Playa Protection Plan
Each camp member is expected to take some Community Trash home with them and to dispose of it in the proper manner in an appropriate facility or container when you return to your respective home locations.
You are expected to donate at least 2 hours of your time before you leave the Playa to cleanup of the PolyParadise site as well as the general state of BRC.
Camp Fires and
Fire Art - Camp fires and fire art
projects are not permitted in Black Rock City
proper, with the exception of designated public
areas. 55 gallon steel drum "burn barrels" with
legs, staked down against high winds, will be
provided for public use on the Esplanade. Groups
camping near and using these will be asked to
monitor them and help with their clean up.
Commercially manufactured cooking equipment is
the only acceptable fire sources for cooking
within camps.
Tiki Torches, Candles and Lanterns -
Winds pick up without warning and blow
things over -- tent fires have happened due to
tiki torches, candles and lanterns being blow
over in or around tents. This is VERY scary in a
tent city! For this reason torches are not
allowed in the city proper. Unattended candles
are discouraged and safe use of lanterns is
encouraged.
Burn Scars - Fires built
directly on the playa surface create a burn scar
or patch of discolored, hardened sediment that
unaided takes years and years to fully recover.
The process to manually restore them requires
many hours of picking out residue by hand,
breaking up the fired surface and dispersing
discolored playa. It must be worked over again
and again, year after year if the burn scar is
bad enough. There are literally 100s of these in
varying degrees of recovery on Black Rock.
Public Pyres - Burning Man will
be providing several public burn platforms
(Public Pyres) approximately 100 feet away from
the Esplanade at the end of every road, for
participants to burn wood items on without
scarring the playa. They will be designated on
the Black Rock City map. Every citizen near them
will be asked to "adopt a Pyre" and help manage
burning on it.
Like years past the Pyres will be made out of
corrugated tin sheeting, about 10" X 10" square.
They will be elevated on bricks, cinder blocks
or fabricated metal risers. This will insulate
the playa from baking and contain ash and other
nasty residue (eg. screws and nails) for easy
clean up.
Leaving No Trace by not even letting it hit the
ground! Carry your art or camp belongings to
your Public Pyre. Watch it burn and cool. Then
simply tip the metal to the side and slide the
residue into a bag. Haul it on home when you
leave. Simple and complete!
Air Born Pollutants - No
burning of any synthetic materials (e.g.
couches, rugs, plastic or PVC) is permitted.
They release particularly toxic fumes and create
hard to clean residue.