During this year's Burning Man I went to an event held by the Playasophy camp, which holds philosophical discussions.
As serious as an event like this sounds for Burning Man, the event was completely packed, and the two facilitators had a great sense of humour. They took on a fun challenge of taking shots of rum whenever a certain keyword was spoken out loud. The talk had barely gotten past the introduction when the two facilitators were already super drunk!
In spite of the good humour, as a deep thinker myself, I was looking forward to what the discussion would bring. It was centred around the fact Burning Man is an event with a large carbon footprint. A lot of consumption occurs pre-event and during, resulting in a lot of waste, plus a lot of fossil fuels burned for travel, depending on how far you're coming from and your mode of transportation. Plus, there is a lot of fire - things set on fire, art cars spitting fire, fire spinning - which doesn't help.
So does its carbon footprint make Burning Man an environmental burden?
Burning Man (BM) has some unique ways of dealing with its environmental impact. For physical waste, there is a trash fence, a continuous fence that surrounds and closes in the entire festival grounds, lined with a mesh that catches any garbage that falls to the ground and is swept away by the unrelenting desert winds. There's a term here for garbage that's on the ground - it's called moop. Hardcore BMers pick up moop before it gets blown away. As vast as BM is, I only ventured to the edge of the grounds one time to check out the fence, and didn't see much moop.
Overall, there's not a lot of garbage potential here anyway, which is part of BM's intention. It is embedded in their 10 Principles. I won't go through all of them, but the relevant ones here are:
Gifting
Decommodification
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is the most obvious and straightforward principle for minimizing consumption and waste. Similar to backcountry camping, the mantra is "pack in, pack out." There are no garbage cans here.
Gifting and Decommodification, however, represent a radical shift away from our conventional economy and consumption habits. There is no need for money at BM, with the exception of buying ice to keep food cold. Nothing is branded. Upon entry into BM everything is free. There are places that serve food, bars that serve alcohol and play music, fun activities to sign up for, and of course a lot of art, and all of it is free. BM focuses on creating experiences generally without the need for consumption.
During my time at BM I went to a tie-dye workshop, a flow art workshops (poi and staff), several expert talks, a silent speed dating event, and a communal shower called the Foam Dome, to name a few things. In terms of materials consumed, a camp across from me served free coffee and wine, a bike repair shop provided some free parts, and I received some free food and alcohol as well.
For a 7-day event in the harsh desert, I had a ton of amazing experiences and human connections, while barely consuming anything.
With that said, a lot of material consumption is required to enjoy BM, it just happens in the preparation. There is a lot to pack - food for 7 days (you should not count only on free food), camping amenities for the harsh desert, and festival clothing, decorations and artistic creations. Finally, there is the transportation to and from Black Rock City, where BM takes place.
It is not uncommon for BM goers to fly in from another country, rent an RV, buy bikes, camping chairs and whatever else they need, then afterwards discard it all illegally before going home. Fortunately for me, I shared a road trip to BM with my friend in his vehicle, bringing most of what we needed from home - overall I think we had a reasonable carbon footprint.
Despite the carbon footprint that an individual creates to go to and experience BM, I truly believe that overall BM has an overall positive impact on the world that is intangible and cannot be statistically measured in an isolated way. And if you really wanted to isolate and analyze carbon footprint, it's probably not as bad as it appears on the surface.
Burning Man for me was all about transformation. While I know that a lot of people go to BM to party and escape their daily life, I believe the majority of people leave BM transformed. Personally, I left with a greater awareness of myself and my impact on the world, and developed a stronger sense of a global community. I feel more compelled to create art and share and inspire others to do the same. Instead of engaging in consumptive behaviours which are inherently more destructive for the environment.
I left with my cup filled with love, ready to go back to my community and pass it on to others. For many, this means coming together for art, healing, and growing food - all local and sustainable initiatives the world needs more of.
In fact, I personally don't feel the need to go back to BM next year, or even the one after that. As a first timer, I experienced the event more as a consumer, but I felt I got what I needed out of it, and am filled with the inspiration and energy to go home and transform myself, and only feel ready to go back to BM as a contributor, once I reach a point in my life where I can make a meaningful contribution. There's not a whole lot of music festivals I can say that about.
Besides, if I didn't go to BM, what would I have done instead? There's a good chance I would have spent money on meaningless things, purchased food shipped from a far flung tropical country, or just sat in my room watching movies to fill a bottomless void inside me.
Instead I was at BM creating memories and long lasting happiness that far endures anything a new smartphone, or an entertaining movie can provide. With this purpose in mind Burning Man can be seen as a starting point for a revolution, starting with individual transformation, leading to social and environmental change on a large scale that far outstrips its carbon footprint.
As serious as an event like this sounds for Burning Man, the event was completely packed, and the two facilitators had a great sense of humour. They took on a fun challenge of taking shots of rum whenever a certain keyword was spoken out loud. The talk had barely gotten past the introduction when the two facilitators were already super drunk!
 |
| Myself, Kieran and Andy at Burning Man! |
So does its carbon footprint make Burning Man an environmental burden?
Burning Man (BM) has some unique ways of dealing with its environmental impact. For physical waste, there is a trash fence, a continuous fence that surrounds and closes in the entire festival grounds, lined with a mesh that catches any garbage that falls to the ground and is swept away by the unrelenting desert winds. There's a term here for garbage that's on the ground - it's called moop. Hardcore BMers pick up moop before it gets blown away. As vast as BM is, I only ventured to the edge of the grounds one time to check out the fence, and didn't see much moop.
 |
| Photo Credit: journal.burningman.org |
Gifting
Decommodification
Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace is the most obvious and straightforward principle for minimizing consumption and waste. Similar to backcountry camping, the mantra is "pack in, pack out." There are no garbage cans here.
Gifting and Decommodification, however, represent a radical shift away from our conventional economy and consumption habits. There is no need for money at BM, with the exception of buying ice to keep food cold. Nothing is branded. Upon entry into BM everything is free. There are places that serve food, bars that serve alcohol and play music, fun activities to sign up for, and of course a lot of art, and all of it is free. BM focuses on creating experiences generally without the need for consumption.
During my time at BM I went to a tie-dye workshop, a flow art workshops (poi and staff), several expert talks, a silent speed dating event, and a communal shower called the Foam Dome, to name a few things. In terms of materials consumed, a camp across from me served free coffee and wine, a bike repair shop provided some free parts, and I received some free food and alcohol as well.
For a 7-day event in the harsh desert, I had a ton of amazing experiences and human connections, while barely consuming anything.
With that said, a lot of material consumption is required to enjoy BM, it just happens in the preparation. There is a lot to pack - food for 7 days (you should not count only on free food), camping amenities for the harsh desert, and festival clothing, decorations and artistic creations. Finally, there is the transportation to and from Black Rock City, where BM takes place.
It is not uncommon for BM goers to fly in from another country, rent an RV, buy bikes, camping chairs and whatever else they need, then afterwards discard it all illegally before going home. Fortunately for me, I shared a road trip to BM with my friend in his vehicle, bringing most of what we needed from home - overall I think we had a reasonable carbon footprint.
Despite the carbon footprint that an individual creates to go to and experience BM, I truly believe that overall BM has an overall positive impact on the world that is intangible and cannot be statistically measured in an isolated way. And if you really wanted to isolate and analyze carbon footprint, it's probably not as bad as it appears on the surface.
Burning Man for me was all about transformation. While I know that a lot of people go to BM to party and escape their daily life, I believe the majority of people leave BM transformed. Personally, I left with a greater awareness of myself and my impact on the world, and developed a stronger sense of a global community. I feel more compelled to create art and share and inspire others to do the same. Instead of engaging in consumptive behaviours which are inherently more destructive for the environment.
 |
| In spite of all BM has to offer, in the end it's all about human connection |
In fact, I personally don't feel the need to go back to BM next year, or even the one after that. As a first timer, I experienced the event more as a consumer, but I felt I got what I needed out of it, and am filled with the inspiration and energy to go home and transform myself, and only feel ready to go back to BM as a contributor, once I reach a point in my life where I can make a meaningful contribution. There's not a whole lot of music festivals I can say that about.
Besides, if I didn't go to BM, what would I have done instead? There's a good chance I would have spent money on meaningless things, purchased food shipped from a far flung tropical country, or just sat in my room watching movies to fill a bottomless void inside me.
Instead I was at BM creating memories and long lasting happiness that far endures anything a new smartphone, or an entertaining movie can provide. With this purpose in mind Burning Man can be seen as a starting point for a revolution, starting with individual transformation, leading to social and environmental change on a large scale that far outstrips its carbon footprint.
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