, i.e.: it turns out you cannot put in new batteries; they fall off the crappy magnet thing; they are manufactured by P.O.S., Inc.; those tiny watch batteries hide at the bottom of your tote and go "flat"; you give them to someone who doesn't give a sh*t; everybody's braindead on playa anyway; etc.; etc. So things that have a dirtier life-cycle get thrown into a landfill where they don't belong.
If you take it upon yourself to do the right thing, and use reusable blinkies, great. However, you cannot expect that of everyone, and getting self-rightious about it will only lead to ugliness. (Sorry Dougie, I'm not talking about you.) For gifting to strangers, the glow stick is still the way to go; you cannot be responcible for their behavior, so make sure that you give them the object that will cause the least amount of damage.

Edited once for sense.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:06 am

so then it's safe to assume that the scientists at Apok Labs have come up with a radioactive cocktail that will make us glow eerily at night?

cause that would be fucking cool.....

PS, if you drink the glo juice from a glo-stick it does NOT make your pee glow and hence make it easier to aim in the JOTS....trust me.

but yes Fishy, after i had posted, i began to think about batteries, and their contribution to making a mess globally, and you might be right about overall damage, but from a clean-up on the playa point of view, it makes some sense.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:10 am

Um, I think glow sticks are easier to find and pick up than those dman button batteries.

It's simply not an easy issue with a open and shut answer. And I guess, vile as it is to leave that kind of mess for DPW, darkward is a pretty serious issue, too.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:15 am

darkward is a pretty serious issue, too.

survival of the brightest.

the darwin award will go to some "Thump-Thump"* who goes unlit.

*a Thump-Thump is the sound a hippy makes when it's run over by a large art car.

Thecatman · Post by **Thecatman** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:13 am

I'm gonna look into batree operated glowsticks. As long as they don't give me a case of TechnoPhobia, they might be what I've been looking for. I've never seen them at Walgreen though, but I'll look there along with wallymart and that dreamrave web site. Last year I got some "motion activated" ones for my bikes valve caps from Target and they did'nt work worth a good go to hell so I'm leary of the "motion activated" ones.

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:30 am

Why not just set a curfew, sunset to sunrise? No more glowstick or blinky battery problem.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:55 am

you know what happens to most of these people when they dont have their cell phones...not to mention the drugs.

there will be all kinds of debates and discussions on whether or not its sunrise to sunset or sunset to sunrise, and does anyone know what time it is, and is that Pacific or Mountain time, and oh shit, i was supposed to BE somewhere at someones wedding on thursday, wait, what day is it......oh wow....hey, i'm kinda hungry, you hungry?

it'll never work.

solar powered chargers for blinkies? during the day, only the goth kids use glo-sticks, but for arguments sake we'll discount that portion.

we could utilize all that lovely sunshine and turn it into stroboscopic neon night fun over and over and over.

or we could just drink the new and improved atomic Kool-Aid.

or we could evolve, like these kitties...

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:09 pm

Maybe everyone gets given a set of night vision goggles at the gate, instead of the 40" flatscreen tv we all got last year.

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:38 pm

Simon of the Playa wrote:
*a Thump-Thump is the sound a hippy makes when it's run over by a large art car.

Really? I thought they had more of a squish sound rather than a thump. You know like running over that dead raccoon that's been bloating in the sun on the hot black top for three days, squish. Opposed to your typical strip mall speed bump, thump.
I should go put this up in the "what I learned today" thread.

sattelite5812 · Post by **sattelite5812** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:18 pm

I'm all for going the reusable route. Any suggestions on a good place to pick up EL wire?

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:27 am

I see where Fishy is coming from...but having brought my share of glow sticks I found myself wishing for something reusable on several occasions. I have yet to see any battery powered glow products of any kind that matches the luminescence of the chem lights though.

This is stuff that's outside of what I know how to create though so I'll have to leave it up to others to find a workable answer...but if someone came out with glowsticks that used AA or AAA batteries which I can recharge, I'll pony up the cash and buy it instead of the two boxes of glowsticks I always get.

(As I write this I remember seeing a sizeable pile of dead glowsticks collected in Kidsville one year...and thinking there just has to be a better way to do this! Plus if you've ever had one break on you...ewww....nasty!)

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:56 am

What we need is a glow in the dark paint that is bright enough to read by and lasts for many years with being exposed to light.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:02 am

wedeliver wrote:What we need is a glow in the dark paint that is bright enough to read by and lasts for many years with being exposed to light.

You could make Uranium, or thorium based paint - that lasts quite a while.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:29 pm

wedeliver wrote:What we need is a glow in the dark paint that is bright enough to read by and lasts for many years with being exposed to light.

That was supposed to read 'WITHOUT" being exposed to light. And mdm hit the nail on the head. I waited and watched last year and then they said in January, well it's May and I want my litroenergy. (we talked about them putting the glo paint inside of thread. Glo in the dark thread, so fucking bitchen.)

Carla Lyn · Post by **Carla Lyn** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:49 pm

StarShineScars wrote:I agree. Perhaps people would be less likely to throw them on the ground if they were reusable: http://www.dreamrave.com/digital-glow-sticks-c-37.html

I've had the battery powered ones before and I kept a closer eye on them than with the regular sticks. They last for quite a while and I would say for sure worth the extra money.

I would have to agree. I like these kind as well.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri May 08, 2009 10:00 pm

The problem with glowsticks is that they are WAY too dim and someone will flatten you.

Glo-sticks on the increase calls for some creative blinking

Glo-sticks on the increase calls for some creative blinking

Re: Glo-sticks on the increase calls for some creative blink