SHOUT OUT to Playa Mike, who posted this inspiring album from Burn Night 2015. Mike says:
Every year on Burn Night my friends and I walk around the playa collecting as much MOOP as we can find and attach it to a caution tape tail of mine.
That’s the spirit, Playa Mike (and crew). You made mooping fun. Thank you for leaving no trace, and for picking up more than you dropped. The Playa Restoration crew salutes you!
I’d like to take this moment to remind us all of what moop is [it’s Matter Out Of Place] and why we pick it up [because Burning Man is a Leave No Trace event, and keeping that incredible commitment requires everyone’s participation].
Here’s a nice summary of it, from this year’s Survival Guide:
Burning Man is the largest Leave No Trace (LNT) event in the world — LNT is one of our core principles — it is up to all of us to remove all Matter Out of Place (MOOP) from Black Rock City. There is no garbage collection service in BRC — we are all responsible for properly removing all trash. Everything you bring might become trash: tent stakes, bottle caps, ashes, wood debris, orange peels, cigarette butts, pistachio shells, rope fibers, sequins —even abandoned bikes. According to our permit with the BLM, we have a very short window of time to restore the playa to its original condition. We can only satisfy BLM stipulations and pass inspection if ALL citizens share in the responsibility to line-sweep their camps and the city.
No matter how big and crazy our temporary city gets, it’s always going to be a community. And it’s always going to attract awesome people who find their own ways to participate. Including mooping their way through BRC with a tail made of caution tape.
Did YOU pick up moop in a creative, photogenic way this year? Tweet me your photos @jhfearless. I’ll totally RT.
And hey guys, I’ve seen Day One of the Moop Map results and I can say for sure that you’re going to see them too, very soon. Tomorrow maybe?
If it was about more than just qualifying for next year’s permit, BMorg would have people with metal detectors searching for buried rebar. Every site that BM has occupied over the years is a no-go for vehicles in the off season due to buried rebar.
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Actually that’s a good idea. Almost all straight rebar can be pulled by hand by twisting with big pliers (mine are 5/8″ x 18″ long with a nut welded on top to keep ropes from slipping off and pounded to ground level for no trips/cuts and I pull them out with just pliers)…the bent crap is a pain though, often needing digging, pry-bar-ing or jacking, or in a playa neighbors case chain and a truck. Don’t use bent rebar! Found several stray pieces to pull during cleanup around my block post-event.
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You have some leftover drinking water, right?
Pour a little around the edges of the rebar, rock it a bit, add some more water, then come back in 5 minutes and pull it out with your bare hands.
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Yes! Rebar can be pulled, even the big stuff. We get a LOT of it by hand with vise grips.
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