Its finally here – the news you’ve all been waiting for! So, who was naughty, who was nice and who was, well, just a total fokken mess?
What did our LNT crew do in the desert this year?
LNT – our Leave No Trace team – is a crew of volunteers that stays behind after AfrikaBurn picking up the pieces. The Volunteers of LNT 2018 had a lot to endure in terms of weather this year with blistering heat gale-force winds and even blinding dust storms making the task at hand a challenging but rewarding one to everyone on the crew, making sure we leave the desert a clean and beautiful place for everyone to enjoy all year round.
What is MOOP?
MOOP is Matter Out Of Place and is anything and everything that doesn’t naturally occur in the Tankwa Karoo (cigarette butts, wood chips, bos kak, glitter, bindis, washers and all organic food matter e.g: onion skins etc.)
What was the number one MOOP in 2018?
Tying in first place this year is… drum roll… woodchips and cigarette butts! (no surprises here)
Woodchips and cigarette butts are very common and more care needs to be taken on this kind of MOOP in the future as it’s on the rise. They may seem like small things to you – but they do not belong on the ground in the Tankwa Karoo.
Tips on how to minimise 2018’s number one MOOP for next year’s event
On the move: smokers need to be aware of their cigarette butts and a portable pocket ashtray can solve a lot of the micro-moop issues. If you smoke, and you don’t use a portable ashtray, you’re doing it wrong.
In your camp: Use 5-liter water bottles with a small hole cut out the side as an ash try for cigarette butts. You can even paint them, write a happy message and cable tie them all over your campsite to keep your camp free of any litter.
Artwork, Mutant Vehicle and Theme Camp builders: you need to be aware of wood chips that you leave behind. A lot of these moop issues could be solved by measuring and cutting wood before you get to the Tankwa. If you do have to cut & make your project in Tankwa Town, make sure your work area is cleared by doing a linesweep to pick up anything that may have been discarded.
Camps with firewood – be aware that the chips and bark from fire wood is also MOOP, and need to be cleaned up.
What MOOP improved in 2018 compared to 2017?
The road that leads to the Tankwa R355 was not as much a moop issue this year compared to 2017, and we thank all participants for not dumping your trash on the R355 on your way back home. If you ever see anything on the R355 that shouldn’t be there, please take the time to stop and pick it up. Our event’s footprint extends to the full length of the road that leads to it, and we do our best to make sure no trace is left once the dust has settled.
For easy reference and comparison, here’s last year’s map:


MOOP Map 2018
And here’s our 2018 MOOP Map for you to gaze upon (and cringe, or celebrate, depending on whether you left no trace, or dropped the ball).
But wait – before you gaze upon the spectrum of colours and wonder what it all means for you, consider this: if your location was found to be a red or orange, heads up: chances are, your project or camp will not get placement again next year. That’s how this works: a kak rating will be considered against your registration fo future projects. Ours is a Leave No Trace event, folks – and we all have to take that seriously by treating the Tankwa with respect.

(as always, click the image to see the downloadable and zoomable PDF version)
 
What is the MOOP Map?
The Moop Map shows what items were found, and where, by our LNT volunteers during and after the 2018 event. To produce the map, LNT crew do linesweeps across
Every.
Single.
Part.
Of.
The.
AfrikaBurn.
Event.
Site.
In the sun, in the wind and in the rain they scrutinise every square metre of the event site where activity of any kind took place – and this includes Theme Camps, Open Camping, Crew Camping, Artwork sites and even beyond, into the water courses and the bushes that surround Tankwa Town.
As the team works, every item found on the ground (and even occasionally, buried) is logged and added to the day’s reports, and this is translated into the map you see above, which provides an easy-to-understand representation of which camps, artworks and dancefloors were found to have high concentrations of MOOP, and not. The less time it takes to linesweep a site, the greener it is (because very little to no MOOP is found) – and the longer it takes for LNT volunteers, the more the location creeps into the yellow, orange and red.
 
 
How does the Moop-o-Meter work?
The moopometer has four colours:
Green – for quick and clean (and we thank all who are!)
Yellow – for a slow and steady pace of the moop line in areas were more care could be taken to micro moop.
Orange – Is for stop and goes on the moop line with moderate macro and or micro-moop.
Red – Is a complete stop to clear moop in areas and for areas where very little care was taken on any moop.
What happens if your project, camp or activity is in the red?
If an artwork, theme camp or dancefloor is rated red it means they lose the privilege of priority of theme camp or artwork placements for the following year or may even be disqualified fully from registering a project again.
What kind of macro-moop was found?
Macro moop this year featured items like: wooden pallets, large random pieces of wood, cardboard boxes, crates, unofficial toilets, bos kak trees, ash dumps, food dumps, abandoned cooler boxes, large rebar, water containers, clothing, large bags of trash, ground sweeping, water and grey water scars, uncovered holes and trenches and broken camping equipment.
What kind micro-moop was found?
Micro-moop items like: Cigarette butts, wood chips, glitter, bindis, match sticks, glow sticks, lolly pop sticks, sweets, washers, screws, nails, hair, tent pegs, broken glass, sequence, flakes of pain welding sticks, coins, cable ties, flakes of moulting metal, egg shells, onion skins, orange peels, pop corn and flowers not indigenous to the area
Areas the worst effected by moop this year
There were 2 major areas most effected by moop in 2018: the first area was Open Camping areas in and around the bottom to middle of the 10ish suburbs. Because most culprits were in Open Camping, we can’t stress enough the importance of having Open Campers adopt and practice the principle of Leave No Trace. Remember: you’re also a part of this crazy beautiful social experiment as much as everyone else – and even if you didn’t bring or register a project, you still need to treat the Tankwa with respect. AfrikaBurn isn’t a music festival: in Tankwa Town, we leave no trace by removing every item you brought with you.
The second area affected by moop was along Nansen and Toolbox Roads, which were affected badly by wind-blown moop being blown into the bush lines by gale-force winds and dust storms. This is why the Survival Guide states that you should make sure any items that could be blown away from your camp are secured – because when you’re not there, they do get blown away into the surrounding bushes.
The Solar Wall of Fame 2018
The Solar Wall of Fame is a brief mention of some artwork and theme camp crews that were a great example of how to utilise solar power as an alternative power solution. A round of applause for the following crews:
• Power of the sun
• DPW
• DMV
• Eyes on Art
• Le Petit Paris
• ArtSluts
• Solar Santa
Moving forward
In the future we hope to see more innovative alternative power solutions being explored by all artworks, theme camps and camps in Open Camping alike. Come on, people: we create the city in the DESERT, where there’s abundant SUN ENERGY that’s FREE.
In the future we would also like to see more artworks and theme camps in the trend of being signed off when leaving Tankwa Town as it can sort out a lot of issues before they arise once the moop map has been published.
Last words to theme camps
With great sound systems and bars comes great responsibility – so if your gift to the community is music, drinks or a party, understand that you have to take on the full spectrum of what your space attracts, from the highlights all the way through to lowlights – and this includes reminding people to pick up trash, or stopping the music to get the DJ to remind people ours is a Leave No Trace event.
Thank you to all who work very hard to keep their space and the surrounding space a clean and happy place – your work does not go unnoticed!
Last words to art works
Thank you to all artist for all the hard work and dedication not only on a successful build but also a successful deconstruction and leave no trace strategy.
Last words to Open Camping
By adopting the principles and practice of leave no trace and each one teach one we can improve our carbon footprint not only at AfrikaBurn but in our everyday lives – you’re a part of this crazy beautiful social experiment as much as everyone else.
Last words to all – let’s create a Maid Parade!

Next year, we’re looking to stage two massive Leave No Trace linesweeps – which we’re calling Maid Parades – one on the Sunday for all camps and art crews, and another on the Monday for all our organisational areas. The plan is to make these a massive community effort which will see as many traces of our event removed BEFORE all the humans skedaddle into the distance. Bring your French Maid outfits, don some overalls or get yourself a maid outfit, and encourage your friends, campmates and mutant vehicles to get in on the action – we’re going to make the Maid Parades a massive way to sign off on each year’s event!
So, if you’re keen on joining the the action next year, send us an email at [email protected]
And always remember…
Close the toilet paper buckets after using them – and don’t put anything into the toilet that didn’t come outta your body (because if there are foreign objects in toilet tanks, our Throne Crew can’t pump them!)
Massive thanks to all volunteers who stepped up and joined our LNT crew this year – and a special mention to all crews that took the time to do linesweeps and leave no trace at all.
pssst – wanna see past year’s Moop Maps? Click right here.