From Debasecamp Burning Man Wiki
Trash is something you probably don't usually think about, but in Black Rock City, if you pack it in, you had better plan on packing it out. Here are a few tips on how to reduce your trash, make it lighter and/or make it better smelling.
Tips & Hints
Buy Most of Your Groceries In Reno
Not only will shopping at home let you get rid of excess packaging (like cereal boxes) that takes up room in your garbage bag, but it also allows you a chance to prep potential stinky food like chicken. Save that chicken bone a roundtrip to the playa!
Don't Pick Food That Stinks
When prepping your menu, have a good think about whether that food item will make it into your stomach, or into the trashbag. Do you really need it? And if so, take a good long think: if you don't eat this, what will it smell like in the garbage bag on the way home? If any of these thoughts make you want to gag, put it back. Pretty simple.
Don't Bring Too Much Food
It sounds simple, I know. A lot of people lose their appetite in the heat and the sun. So, if you're going to bring extras of anything, make it snackie type food, not perishable stuff that will end up stinky and nasty. A good rule of thumb is to bring about 2/3 of the food you think you'll need. Another good rule, don't bring more than two days worth of fresh fruit, fresh bread or other fresh perishables. Put them in plastic, they get steamed to impossibility. Put them in paper and you've got instant croutons.
Choose Crushable Cans Over Plastic and Glass, and Crushable Plastic Over Glass.
Aluminum can be recycled in Black Rock City (or at least crushed easily to fit well in your journey home), and plastic can also be crushed. Glass is a pain in the ass, it can't be crushed, and on the off chance you break one accidentally, be prepared to kneel down and get every single last sliver up off the ground before leaving. Of course, in the case of booze, there are a lot of times you're going to have to go with glass. Just don't smash together two large bottles of unequal fullness in greeting and you should be fine. And choose soda in aluminum and juice in plastic.
Leave Unnecessary Packaging At Home
Once you've bought all your food, leave behind all the excess packaging. Cereal and crackers are in a bag, why do you need the box? Freeze your meat in double ziploc bags and they'll serve double duty as ice in your cooler. Bag what you can, and freeze what you can. You can even freeze water and juice bottles to use as ice on the way up.
Cook Before You Leave
Pasta doesn't necessarily work, but there are so many things that can be cooked and frozen. Or cook pizza and bag it up to munch on cold. Cook soup and make it boil in bag. There are so many opportunities in this. PLUS, it saves you when you have absolutely no motivation whatsoever to do cooking on the playa. This way you can either gnaw on something cold that's already been cooked, or throw a precooked something in a pan to heat up.
Trash Bags Are Your Friend
Bring HIGH QUALITY trash bags out there, and plenty of them (a cheap bag can be worse than no bag at all)! Take care to make sure your trash is secure in the winds.
Recycle On the Playa
It's easy, and frees up room in your trash bag for other things.
Use A Mesh Bag To Dry Out Stinky, Wet Food
You can use an onion bag, or even buy a camping mesh bag to dry out wet food like fruit cores or peels or baby wipes. Dry food doesn't smell as much.
Predicting the Weather Doesn't Work
Gravity is gravity, but clear skies and no winds are well and good until that sudden storm comes up and you're not there to secure things. Make sure your trash is secure at all times. If you're trying to dry out any wet trash to make it smell less, make sure it's not strewn about on the ground, but secure in a bag of some sort.
Prepare ONLY What You And Friends Will Eat
Camping leftovers can be pretty nasty. Burning Man might be all about giving, and someone might want your leftovers, but if not, you're stuck with them. No throwing leftovers under cars or in someone else's evap tray. The best way to avoid leftover food is to cook only what you think you'll need.
Sort burnable trash
Some trash items made of paper or other burnable materials can be burned out there, and eliminate the need to pack any of it home in any way. Having a trash bag/can specifically for such waste is ideal.
