Best way to be green this year

[willfixit]

What ways are you or your camp going green this year. I'll going solar and wind with a bio-diesel generator

[MikeVDS]

Some of our artistically inclined members have designed a faux tree to grow up the walls and hang down in our dome. I have about 2 watts of solar power. I'm guessing there will be some green food coloring added to many of our drinks. We'll probably burn a lot of stuff and bring way too much stuff in way too many vehicles to consider our camp "green" in the fad eco definition. To actually try to do any serious "green" activity would negate many of the reasons we show up. As a camp we should be really good in the moop department though.

Solar and wind have been on the drawing board (not just for the burn) for years but other, more practical things have always been in the way.

[skygod]

I am stymied.
I have learned the last few years to survive comfortably on the playa in a self-sufficient, leaving-no-trace kind of way, but,
I can't think of a good way to be "green". It's such a long way from the vision I currently have of the "Man". Very contradictory, like oil and water. I mean, how can you have a "green" flame thrower? Use cow farts instead of propane? "green" death camps? "green" barbie mutilation".
I like the Kernel's idea to leave bacon out till it turns "green"
I'm working on it, but jeez, so far I got nothing.

[blyslv]

This year I'm burning at home. That's about 8 tanks of gas alone that won't be burned. Not to mention the numerous plastic bottles and just plain crap that gets purcashed.

Want to be green? Do you truly care about the environment? Make Big Oil sad, and stay at home.


I think Larry uses the term "Green" in a very different sense from how most folks use it here.

[skygod]

I would be the most "green" if I would just die right now.

[MikeVDS]

I think Larry uses the term "Green" in a very different sense from how most folks use it here.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. It seems pretty clear he means environmentally conscious (which shouldn't be confused with environmentally conservative). Reading official statements on the green man, you'll see they use the symbolic color green, earthy images, and ideas of conservation. The event is held with complete disregard to conservation, though if you're inspired to conserve more in your daily lives, attending may cause one to have a better overall record than if they hadn't attended. Inspiring others to conserve may be better than you actually conserving. If you're wasteful but cause 3 others to be conservative, then you're better off inspiring others. You may be a hypocrite, but the bottom line is better that way.

[blyslv]

Reading official statements on the green man, .

...has convinced me that the people writing that stuff are hypocrits.

But don't worry. I'll shut up now.

[MikeVDS]

...has convinced me that the people writing that stuff are hypocrits.

Pretty close if you use the broad definition of saying someone who suggests doing something that they do not themselves do. I am a hypocrite too though, so I'm not bothered. If someone asks me advice I give them what I consider good advice, then I tell them what I would do, which is often contradictory to the good advice.

For example if cake is sitting on the table and someone says, "I shouldn't eat another piece", I say, "No you shouldn't. Neither should I, but I'm going to". Personally I don't see anything wrong with telling other people good advice, even if you don't follow it yourself. Should you instead give bad advice? Or avoid the subject? The only time I feel hypocrisy is bad is when someone in a position of power is giving rules of morality and does not follow them. In the case of BMorg I do not see them in a position of power or with the authority to issue moral codes. So it doesn't bother me one bit, but I do agree that it's hypocrisy, I just don't think it's bad.

[skygod]

Schwarzenegger gave a speech the other day saying that politicians that don't go "green" are like little penguins floating away on an iceberg.
Then he said "Bye-bye, my little friend"
lol, he likes to make people laugh
He's right though.

[ccBurner]

What if the point is to shift our awareness of our impact on each other, to regain hope in the possibilities of change, and witness the bountiful creative solutions we CAN manifest, rather than to out-do our neighbor on being greener or less hypocritical?

Sure there are so many areas of the burning man ritual that are massively impacting the planet, but how different is bm culture from the mainstream in this way? Our societies organization is very like bm in that conservation is the furthest from values that were present when it formed.

So if we can bring the spirit of play into it, we can harness this creativity to inspire people to examine how we are making an impact, and make real changes in the years to come, it will be significant and historic.

On a personal note, the simplest way I found to take responsibility for my impact on the playa is to not go EVERY year. I have never been down with all the money/resources/environmental impact, but it is the best party on the planet ever, so I won’t be kept away every year, either. Opting for moving by bike instead of doing a mutant vehicle is another no-brainer. I really wish we could figure out some low impact lighting at night. Anyone got ideas for that? Maybe the same model could work and only certain camps would be lit up all night and not EVERY camp. So many possibilities ;-)
Imbalance is the problem, Balance is the solution

[Das Bus]

Boy, is everybody way off base. Green Man has nothing to do with the environment, it's about..Little Green Men! The theme is ALWAYS about aliens! Can't you read between the lines?

We need WMD's, and more fire, and more toxic chemicals to stop those little bastards from invading our planet. It's worked every year so far, but I'm worried that everyone has taken this "save the planet" so literally, that there's going to be nothing to stop them from overtaking the planet this year! Then Burning Man will be gone forever! WAKE UP PEOPLE! STOP THE INVASION!


take me to your leader....

[MrGod]

My "good" advice is, if you want to be green, don't go to Burning Man.

Am I going to take my own advice? No. In fact we are hauling more stuff to Black Rock City than we ever have before. We are bringing Amphibia, a theme camp that will be a large-ish chill space within a 65-foot diameter dome. Amphibia will have an environmental educational component to it while still focussing on fun (our favorite thing)

We hope to offset some of our impact by powering the camp with alternative fuels (sun, wind, bio-diesel) and by spreading the idea that it's easy to be green. We plan to engage people to write down simple, green living ideas on a big whiteboard and show enviromentally themed movies.

When it comes down to it, though, we all have decided to put fun before green on our priority list and need to take responsibility for our decision to join the consumption-fest that attending Burning Man seems to require.

The Green Man theme, like all the other Burning Man themes, is conceptual rather than material in nature. The description talks about man's relationship with nature - there are any number of conceptual ideas that could be explored artistically within this concept from Man as total dominator of the Earth to the "greenest" visions of living like vegetarian cave people.
Another concept, presented as a question, is whether humanity is above nature or part of it. The theme is meant to provoke artists to create within a context. It's not just about being green as far as I understand it..]

[Strata]

[quote="blyslv"]This year I'm burning at home. That's about 8 tanks of gas alone that won't be burned. Not to mention the numerous plastic bottles and just plain crap that gets purcashed.[/quote]

Well, that's the suck!

I guess I'll just have to include NM on my summer road trip if I wanna see ya, then-- sorry we didn't intersect last year, my first year back on the playa since 1995. Been a long time, dude!

[Strata]

[quote="skygod"] I mean, how can you have a "green" flame thrower? Use cow farts instead of propane? "green" death camps? "green" barbie mutilation".[/quote]

Bwahaha! Green death camps!

"No harsh delousing chemicals or agrobiz-tainted processed food here at Green Starvation Death Camp-- inmates are staked out in the sun using fair-trade-certified 100% organic hemp and urban-wild-crafted recycled rebar. We minimize our harmful greenhouse emissions by sun-drying inmates instead of incinerating them. Inmates who 'retire' during the rainy season are sustainably composted, and will be reborn as fresh seasonal vegetables in our guards-only organic garden."

They can run ads!

"Tired of being oppressed in ways that don't match your green values? Thinking that you don't want to risk being a peak-oil burden in a high-security deathcamp, even though you long to Act Out? Have no fear, Green Starvation Death Camp is here!

We respect your committment to green values by offering a completely sustainable deathcamp environment. Starvation diet, including water fasting, conserves our natural resources and is compatible with all vegetarian and vegan sensibilities. Persecution is performed by consenting guards with a life history of sadistic fulfillment, and all guards have full health and pension benefits, even seasonal and part-time workers. Even our pepper spray is certified 100% organic, and is delivered by an inert, ozone-safe propellant!

Act up, and get staked out! Green Starvation Death Camp needs YOU!"

... now if only I'd thought of this BEFORE we sent in our camp application!! Ah well, go have fun with it y'all!

best,
Strata

[geekster]

I am still searching for a fuel additive that will turn the generator exhaust green. Any help would be appreciated.