Out Of The Blue came, burnt, and vanished into the deep, leaving behind a wake of creativity, thumping bass lines, community spirit, and MOOP (Matter Out Of Place). Each year, our event’s commitment to Leave No Trace is tested anew, and this year was no exception. As the dust settles on the shores of Quaggafontein, let’s take a moment to reflect on the MOOP Map of 2025: the wins, the weird, and the work still to be done.

Each year, our commitment to Leave No Trace gets a fresh set of tracks and tests. And this year? Oh, she came with plot twists.

GREEN – Well looked after and barely any MOOP.
YELLOW – Small amount of MOOP, enough to slow down MOOP-Lines
ORANGE – Macro-MOOP, Diesel/Oil spills, General LNT non-compliance
RED – Macro-MOOP, Diesel/Oil Spills, Dumping, Abandoned Art. Complete LNT Non-compliance.

A Massive Reduction in Fuel Spills: Solar Power and Awareness Win Big

Can we get a ‘Hell, yeah!’ for the solar-powered revolution? One of the standout achievements this year was the dramatic reduction in fuel spills. The combination of increased solar power usage and a community awareness around the environmental impact of generators played its part. That’s less generator grumble, fewer toxic puddles, and more peace and quiet(ish) in the desert.

General Camping … Still Trying Hard

Unfortunately, not all areas of Tankwa Town showed an improvement. General camping areas have been identified as a struggling zone for MOOP, earning a “yellow” rating for the second consecutive year. Why? It seems the challenges of managing waste in smaller camps and keeping the area MOOP-free remain stubbornly persistent. This calls for some community conversations and perhaps new ideas on how to motivate participants to take ownership of their MOOP footprint, whether they sign out or not.

We know that it’s a big ask after a week of life-changing shenanigans, but the desert is our home. Slept in it, drank it or partied with it?  Please take it home.

The Year of the Trench

2025 was officially dubbed the “Year of the Trench,” though the reason why remains a bit of a mystery. For some unknown reason, everyone – and their mom – was digging trenches into the Quaggafontein soil. Water control? Structural support? A primal need to make holes?

Whatever the reason, this poses a unique set of MOOP challenges, with one particularly notorious buried pile of trash discovered in a trench! Please don’t bury trash on site.

A Record-Breaking 154 Project Sign-Outs

On the shiny and bright side, the Leave No Trace Team completed a whopping 154 Creative Project sign-outs – an incredible 50% increase from last year and the biggest on record. Many projects are now more thoughtfully considering their MOOP plans, with dedicated Leave No Trace leads, ensuring that more eyes and hands are on deck to clean and swab the precious Quaggafontein landscape before, during and after the party has ended.

It’s working – and it shows. High five yourself. Then high-five your neighbour.

Fashion Crimes: Feathers, Sequins and the Incident with the Handbag

Tankwa Town fashionistas were as vibrant and creative as ever, but some of us didn’t get the memo about feathers, glitter and sequins etc., with plenty of evidence on the ground that when shaking funky tail feathers, a few can come off. While many people might think, ‘It’s ok – I glued them all on myself,’ it’s really not okay, and there are many other ways to express ourselves through costume without using MOOP-y materials. 

While free-range bos-kaks were generally down, one brave participant managed to drop a blue whale-sized poo into a high-end luxury red handbag that was then, a few hours later, deposited at Lost and Found. But here’s the plot twist – the participant responsible actually came back, owned it, and took the bag off to deal with it properly. Absolute hero move.

Still, for everyone else finding themselves in a similar situation, please do the same. Let’s keep the Binnekring from getting too … musky.

Water Wins!

Our new water point experiments were well looked after by the community! There were no reports of water flowing into the streets, rogue mudfights or wastage. Looks like it was a good start to an experiment, and supports our new water journey – starting from better allocations and better tracking, and moving towards better community management and education overall. 

This year also saw the introduction of some very cool wastewater evaporation systems by various camps, helping to manage camp grey water and eliminating the need to take it all home. These systems are a testament to the community’s ingenuity and commitment to sustainability, and the camps trialling these new methods are freaking champions.

Trash Troubles on the R355 and Disrespectful Dumping

Having a transformational experience™ means taking the trash all the way home, not dumping it on the R355 or outside the Spur in Ceres. Watch out, karma is coming! These dumping incidents really make us all look bad as a community and annoy the crap out of our neighbours and the municipalities that we partner with to create our experimental community. 

Please take ownership of MOOP. Tie it in. Lock it down. Take it home, and once there, process it properly. 

Where to From Here?

We’ve come a long way. The Out Of The Blue MOOP story is one of progress and some usual-suspect challenges. The reduction in fuel spills, rise in registered creative projects, and improved water usage are clear wins. Meanwhile, the struggles in General Camping areas, the trench digging, and random dumping remind us that the journey toward a completely MOOP-free burn is a long one.

So here’s what we ask as we head into the planning stages for 2026:

• Teach your campmates, even the stubborn ones.
• Innovate like your clean-up depends on it (because it does).
• Show the default world how it’s done, with grit, grace, and absolutely no glitter, ever, under any circumstances.

Until next year, stay creative with your MOOP, and always Leave No Trace. 

Kharan Vanmali, Net-Positive Co-ordinator

Photo by An Tran