Trash Talk

[Chai Guy]

One of the most surprising things I discovered on my first burn was the amount of trash myself and my camp mates generated. Here are some things that you and your camp can do make the trash problem less of a problem.


1. If you don't take it with you, you don't have to haul it home. When packing your gear throw away any excess packaging at home. When packing your food supply you can even remove the outside boxes (like with a box of mac and cheese). If you need the cooking instructions, you can rip that side of the box off and tape it to the box. If you don't need the cooking instructions but just want to remember what it is, you can use a sharpie to write on it.

2. Water bottles create a lot of waste, so consider bringing a camel back type hydration system, or bring 2-3 water bottles along with a carrying strap, then all you need to do is refill. As for your main water supply, I find that I go through those 2.5 gallon "suitcases" rather quickly and they tend to not break down very well, so I use the 7 gallon containers that are collapsible, and reuse them every year. You can also use the larger water bottles that have for home water delivery and add a small hand pump.

3. When making your beer purchases, buy your beer in aluminum cans. Glass bottles create moop with their caps (I've picked up countless numbers of bottle caps during my moop walks), and if they break they can be dangerous, and difficult to completely clean up. Aluminum can also be recycled on site by Recycle Camp, and even if you have to take it home, the cans crush down well. If you haven't shopped for beer in a can lately, they now offer Guiness, Sapphoro, and even NewCastle in cans now, so there are more choices than just Coors Light and Pabst.

4. Wine- Same problem as above, choose boxed wine over bottled wine, it tastes great on the playa (you can even remove the box before you leave home), if you don't believe me go check out camp Space Bag sometime.

4.Think LEDs, EL Wire and flash lights over glow sticks, My blinkies usually the last the entire week on one set of batteries, and I can re-use them year after year, while the glow sticks have a life span of about 8 hours or less and then they end up in the trash, or worse on the playa.

5. Utensils and Plates- I suggest using regular silverware and plates that you can wash. If you really have to go with disposable, use paper plates that you can burn and at least wash your silverware (even if it's plastic, you can still re-use it). I make everyone in our camp write their name on their stuff so that they are responsible for cleaning their own utensils.

6. Try to have all of your projects completed before you arrive on the playa. I tried to cut some fun-fur on the playa once and ended up spending a few hours trying to clean the mess up from inside my van. The less work you have to do when you get there, the less trash you're going to create.

7. I set up three trash cans, one for aluminum, one for paper and burnable trash, and the other for trash I'm taking home. I use 5 gallon buckets with lids for my trashcans and they are clearly labeled. At the end of the week I take the burnable trash to one of the burn pyres and burn it. I also use trash compactor bags because they are super strong and when you're driving 600+ miles with your new plastic friend, the last thing you want him to do is leak.

Finally, dispose of your trash properly! It's sad to see obvious burner trash on the side of the highway, or overflowing out of the dumpsters at the first rest area on highway 80.