Structures and Camp Set-up
Our structures and furniture (including a bar made of reused materials) have all been used for more than six years. They are kept in storage in Fernley to reduce carbon costs of transporting them to and from playa. We also decorate with fabric and vinyl panels that have been reclaimed from construction projects, art projects, and home renovation projects.
These decorative yellow panels have spent past lives as construction materials and an art project in Chicago! They now decorate and add shade to our camp.
All camp members aid in either set-up or take-down at some point, and all camp members are explained the layout of camp, and responsibilities in the kitchen, fix-it-shop, for ice, and tending bar. Ice is shared as a community resource from the supercooler (see page on Grey Water), the kitchen provides a stove, clean up tools and workspace as well as ample seating, the fix-it shop and bar allow us to give back to the community. Quite a bit of our camp water supplies are kept in communal containers, rinsed out and reused every year. We also have an Igloo-style water cooler always filled with icy cold water for consumption. All camp mates are responsible for adding additional ice and water as needed throughout the week. This allows all camp mates to have access to cold and clean drinking water during a week in which you need to up your water intake considerably!
Our bikes, kitchen equipment and décor all come from reused and reusable materials. Our main décor comes from reused Tyvek sheets made into flags and bright yellow vinyl panels that were previously used on a construction site, then as a massive art project before their current incarnation as decoration for our camp. Bar supplies are kept as recyclable as possible, using steel cans, collapsible containers and plastic instead of glass. Fine beverage lovers find ways to use aluminum instead of glass; champagne, cider and microbrewed beer are now available in cans and used to full advantage in place of glass containers. Camp structures are made out of recyclable or reused materials whenever possible. As repairs are made, nothing goes to waste. Steel supports from a collapsed carport are saved to make repairs for another. When a structure must finally be retired, its components are recycled, instead of thrown away (steel supports, plastic sheeting, etc.). Difficult to recycle materials like PVC are avoided whenever possible.
Our water containers for camp use allow us to greatly decrease the number of disposable water containers any of our 40 camp members bring.