Introducing the Playa Restoration Awards!

Hello MOOP maniacs and line sweepers extraordinaire! It is my very great pleasure to introduce the first-ever Playa Restoration Awards, aka The Restos.

D.A., Playa Restoration Manager, introduced the game-changing BRC MOOP Map in 2006, and since then we’ve seen a huge shift in consciousness about what it means to Leave No Trace at Burning Man. As the city has grown, it has become impressively green and MOOP-free — so MOOP-free, in fact, that the “red spots” really tend to stand out.

It is easy to look at this year’s MOOP Map and make a judgment about the camps, projects and parties that were scored red. But to do so would be to overlook the unique, unquantifiable and incomparable magic that so many of these groups bring to Black Rock City.

How do you put a score on the experience of watching the sun rise with the people you danced next to all night? How do you count the connections made by bringing friends and strangers together for new, mind-opening experiences? How could you possibly judge a project’s worth solely by what it left behind, without simultaneously celebrating it for what it created?

When we see those red spots on the MOOP Map, we feel the same way you do: mildly disappointed. Surprise: Black Rock City still isn’t perfect. But over the years, we’ve seen red camps turn green, green camps turn red, and the entire Burning Man community learn from the process.

This year, we’re introducing something new to celebrate the bright spots in our city’s quest to Leave No Trace. The Resto awards are a token of respect from the Playa Restoration crew, given to camps, projects and groups who give their all and make us proud.

Lifetime Achievement: Voted Best Camp

If you’ve ever ventured all the way to the end of 2:00, you’ve encountered one camp that is unlike any other in Black Rock City. Voted Best Camp is a punk rock and skate outpost whose members hail from Reno. The camp specializes in making noise, and is pretty skilled at making a mess. Nonetheless, Voted Best Camp has always scored GREEN on the MOOP Map, every year it’s been to Black Rock City.

Camp members tell me that this year, there may or may not have been a giant explosion of some type, which instantly covered most of the site with MOOP. Cleanup commenced soon after, when everybody drinking at the bar was told to get out and start picking things up. It worked, proving once again that drunk punks can achieve anything they want to.

At VBC, Leave No Trace is a pervasive attitude. Everyone participates in daily MOOP missions, as well as a camp-wide sweep at the end of Burning Man. Two VBC members, Scumbag and Voted Best Dave, joined the Department of Public Works a few years back, and still stay into the autumn each year to participate in Playa Restoration. Various other members often contribute to Resto efforts.

Voted Best Camp earned a green score again this year, and we’d like to honor this camp’s ongoing contributions by giving it a Resto for Lifetime Achievement in Leaving No Trace. Thanks for bringing your camp, your music, and your selves. We hope you keep doing it.

Attitude of Raditude: Black Rock Roller Disco

The Black Rock Roller Disco is a fixture on the Esplanade, bringing the funk and the wheels year after year to one of the world’s most unlikely spots. What’s it like to build a temporary skate rink in the desert? Challenging.

In 2011, the Disco’s OSB flooring simply disintegrated into thousands of wood chips, which then blew across the dry and dusty playa and created many hours of work for the Playa Restoration team. The Disco earned a red spot for that unfortunate event, but did The Godfather and crew complain or argue? No (or at least, not that we heard about). Instead, the Disco came up with a new plan: putting tarps beneath the flooring to catch falling wood flakes.

In 2012, the tarps were in place, but all was not yet perfect. The floor continued to disintegrate, and the Disco was partially red again. Unfazed, this year’s crew brought Shop Vacs to the desert, and vacuumed their entire plot after the event was through. Talk about making the extra effort!

The Black Rock Roller Disco’s green score this year* is the definition of a well-earned achievement. Playa Restoration honors the Black Rock Rollers with a Resto for their Attitude of Raditude. We love you and your dance floor, and are proud of everything the Disco brings to our city.

Please share your kudos and your respect with these two hardworking groups, and with everyone you know who goes above and beyond to bring the party and then make it disappear. Stay tuned for future Resto awards in the days to come!

*Yes, MOOP Map Day 3 scores are in, but we need more time to compile them. Check back soon!