The crackle of logs. The laughter of children, faces stuffed with marshmallows. The tang of smouldering terrorist effigies. With national festivals like this, who needs to worry about climate?
But worry I do. The annual burnout of Guy Fawke’s Night is here, and I still can’t decide if torching the gathering green rubbish in my yard is entirely acceptable. Even more worrisome is the purchase of sundry garden explosives to set off in a shock and awe-style display that takes the top layer of skin off my face. Do these things of male joy really make a difference to the world?
It looks like it. According to Environmental Protection UK, air pollution skyrockets on November 5th and lingers afterwards. And it’s not just warming carbon that hovers above the sparkler-wielding revelers – they claim that dioxins – airborne nasties that cause diseases in their inhalators – now mostly come from domestic burning.
Luckily for errant teens and rather less luckily for the canine population, fireworks themselves make up an insignificant proportion of this damage. It’s the bonfires that are licking us all with pollutants. “Approximately 5 -14% of UK dioxin emissions are produced around Bonfire Night,” says the report from Environmental Protection UK. “Most of this is believed to come from bonfires rather than fireworks. Current research indicates that deposits of pollutants from fireworks do not pose a risk to soil or water.”
Phew. So while it’s OK to be launching barrages of Stalingrad-era, bladder-rattling detonations overhead, the humble and homely bonfire is the real culprit. The problem is when you go to an environmental group for advice on alternatives. Ever fancied inviting the neighbours round to warm themselves on your Guy Fawke’s Compost Heap? How about going to your local park to watch the November 5th chipping ceremony? Do these people know how long it takes to bake a potato in a pile of rotting sycamore leaves and hibernating hedgehogs?
Before you go home and ban your own bonfire, hear this: burning green or damp woods, treated, painted, varnished or man-made materials is the real atmospheric killer. That’s the stuff that releases particulates and dioxins. Get yourself some real fuel and cook up with impunity, if you ask me:dry, seasoned wood keeps you warmer, stops you wheezing – and it won’t make everything smell like the inside of a terrorized plastics factory.
Get the lowdown on fires and pollution at www.pollutionissues.co.uk
Ed Chipperfield
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