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(Aug 20, 2006) -- Burning Man volunteers face “An Inconvenient Truth.” Flames have consequences! Like 100 tons of greenhouse
gases just for burning the Man.
But have no FEAR – there is HOPE, Burners Without Borders, www.burnerswithoutborders.org
and www.coolingman.org
have teamed up with a plan to offset the climate change impact of our annual firefest.
Why did it take this long? Did Burners Without Borders face-to-face last fall with Katrina’s vengeance in Louisiana and
Mississippi wake people up to the cold, hard facts? Well, maybe. CoolingMan had already started its efforts in Black Rock
City last year by calculating, then offsetting the impact of one camp, House of Lotus.
The timing of this greening campaign points circumstantially to the Katrina experience being a clarion call for Burners
Without Borders. Kinda like a three-alarm fire call. Serendipitously, CoolingMan had worked out a pragmatic and philosophical
method to "cool it forward.” Now they’re working together.
How does this Green campaign differ from Leave No Trace? Burning Man has become North America’s largest LNT event. Even the
Bureau of Land Management agrees. Burners pretty much know about matter out of place and how to deal with the problem of MOOP.
It’s easy to explain – if some visually obvious item doesn’t belong, you pick it up and pack it out.
Less obvious is the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. According to CoolingMan’s calculations, the Burn unleashes about 100
tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Each fire art or performance or theme camp can be calculated using the simple
formulas on their helpful web site. You can calculate the consequences of your burning experience and then offset it with default
world actions as simple as planting a tree.
Offsetting GHG’s has not been as controversial as the mainstream media protrays it, according to former next-president Al Gore
in his recent slide show/film, "An Inconvenient Truth," www.climatecrisis.net. Scientists agree
that humans are having a negative
impact on Earth’s climate but the mass media picks the messages that sell.
How are greenhouse gases created? The burning of any carbon-based fuel releases gases into the environment. They essentially
make the atmosphere into a blanket, preventing the Sun’s heat from rebounding off the Earth thereby increasing the average aggregate
temperature from 58 degrees Farenheit. Ergo the changes in precipitation patterns, floods, droughts and additional sea-rise that
were readily apparent during last year’s hurricane season. For more of the science, see
http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/
While you’re packing for the Playa this week, you could listen to BurnCast #12 on Greening the Burn
(nospectators.com/index.php)
and consider this:
TOP 10 List of Things you can do Pre-Playa to offset your impact on the blue planet.
1. Buy rechargeable batteries, then charge them on the Playa with a solar panel.
2. Light up your camp and your bike using solar pathlights instead of propane or electric lighting.
3. Plan your menu to include foods that do not need reheating – that’s right, flip the lid and eat right out of that can – then
double your brownie points by recycling the can at Earth Guardians Pavillion at Center Camp.
4. For the glowy-blinky look under the new moon, INSTEAD of disposable glow necklaces, try electroluminescent wire powered by
rechargeable batteries and use light-emitting diodes to dress up your camp or your costume. Might be a guilty pleasure but at
least the LEDs are rechargeable and reuseable.
5. Power your sound system with deep-cycle batteries charged by off-the-shelf solar panels or a wind generator – learn how to
harness the playa’s natural environment of wind and sun by treating yourself to the Alternative Energy Zone’s daily tour at 11 A.M.
(8:00 and Chance).
6. Rather than landfilling or burning leftover lumber, contribute it to Camp Katrina (3:00 and Esplanade).
7. Leave the generator at the rental shop, freeze food that’s already prepared and use it to keep perishables cool in an ice
chest without using generator power.
8. Stop shopping, pretend like the "Swiss Family Robinson," make your camp cool and comfy from found and re-purposed items.
9. Send a contribution to www.coolingman.org to offset the greenhouse gases created by the whole event – then play hearty on
the playa with a guilt-free conscience.
10. Plan now to plant a tree or two (each offsets about 0.2 tons of greenhouse gases) when you get home or take other
ADDITIONAL direct actions, outlined at
http://www.coolingman.org/About/DirectActions.html
CoolingMan encourages playa participants to take direct actions in the default world to offset the impact of fire art. Several
of these activities will be familiar to many who are thinking green: plant a tree, ride your bike, and replace fossil fuel home
heating/cooling with solar or wind generated sources. Any direct actions that you take while you’re at home can be reported to
their website allowing a measurement of the overall climate impact of Burning Man 2006.
If Burners take baby steps this year, Greening the Man may become the LNT of the third decade of Burning Man. In fact, according
to their website, "CoolingMan 2007 will strive to make all of Burning Man 'climate positive' by more than offsetting the total
emissions associated with the event and its participants. Our goal is for Burning Man to result in a net reduction of GHG every
time it occurs."
Will these steps make an impact on climate change or are we just relieving a little guilt? Only you can decide for yourself,
CoolingMan will track and Burners Without Borders will report the results.
Green The Man.
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