Bonfires for/against

[Tinkerbell]

Obviously packaging plays the major role in household waste, about which there has been much discussion recently. As a kid I recall that much of what we bought was loosely wrapped by the butcher, baker, grocer etc. at point of sale - therefore there was nothing like the amount of rubbish generated like plastic, cardboard etc. which now goes into the dustbin or recycling containers.

However, I also recall that a weekly bonfire was nothing unusual either in our street.

How damaging to the environment would it be if some households had selective rubbish bonfires regularly? (Whilst in Majorca last week it was obvious whilst looking out over the countryside that bonfires were burnt in several places on a daily basis - perhaps this is how folk in countries with less landfill waste actually dispose of much of their rubbish).

Tinkerbell

[Rich]

It seems to me that anything we can do to cut down on landfill waste has to be a good thing.

A bonfire can be an antisocial thing, but when thought is put behind lighting it I don't see a problem.

[honeybee]

Personally I'm against bonfires in general. Occassionally we have had one but obviously been responsible about it. I don't think you can have a bonfire until the eve mon-sat. In the summer when it was hot i woke up to the smell of burning. My windows were open and a "gardener" was burning all manner of things next door and the thick, black smoke was choking. The other day near my mum's house I couldn't see or breathe because somebody had a big bonfire. I think it's really anti-social and could be deadly to an asthma sufferer, not to mention the obvious dangers. Even when we lived rurally, the nearest neighbours would have a bonfire every Sunday and although we were friendly with them they didn't care if our windows were open or washing was on the line. On a small scale it's not going to do a lot of damage but ofcourse it's polluting and no way should we encourage more bonfires, especially the burning of plastics etc. I always worry this time of year about the hedgehogs too.
We need to cut down on waste from the source and recycle as much as possible.

[nightshade]

Most councils have a code of conduct for bonfires, if allowed at all
Compost is a better way,be more discerning with packaging

[Wild-Woman]

Sitting on the fence with this one. A quick, controlled burn-in a burner if possible to get rid of personal papers etc that we are reminded to to put in rubbish bags is perhaps necessary on the odd occasion. The prolonged-let's burn a whole settee suite and loads of house hold contents-no.
If we do have a burn this time of year-we'll always put chessnuts in the embers-yum.

[smartie]

If you shred your personal papers you can add them to the compost heap too. In small quantities, of course.

[eeyore]

plastics shouldnt be burnt - especially the rigid sort as these have to be incinerated at very high temps (higher than a domestic incinerator is capable of) to avoid releasing dioxins

[Oryx13]

As other members have posted I think that the occasional bonfire (name derived from medieval bon-fire where animals bones were burnt - nice!) is not a problem but be courteous and let the neighbours know you are going to do it if it might affect them. As far as getting rid of waste I don't think it's the best option and tackling the amount of waste at source and recycling are the general answers. But with garden waste, composting is the best thing to do with it, unless you have a deluge of woody material (which you do not want a large proportion of in your composter at once) and you have no where to store it (a pile of twigs, sticks and logs can be very good way to encourage all sorts of wildlife) then a bonfire is the answer.

Hope I've not gone on too long - I feel like I've just written an essay!!

[Tinkerbell]

Thanks for the replies so far folks - I don't actually intend to have bonfires myself since I cannot stand the smell wafting around anyway and find it can be quite offensive if you have windows open or washing hanging outside. But are bonfires harmful to the environment?

Tinkerbell

[nightshade]

All burning woody waste releases CO2 best chip it down and use as a mulch
log piles or brushwood piles are more eco-friendly.
So far the planet copes with stubble burning and the massive brush fires
that spring up around the world (necessary for some trees etc.to propagate)
Burn any waste you cannot compost (except plastics) make it a hot fire
as opposed to one that smoulders do not use hydrocarbons to light it
stay in attendence cook something on /in it to make it worthwhile