The Burning Man MOOP Map

火人节的“MOOP 地图”

At the end of April, I ran a short campaign to find 15 more paying members of Not-Ship. And we did it! Thank you to the wonderful souls who chose to back this work. It means the world to me. 💙 Amanda

四月底，我发起了一项小型活动，旨在寻找 15 位 Not-Ship 的付费会员。我们成功了！感谢那些选择支持这项工作的可爱灵魂，这对我的意义非凡。💙 Amanda

Each year, 70,000 people gather on a dry lakebed in Nevada to build a city from scratch. This is Black Rock City, home to the infamous Burning Man event. Eight days later, it’s gone.

每年，有 7 万人聚集在内华达州的一片干涸湖床上，从零开始建造一座城市。这就是黑石城（Black Rock City），也是著名的火人节（Burning Man）的举办地。八天后，这座城市便会消失。

But 150 people remain. They line up — side by side, an arms width apart — and slowly walk the 3,800 acres (15.4 km²) of dusty playa. They’re looking for MOOP: Matter Out of Place. A screw, a sequin, a cigarette butt. This forensic-style sweep takes weeks; everything they find is removed and logged. At the end, they’re left with a remarkable accounting of what 70,000 people left behind: The MOOP Map. And I’m obsessed.

但仍有 150 人会留下来。他们并排站立，保持一臂的距离，缓慢地走过 3800 英亩（15.4 平方公里）的尘土飞扬的湖床。他们在寻找 MOOP：即“错置之物”（Matter Out of Place）。可能是一颗螺丝、一片亮片，或是一个烟头。这种法医式的清理工作需要数周时间；他们发现的一切都会被清除并记录在案。最终，他们会得到一份关于 7 万人留下了什么的详尽记录：MOOP 地图。我对此着迷不已。

The Burning Man 2025 MOOP Map indicates effort and time spent on MOOP cleanup across Black Rock City. The map is colour-coded by severity of cleanup. Yellow indicates moderate MOOP conditions, where crews slow their pace to make sure nothing is missed. Red are the zones most heavily affected — difficult enough to stop progress entirely.

2025 年火人节 MOOP 地图展示了黑石城各区域在清理 MOOP 上所投入的精力和时间。地图根据清理的严重程度进行了颜色编码。黄色表示 MOOP 情况中等，清理人员会放慢速度以确保没有遗漏。红色区域则是受影响最严重的区域——那里的垃圾多到足以让清理进度完全停滞。

“In simple terms, the MOOPier an area is, the more labour and field time it takes to clean until crews are no longer finding debris,” Dominic Tinio, who goes by DA, explained to me. As Burning Man’s Environmental Restoration Manager, he’s in charge of the MOOP process. The future of the community depends on getting this right.

“简单来说，一个区域的 MOOP 越多，清理到不再发现垃圾所需的人力和现场时间就越多，”火人节的环境修复经理 Dominic Tinio（大家都叫他 DA）向我解释道。他负责整个 MOOP 清理流程。社区的未来取决于能否做好这项工作。

Black Rock City is only allowed to return to the playa each year if it passes a strict post-event inspection from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM): No more than one square foot of debris can remain per acre (0.23 m²/ha).

黑石城每年只有通过土地管理局（BLM）严格的活动后检查，才被允许再次回到这片湖床：每英亩土地上残留的垃圾不得超过一平方英尺（即每公顷不超过 0.23 平方米）。

The BLM tests the playa at 120 points across the site; no more than 12 can exceed the one square foot per acre limit. In most years, Burning Man passes comfortably — but not always. In 2023, 11 of those 120 tests came back over the threshold, the closest the event has come to failing in recent memory.

BLM 会在场地内选取 120 个点进行测试；其中超过每英亩一平方英尺限制的点数不得超过 12 个。大多数年份，火人节都能轻松过关，但并非总是如此。2023 年，这 120 个测试点中有 11 个超标，这是该活动近年来最接近失败的一次。

During cleanup, the MOOP team also documents what kind of debris they find. In 2025, lag bolts were by far the biggest problem. They anchor tents, art pieces, and other infrastructure into the ground, and can easily disappear beneath the dust.

在清理过程中，MOOP 团队还会记录他们发现的垃圾种类。2025 年，滞后螺栓（lag bolts）是最大的问题。它们用于将帐篷、艺术品和其他基础设施固定在地面上，很容易消失在尘土之下。

Since the MOOP is so meticulous, the team can determine whether debris problems are widespread or isolated. For lag bolts? There’s no main culprit; everyone is just missing a few.

由于 MOOP 清理工作非常细致，团队可以判断垃圾问题是普遍存在的还是个别现象。至于滞后螺栓？并没有主要的“罪魁祸首”；每个人都只是遗漏了几颗而已。

“The MOOP Map is about shared responsibility in our use of the land,” said DA. In addition to helping uphold the BLM standards, it “helps participants, camps, and art projects understand their impact.”

“MOOP 地图关乎我们在土地使用上的共同责任，”DA 说。除了帮助维持 BLM 的标准外，它还“帮助参与者、营地和艺术项目了解他们产生的影响。”

Groups in MOOP-heavy areas receive a breakdown of what was found on their footprint, with the hope they will improve the following year. Persistent or serious offenders are flagged to the team responsible for assigning camps their future spots in Black Rock City.

位于 MOOP 重灾区的团体将收到一份关于其区域内发现垃圾的明细报告，希望他们能在下一年有所改进。屡教不改或情节严重的违规者会被标记，并通报给负责分配黑石城未来营地位置的团队。

And while it’s not the MOOP Map’s aim, its release inevitably fuels a bit of public finger-pointing. The “MOOP Map shame thread” on Reddit calls out individual camps that perform poorly.

虽然这并非 MOOP 地图的初衷，但它的发布不可避免地引发了一些公众的指责。Reddit 上的“MOOP 地图羞辱帖”会点名批评那些表现不佳的营地。

The MOOP Map has been around for two decades. Over that time, the data show a relatively clear picture. “Since 2006, over the long arc of the MOOP Map, the most striking trend is that the community has steadily improved at Leave No Trace, even as Black Rock City has grown dramatically in size, complexity, and population,” says DA.

MOOP 地图已经存在了二十年。在此期间，数据呈现出一个相对清晰的图景。DA 说：“自 2006 年以来，纵观 MOOP 地图的长远趋势，最显著的特点是，尽管黑石城的规模、复杂性和人口都在急剧增长，但社区在‘无痕旅游’（Leave No Trace）方面的表现一直在稳步提升。”

Leave No Trace is one of Burning Man’s ten guiding principles. Principles are easy to declare. But the MOOP Map makes it something the community actually has to face. After 20 years, DA is confident it’s working.

“无痕旅游”是火人节的十大指导原则之一。原则很容易宣扬，但 MOOP 地图让社区不得不真正面对它。经过 20 年的实践，DA 坚信这一机制是有效的。

“The strongest effect of the MOOP Map is that it drives improvement. Year after year, the community adjusts, learns, and returns better prepared to leave no trace.”