DA’s Black Rock MOOPATHON-June 26-July 3

Leaving No Trace was just the beginning. 

As Burning Man’s Environmental Restoration Manager since 2005, the worldwide Burner community, has shown me that 80,000 people can build and burn a temporary city in the Black Rock Desert and still leave the environment looking clean, beautiful, and without a trace. 

In this unprecedented year without Burning Man, I believe the time is now to go above and beyond our community’s success as the largest practicing Leave No Trace event in the world and plan for the future of an environmentally sustainable Burning Man.

We’ve created a Sustainability Team to study and implement best practices around energy generation and conservation as well as to explore other possibilities in supporting our ambitious goal of a  carbon-negative Black Rock City by 2030 as announced in the Burning Man’s Sustainability Roadmap. Black Rock City, you have made a believer out of me, and I believe we can do this. However, in this year of challenges, we need also to create innovative ways to fund our sustainability initiatives.

So, to this end, straight up, I’m announcing an audacious environmental fundraiser

A hold-my-beer moment if you will! Yours truly, DA, the Dark Angel of Black Rock, 24 year Burner, founder of the Playa Restoration All-Star Team and the MOOP Map, will be raising money to jumpstart Burning Man’s Sustainability Initiatives by walking all the way to the Black Rock Desert starting from Wadsworth, NV along Highway 447 to State Route 34, cleaning up all Matter Out of Place (MOOP) and leaving no trace! 

That’s 85 miles! It’s gonna take 8 days! I’ve set the goal at $80,000 in hopes to inspire the 80,000 annual participants and the greater worldwide Burner Community to support an environmentally sustainable Burning Man! I hit the road Friday, June 26, and land on the playa on Friday, July 3. 

DONATE HERE

Please consider a donation at this time, follow my story for live updates, hit share, and help light this endeavor on fire! Leaving No Trace was just the beginning!

For all you Leave No Trace enthusiasts, if you are so inspired, feel free to join the fun with Burners Without Borders In Solidarity with DA’s Black Rock MOOPATHON by leading a simultaneous cleanup effort in your local Burner Community! 

THANK YOU AND LEAVE NO TRACE!

 

About the author: DA

DA

DA, wings on fire, crash-landed smack dab in the middle of Burning Man 97, ticket in hand, and never left. Three burns later, DA was adopted by the Department of Public Works' Clean-Up Crew and was awestruck at the transformative power of Leaving No Trace. DA grew to be leader, transforming the Clean-Up Crew into the Playa Restoration All-Star Team, and creating the first Moop Map in 2006 as a way to visualize the community's Leave No Trace effort. As a poster artist, DA has illustrated the launch of the Burning Man Theme for 2006 Hope and Fear: The Future, 2007 Green Man, 2008 American Dream, 2013 Cargo Cult, and 2015 Carnival of Mirrors. DA loves the Black Rock Desert and believes that if we, the community, continue to Leave No Trace, then together we can keep building and burning the world over.

8 Comments on “DA’s Black Rock MOOPATHON-June 26-July 3

    • IRöNDAD says:

      I guess emojis don’t get rendered in comments here, so I’ll spell them out. :frowning:

      Hope to see you there. Will be making a spectacle of myself, as usual. :face_with_rolling_eyes:

      :the_horns:
      IRöNDAD

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  • You sir are beyond awesome! Best of luck and bring an extra pair of sneakers.

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  • Pedro Conejo says:

    Please make sure to photograph and catalogue all MOOP retrieved. The amount of litter generated by just normal non-Burner traffic is something NDOT, BLM and the Counties should be made very aware of.

    Would sure like to see the same initiative for the Playa itself later this summer, show what it would look like if Resto and Burners in general weren’t there to clean up after the off-roaders and others who habitually litter and deface the Playa.

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  • Dave E. says:

    So, Proud of you guys doing this.!!! I was thinking of doing this on the July4. But, would live to help this weekend also. DO YOU NEED MORE HELP< PICK UP MOOP??

    Cell text please… 916-204-7820

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  • fd says:

    why do you need 80,000$ for that?
    can’t do that for less?

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  • Jim says:

    Before branching out to spread how clean you can make the world, BMorg might want to invest in some metal detectors to sweep the site after the rains. Before patting each other on the backs again and again for leaving no trace, it’s time to visit the playa in the offseason to see how bad it actually is. Especially around the Man base there are many thousands of nails and other fasteners. The whole site is littered with rust spots over metal debris. People have been asking for decades for a finishing crew to go out after the rains and pick up the metal using detectors. But it’s not about leaving no trace, it’s about the APPEARANCE of leaving no trace. So stop patting yourselves on the back about how environmentally good BMorg is when it willfully leaves that shit out on the playa to eventually sink.

    How can anyone cry about pissing on the playa is changing the ph balance when every year tons of metal is just left behind to rust, knowingly. Hypocrites.

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  • Weldboy says:

    DPW and Playa Restoration are full of white trash gangsters and drug addicts, who are hostile and antagonistic with both outsiders and the local community. The DPW leadership employed by Burning Man, including Dominic, either don’t give a shit or take a profit from it for themselves

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