There are NO rubbish receptacles are provided at Kiwiburn.
Contribute to our long-term survival: PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT.
Anything, nuts, cable ties, vege scraps, even an apple pip, that wasn’t there before is Matter Out Of Place (MOOP).
Please take everything you bring to the event and receive at the event back home with you. Do not empty rubbish or put anything other than human waste in the portable toilets.
You are responsible for the condition of your campsite and nearby public areas of Kiwiburn. Clean up as you go! Do not deposit rubbish in neighbouring towns.
It’s inevitable while at Kiwiburn that you will generate some rubbish. Even the keenest wrapping-remover/recycler/anti-MOOP warrior will end up with something to take away from the site. What do you do with yours?
Most Kiwiburners usually take it home and dispose of it in the usual way through their local rubbish/recycling service. Some people don’t like to deal with rubbish after it’s been in a hot car all the way home. Other people are hitching or catching a bus with no facility for rubbish storage. What are the options if you’re one of these people?
First, the options do NOT include leaving your crap in the rubbish bins in Hunterville. Some people have done this the last couple of years and the fact that we know about it is enough to tell you that it’s been noticed. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS – it’s one of the quickest ways to make the locals dislike us all.
If you really can’t take your rubbish offsite because you’re living a money-free life with just the contents of your backpack to your name, then you
- Probably don’t have a lot of rubbish anyway, and
- Are already familiar with the numerous non-money ways of persuading someone else to take your rubbish with them. A song, a massage, a chocolate bar – shit, I’d take your rubbish for nothing if it was obvious you were genuine. Doesn’t hurt to ask, eh?
If you do have a vehicle, how about offering some rubbish space to your hitchhiking neighbour? And if you can’t stand the idea of taking it all the way home, there are plenty of transfer stations on your way!
Hunterville transfer station is not open on exodus day. Transfer stations in Marton, Bulls, Mangaweka, Taihape, and National Park are, and they close by lunchtime. Those in the larger centres of Taupo, Palmerston North, Levin, and Wanganui are open all day for those who prefer to take their time.
You can see that the larger areas have longer opening hours but are further away, so if you want to get rid of your rubbish early, it pays to get offsite early too. Otherwise, drop into one of the main centres for a guaranteed successful dump mission, or better still, take it all the way home!
List of transfer stations and their opening hours:
| Marton 06 327 8200 |
Monday 7:30am to 11:30am Tuesday 7:30am to 11:30am |
| Bulls 06 322 1630 |
Monday 7:30am to 11:30am Closed Tuesday |
| Taihape | Monday 7:30am-11:30am |
| National Park | Monday 8am-12pm |
| Turangi | Monday to Sunday 8am-5:30pm |
| Taupo (Broadlands Rd) | Monday to Friday 8am-5:30pm |
| Palmerston North | Mon-Fri 7am-5pm |
| Levin | Mon-Fri 7:30am-4pm |
| Wanganui | Mon-Sat 8am-4:30pm |
A Guide to Recycling
Read this guide to recycling in New Zealand.
Did you leave your campsite clean?
Kiwiburn has a dedicated Cleanup crew able to focus entirely on the Leave No Trace aspect of the Guiding Principles. This involves:
- Identifying spaces allocated to Theme Camps, Art, camping, and public spaces
- Individually MOOP sweeping each space, then itemising and photographing collected MOOP
- Creating a report for each Theme Camp and artist so they can see how they did and discuss any issues with the Cleanup Manager
- Creating a MOOP Map that shows how everyone did and identifies problem areas.
- Reseeding and watering the burn scars for the first time (how well this has worked is yet to be seen – we’ll keep you updated).
One of the purposes of the MOOP Map is to hold Theme Camps and artists to account for their MOOP footprint. Those with a consistent green record will get priority for placement and/or grant considerations, so there is an incentive for everyone to work on this issue. Some Theme Camps have reported on the MOOP they collected from their public areas – from this it’s clear that camps are dealing with Kiwiburn rubbish on a daily basis and taking away far more than what we found. The most switched-on camps have a dedicated person in charge of cleanup, and a cleanup plan.
Another purpose is to inform Kiwiburners of areas we need to collectively work on if we truly wish to Leave No Trace. As you will see from the 2016 map, it was the public areas that had the worst levels of MOOP. As a community we really need to think about how to improve this – particularly the swimming hole and the Keyhole. We all use these areas, we are all responsible for them. Items of note found during MOOP sweeps include: food scraps*, clothing, incense sticks, peg ninja pegs, cigarette filters, zip ties, and bits of string. And people leaving bags of rubbish in the Keyhole on Exodus day – we need to educate ourselves as a community about how we can reduce our MOOP footprint.
*Some people believe that it should be ok to leave food scraps because they are biodegradable. If it were one person leaving an apple core, that might be the case. However it’s 1500 people for six days, and that’s a lot of apple cores. Food scraps (even buried ones) attract vermin, which go on to do fun things like eat the eggs of native birds. Take your food scraps away!
