trash barrel burning
 

While the smell of woodsmoke can be pleasant to many ( if not too strong!); who likes the 'fragrance' of burning plastic? Over the years we have had some neighbors who for one reason or the other burned some of their trash in a metal drum. One fellow particularly had a really nice house with a manicured yard and was the nicest guy you could meet. I suppose he grew up using a trash barrel. These folks have/had trash service each week and would for the most part use the roll -out large trash receptacles to put on the curb.

Trash burn barrels never get much air and will smolder for hours on end. There have been mornings when the air is still….imagine the smoke of smoldering burning plastic and other household trash spreading like a fog over a large area. I have seen the barrel burners start off with sticks and maybe some leaves and everything was fine, but then there was the call to toss in a plastic bag full of empty water bottles etc…

So if you just have to burn plastic..well really you don't! I have never mentioned this issue to any of the neighbors I have had. They seemed to enjoy their time at the burn barrel.
I will burn a pile of sticks and there is something hypnotic and fun about the whole burning thing, at least to me, so I am not against wood smoke.

In my corner of the civilized world that is something that will earn a fine - just like speeding in a school zone, letting weeds and debris build up to the point of a fire hazard, dumping used motor oil down a storm sewer, letting dangerous animals run free unsupervised, etc.

We live in an old neighborhood with no HOA or covenants. Our town and state have codes against reckless behavior that endangers others or the environment. Your town and state may not. If it does that's one way to go.

I prefer talking to my neighbors first. Of course then they'll know who turned them in if they refuse to follow the norms and regs of the place they've chosen to live in and code enforcement shows up.

My first (and last) experience with burning trash in a 55 gallon drum came about when I first moved to rural Virginia in 1979. It turned out to be a life lesson in how quickly a tiny ash could ignite a fire and spread through a field given the right (or wrong) conditions. No harm and no foul, but I vowed to never do that again...

who likes the 'fragrance' of burning plastic?
 

corporate plastic company execs?:rolleyes:

This whole topic stinks.
No one thinks burning plastics is OK, and garbage burned in a densely populated area is uncivil/illegal/selfish.

Throwing


Might be interesting to talk with the neighbor---since it is something that he has done forever, and has trash pickup...there is probably not a reason to burn heaps of plastic, etc...maybe offer to take some of his plastic and recycle it for him if he has a problem getting rid of it--just to be neighborly.

***Hey, and it is my 1,000th post***
:)

…not a fan of the burn barrel….less so if someone burns their garbage in it….it use to be pretty common in rural Oregon….not so much these days…

I'm burning my garbage
Including plastic and aerosol cans
If you wanted to go outside
you better change your plans

-Mike " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GwnRaR217U&t=16s "

One of my pet peeves. If you had a kid with asthma or a parent with COPD, you might not think its so harmless and nostalgic. Its not just a nuisance its a health threat. When I was a kid it was common in the city for people to have a burn barrel and do a weekly burn. But when everyone does it, its not exactly civilized living.

Most municipalities around here have rules against burning trash both from a fire protection standpoint, and an environmental reason, but there are always people who dont think the rules apply to them, and they get away with it because the authorities are too busy. Try adding a few tires to your burn and see what happens.

We don't have "burn barrels" in my part of the world.

We have a really well organised recyling centre near by and most supermarkets have bottle banks and other recycling facilities.

There are pretty strict laws about "bonfires" and we have a recycling wheelie bin collection every fortnight and a non recycling collection in the weeks in between.

It is usually at 7.a.m on Friday mornings and I love to watch the well sorted "choreography" of the guys that do it so quickly and so well.
We have one guy on our allotment site who we call 3the fire starter" because he loves burning wood!
It seems such a shame to nurn wood that could be re-used.

I often "liberate" the good bits to reinforce my raised beds! - but its cool as I give him my rotten bits.

Surely burning plastic is carcinogenic??

Yikes. A pet peeve of mine, indeed. When I lived near RP, I awoke choking one night because some nimrod up the hill from me was burning plastic in a burn barrel and the smoke had settled down into the low-lying area where my cabin sat, filling my house with smoke.

I called the cops. All that happened was the neighbor became enraged at me.

I live in the country so I find it very dumb when folks start talking about regulations and fines against burning stuff. I guess that’s city life but from what I’ve seen the cities pollute more than anyone else. They ship out their trash to the country side. They even ship their sewage out of the area and spread it on fields. Plus if you research it most plastic products can’t be recycled so basically the “recycling” stuff is mostly a scam and it also is shipped away to disposal.
All of my grips aside I don’t like burning plastic and don’t understand why anyone would. I’ll say the same for those folks that throw their trash along the road from their vehicles instead of taking it home to put it in the trash. Burning wood makes since to me. It has literally been done for hundreds and thousands of years and for some reason crackpots have a issue with it now. One thing I am a big fan of is composting. Most woods, papers and cardboards would be better kept from the landfill and composted but guessing most HOAs wouldn’t like that either.....I’m off my soap box now.
You might just try to talk to your neighbor and ask them to please not burn plastic when the wind is blowing toward your home and explain your situation. Most folks would understand that.

Sorry Jimmy. I was young and easily aggravated back then...

Sorry but the reality is burning trash is highly toxic pollution, bad for humans, animals, and the environment....... PERIOD
No amount of supposed rural logistical excuses, changes that fact.... PERIOD

The amount of pollution from Urban and Suburban areas is irrelevant ,,, and does not somehow justify burning garbage in rural locations, it is still needless, highly toxic, pollution ...PERIOD

If you choose to live in the countryside with all of its pastoral beauty, it might be a good idea to actually try appreciate that beauty even when it is not convenient and costs money at the dump.

if someone complains about burning burning where I live it wont get you anywhere,and if you keep it up the county sheriff will arrest you.