NETWORX'S BLOG

November 18, 2009 | 3:25 AM

DIY Wednesday: I Love Black Rock City

I was just reading The Burning Blog, the official blog of the Burning Man festival. I was looking for some DIY inspiration, and I can't think of a better place to find it than at the world's biggest DIY festival. I was looking for cool DIY structures from this year's Burning Man festival to feature when I came upon a blog entry that was really radically exciting: Black Rock City 2009: Officially GONE.

Why is it that the dismantling of a week-long, 20,000 person temporary city speaks to me so much? I'll tell you why: It shows that it is possible for a society to function in a responsible manner. Basically, it warms my environmentalist heart to see that not only have the "burners" been able to build Black Rock City every August, they also take it down, leaving less than 1 square foot of debris per square acre of land on the Playa. The Black Rock City "superintendant" writes: "We are succeeding in getting an entire city to pick up after themselves - there's hope for us yet!"

The Burning Man organizers call litter "MOOP" - Matter Out of Place. I like that - it's nonjudgmental. I like that they manage to convince 20,000 participants to clean up after themselves. Try doing that in a normal town of 20,000.

Anyway, check out photos from this year's Burning Man festival. The DIY passion and expertise over there is out of hand.

Posted by: Chaya Goodman