I worked clean-up crew there in the 90s and the only explanation that makes sense is that people must have turned up with the entire contents of Oswald Baileys and left naked and covered in mud.
Tents are cheap and often abandoned because it’s simply easier to buy a new one. But we got tents full of gear, packs, sleeping bags, phones, the lot. Like Mary Celeste level of abandonment.
It’s ridiculous, it really is.
Aye, I used to do that too. So much booze. And money & drugs. I ended up just binning all the unopened beers we found, cos there were just too many.
For a while a charity was suggesting that people could donate their tents after using them, but the quality and condition of tents that get left behind make it a waste of effort to recycle/reuse in most cases.
For the record, my kids were raised to bring the minimum in to a festival, enjoy the maximum, do at least one good thing for others while there, and then leave without a trace left behind. Which isn’t such a bad goal for life in general.
I think part of the problem is when a festival gets too big, people stop thinking of themselves as part of a community and therefore responsible for the culture and environment around them. People are presumably paid to clear up after you leave, so why not just buy the cheapest tent you can find and dump it when you leave? Nobody will ever know it was you and acting responsibly will basically have no effect. In general, I like the idea of making your environment a bit better than it was when you arrived - very few people will voluntarily clear away litter that they didn’t make, but leaving it there will encourage more to accumulate.
What, just walk out across the Playa to the nearest town and make arrangements from there? My impression was that they were all bussed in and effectively trapped at Burning Man until Mr. Scammer came back to pick them up.
Worked a couple of festivals an’ all but the real beauty used to be when mushrooms were still on sale at the stalls.
People would up and leave, unopened packs of cigarettes, bags of mushrooms, half rolled joints, bags o’ weed and the like, just like… right there!
I guess nobody could resolve detail further than about a foot, so it all got abandoned as a kinda smudge on the grass.
Plentiful harvest. 
I think that’s exactly why we have so many different religions: in every culture, there has to be a way to convince self-centered humans that SOMEONE is watching them and thus even if they get away with their choices in life, their after-death experience will be a true reckoning.
Self-discipline, taught more by philosophies than religions, is a harder road for the average Jo/e to tread.
The problem was not one of mis-education, but of deliberate misbehavior. I’m quite sure the people went into this situation knowing all about Burning Man, but the deal they had made with “Jonny Moonshine,” the organizer for this camp was that he was going to take care of certain issues, including trash - which he didn’t, at all. The trash problem was merely a symptom of a greater problem caused by someone with full knowledge of what they were doing.
Oh, Jonny Moonshine, you rogue!
ANYTHING used to be on the stalls at the free festies 
Did you go to Castlemorton?
Blimey, they even left their feckin’ seagulls behind!
“Leave No Trace” sounds kind of sinister… but then I guess you are a badass Eagle Scout. Dib dib dib from an ex-member of the 96th Kings Heath Boy Scouts… still trying to do my best.
I’m not sure how Burning Man camps work. Does each camp have a leader? I would think that each camp having a leader would help make sure that pack out was arranged for more thoroughly. Each camp and their leader could find the best solution for leaving the place clean for their camp. If your camp is made up of people who are mostly from other countries so they won’t be leaving by car to pack up and take away big stuff, you would know that and make alternative arrangements for clean-up, like find ways to make sure all of your structures and things you bring break down small enough to be able to be hauled away by each camper without need for a vehicle, or you band together and find a way to lure campers into your camp who will have access to a car and are willing to be responsible for heavy duty packing out (Our camp covers your ticket, keeps you in good food and drink, etc. and all you’ve gotta do is be willing to deal with the big stuff in your pick up after the festival), or you partner up with other camps to get it taken care of (Our camp can’t take all their big stuff out, your camp would enjoy cool ethnic food from our far-flung campers’ native lands, so if yall each pack a little extra of our junk out with yours, we’ll treat you to a big dinner with neato food on the last night). If your camp is made up folks who will have no trouble hauling a little extra out (you’ve got lots of manpower, access to big vehicles, etc), you could offer that up to other camps in exchange for things you don’t necessarily have in as great abundance as they do. And camp leaders could police their camp members,too. They can keep an easier eye on making sure folks are doing it right and offer each individual who’s found themselves in unexpected need of a Plan B a little help finding a solution. Folks can know that the leader knows who did and didn’t leave no trace and can adjust who’s welcome in that camp next year and who isn’t and who will need to make adjustments to meet the camp’s standards next time, etc.
[quote=“Rindan, post:28, topic:41445”]
Honestly, the outrage is kind of hilarious. The entire massive area of Burning Man that houses 65K people has vastly less garbage left behind than a typical football tailgating party, and shit-tons less than any other festival that is even a fraction of its size.[/quote]
In college, we would see Pasadena the day after the Rose Parade. The streets were covered, like sidewalk to sidewalk, in random garbage, plastic bags, and general detritus. It was amazing. There must have been a serious army of municipal employees to clean up, because the day after that things would be back to normal.
Can’t say I had the pleasure but I I’ve heard the phrase that I believe was developed there or thereabouts:
“Whizz, trips, ee’s! Whizz, trips, ee’s! Get your whizz, get your trips, get your walnut whips!”
Thing is, I thought Burning Man had a rule against commerce- That you weren’t allowed to buy or sell anything at the event. Also, that “radical self-reliance” was a running ideal.
So, how are these “pay for someone to provide everything for you” services even allowed to operate at the festival? I honestly don’t get it.
It’s no commerce at the event (except for ice and coffee.) Commerce beforehand is expected.
Edit: Also, that rule is more of a social understanding than something policed by the org. You won’t get kicked out for selling stuff but you will have a VERY unpleasant time with the widespread opprobrium and hostility.
I thing BLM requires BMorg to move the site around a little each year, just to spread out the impact. I’ve heard you can go around on the Playa and find previous years burns going back quite a ways.
To your other point, burners generally have a good awareness of litter pollution, but are deaf and blind to noise and air pollution. As long as it blows away after the burn is over, there’s no good way to ask questions about the larger impact. Regional burns are better in this regard.
The custom is not to exchange money on the playa, except for coffee and ice. But whatever vices you want to arrange beforehand, that’s up to you.
I still dream of flying into Black Rock City and setting up a camp that had been hauled in on wheels. Still on the budget plan, though.
