Burning Man by The Burning Man Project

Adam W.
209 reviews
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I really loved Burning Man

I hear where the critics are coming from on this one. I actually thought to myself that there was something very incongruous about having a "green" themed Burning Man, when the main event was to light a giant fire.

However, I think Burning Man is an awesome event for a million other reasons, and is only secondarily green. The exploration I got to do that week in terms of myself, societal norms, psychology, spirituality, EVERYTHING. I mean it was really kind of a magical place. I think that is the real purpose of Burning Man.

As far as green is concerned, on the one hand, I would venture to bet that everyones footprint is smaller while they are on the playa then it is when they are at home. For instance, I am no stranger to camping, but this was the first time it ever really dawned on me how precious water is when you are in an environment like the playa. So much so that stopping at a Denny's on the way home and getting to use running water to REALLY wash my hands of the playa dust was almost a religious experience.

On the other hand, there is no question that the lifestyle promoted at Burning Man is not one of real sustainability. However, there is a difference between living sustainability and learning sustainability. I think it is a similar problem people run into when they try and quantify Earth Day or even an Inconvenient Truth. Earth Day doesn't work if people only recycle on that day, but the point is to do it all year round - that just happens to be the one day to remember why it is so important. When half of An Inconvenient Truth took place in airports, a lot of people wondered how much CO2 Al Gore released while giving his presentations. The answer (to me) is that it doesn't matter - he got so many people thinking about the environment that it was worth his CO2 emissions. If burning a giant oil rig sculpture gets people thinking about how they consume energy, that is fine with me. Plus, it's a hell of a lot of fun. :)

Jenn A.
378 reviews
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An eco-hostile event with delusions of greenness

Burningman is really not a sustainable event. Despite talk about "Leave No Trace" and radical self-reliance, it's very clear they're all fooling themselves. Consider the huge amount of energy to prepare months before the event. It's not just about the amount of jet fuel consumed to fly to Nevada or gas burned to drive out to the desert.

Most people are shopping at Costco & Wal-Mart on the way in -- they buy tons of prepackaged food with lots of plastic packaging and "disposable" clothing, blankets and other goods.

There's a lot of waste out there -- most people can't be bothered to properly recycle or carry out all their own trash. Their failure ends up on the camp site or on the side of the road for teams of volunteers to clean.

Many of the art projects are burned. "The Waffle" was great to watch burn, but consider the impact on the environment by shipping all the wood from Europe for a massive structure, air flights for 100 people to build it and then sent all that ash into the air. When the man burns - lots of chemicals go up, too - not just wood but neon, glass, paint and other stuff.

How about people going out there in RVs that get 8 mpg, running engines and generators so they can have air conditioning in sheds built from 2 x 4s and cardboard which they will later burn.

How about just the fact that at the end of the event, there are giant metal trailers where people haul all kinds of crap to burn -- cardboard, wood, painted wood, carpets, clothing, blankets, furniture?

The idea of "radical self-reliance" is interpreted by some as "how much can I make camping in the desert seem like being in my own living room." Last time I went to burningman, I counted no fewer than 8 refrigerators and 6 chest deep freezers set up with generators -- and none of these were covered with insulation to make them operate more efficiently out in the sun. These people would be well off to live in a poor African country for 3 months as volunteers.

Andy C.
1 review
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Repsonse

Um, so instead the 40k people in a city do what? Live squeaky clean? You have some valid points. However, you miss some things as well. Not all those people are out there partying. Some of them are having actual conversations. Some of those conversations become action in the real world. Some of that action is green. They would not have had that conversation without BM, in seperate cities, never having met. What about all the water saved by 40k people not showering? What about all the Mcdonalds hamburgers we won't be eating? So when I'm out there knocking back a beer talking to the wind-generator guy what will you be doing? uh-hu. I thought so.

Andy's keywords: burning man party event

Abendigo R.
285 reviews
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Burning Man green?

The time I went to Burning Man, I certainly enjoyed myself. However, it's the most unsustainable event I've ever witnessed -- thousands of people drill PVC pipes deep into the desert, which leech their toxins into the earth. Hundreds drive around in their tricked out party vehicles, spuming clouds of gas fumes into the desert. I think it's ironic that it's taken them 30 years to get a clue of having some green branding, when many of the artists and people who attend the Burn do think of themselves as environmentally inclined. Anyway, a green Burning Man for 2007 is an oxymoron. Setting up a 40K-person city in the desert over the weekend will never be green. Never. And quite frankly, it's too late for there to ever be a Green Burn.

Abendigo's keywords: burning man party event black rock city desert nevada adventure travel