Reposted from my comments on RA's blog:

It's worth considering the wider impact that this year's theme will have. As we all know, Burning Man is much more than either an organization or event. It has become, for many of us, an organizing principle. what is important in thisyear's theme and concurrent actions by, not just the org, but the many participants, is EDUCATION. It's not just about awareness of carbon output, but of overall daily lifestyles.

If you take a look at the greeningman web site, (www.burningman.com/environment/) you'll see that stores in Reno are stocking their shelves with green alternatives to products bought by burners on their way to Reno, lectures, soirees, awards and green film festivals have all been organized by theme camps, a green man pavilion will offer education on vehicles, grey water systems, composting, alternative energy storage, the town of Guerlach will move over to solar power with the installation of all the solar panels being used ont he man....many, many things are happening. And so many people are participating SPECIFICALLY because it's Greening Man (people like Starhawk). Did you know that an anonymous donor has given 3000 bikes to BM to use as public bikes on the playa making it the city with the most concentration of bikes int he world?????

So what? The so what is that, as ever, BM will hopefully serve as an "Ah ha!" moment for all of us with eyes wide open wanting to band together politically and socially to improve our capacity to live sustainable. This IS a group effort - as much as great beach music parties, clothing swaps, sex positive parties, BIG fire art, and all the the other things that have over the years, come out of Burning Man.

The point is to use this year's theme as an organizing principle for further action - incorporating these green practices into our lives and becoming politically coherent enough to make an impact. Already the connections between those working in "green" fields is substantial, building a new kind of BM community that deeply considers personal and social responsibility....beyond pink dreads and the thump, thump, thump of the next dance party.

It's time to go from supporting our partying and our general community building to focusing ourselves on living responsibly and sustainably. It is my great hope that THIS will be the impact of this year's theme.

And just fyi, I am producing a Resource Use Baseline report for Burning Man, that will take into account the hard numbers of resource use for the BM organization, funded artists, participants. It's also going to include comparisons to other festivals such as Cochella and the rainbow gathering, as well as an estimation of what rources might have been used, as well as what carbon output, if people had simply stayed home and driven to work every day, run their washing machines, watered their gardens, used all their electronics, etc. I'll be at the Green pavilion every day at 11am meeting with artists should you want to find me to add your two cents worth.

Whether you go to Burning Man or not, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, keep learning more, and start writing some letters to your representatives!