“We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.”
Alright, this one is pretty straight forward and very important given that we are hosting events that can draw 2500-5000 people depending on the act. Remember when we reviewed explaining the impact of a broken agreement? Think about how large of an impact an arrest would make on our camp and the rest of the burners that enjoy our contributions. I once had two camp leads arrested the moment they stepped on playa, and let me tell you, our burn was fucked.
Some ways that you can take responsibility around this principle is to feel empowered to ask someone to leave our camp grounds if you feel they aren’t behaving in accordance to this principle- ie. creeping on someone without consent, doing drugs, fighting etc. This is often the job of a stage managers but we could use any and all eyes. I appreciate that we are a sober-inside-the-camp, camp. It allows for fewer mistakes, stronger connection and creates a space for rejuvenation which is what I want when I come home.
Please take the time to acquaint yourself with resources around sexual misconduct and remember, if it’s not a fuck yes, it’s a NO! I found an initiative around consent being the 11th principle which seems fitting to introduce here.
"The 11th Principle: Consent believes that Enthusiastic Consent applies to more than just sexual encounters.
Touch: Just because you hugged someone yesterday doesn’t mean you can surprise them with a hug today. “Surprise contact” isn’t always wanted, even if it’s affectionate.
Kink: Consent for one thing isn’t consent for another. If I said you can spank me, that doesn’t give you permission to grope me.
Sex: Consent can be revoked once it’s been given.
Gifts: Disclose what is in your gifts, even if it’s just essential oils. Some people have sensitivities
Foods: Disclose the ingredients, one person’s innocuous ingredient can be someone else’s allergy.
Photography: Ask before taking pictures. Remember consent to take a picture is NOT consent to post it on your blog."
Leave No Trace
“Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than we found them.”
This principle is especially tender given our current state of our environment. I am proud to be part of a camp that cares about sustainability and practices conservation ie. dry washing of dishes, recycling and composting. Reverbia got 100% Green last year and we want to repeat this huge task again!
For those of you that don’t know, MOOP stands for Matter Out Of Place. Burning Man has a moop map where they track how much moop is left behind on our camp grounds. If there is a lot of moop (larger than a gallon bag) we are penalized and we may not be placed on the esplanade the following year which would change our entire offering. This is also a threat to the entire event continuing given the guidelines enforced by the Bureau of Land Management. Watch this video to learn more about all that is involved with the moop map test.
Other info on environmental impact statement and how it plays into increasing the population of BM. And a cool source on the history of the rise of BM.
Check out these two honorable camps, AEZ is a village devoted to generator-free living, leveraging sustainable energy and IMU has a super impressive grey water system. Grey water is essentially any water that you wouldn’t drink or wash with. We can’t dump water on the ground because the playa cannot absorb it.
Here are some resources around how you can personally help….
Looking forward to another 100% green award this year- it’s up to all of us!
PS. GLITTER SUCKS, FEATHERS SUCK, SMALL BITS ARE THE WORST MOOPS. Leave it home to leave no trace.
Take care,
The Show
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