Burning trash

Inspector507 · Oct 30, 2004

Here in Ohio, there are "Open Burning Laws". If you live within 1000' of a village or town with up to 10,000 people you can't burn at all. If the village or town has 10,000-40,000 people, you can't burn within 4000' of it. Since my rear yard is about 500' from the city limits, I'm screwed. The local fire department has come out to my neighbors house a few times to "help her put it out" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

techman · Oct 30, 2004

We burn too.

The plastics, cans, bottles and newspapers go out for recycling. All sort of food scraps go in the woods and the little that is left is the garbage that we put out. About 1 bag every 2 months, at $3.75 a bag. A few things we do not want to put in the woods, like meat scraps and bones, so as not to attract certain animals, and so our dogs don't get at it. Those items we put in a zip lock bag that we put in the big freezer to prevent any rot/smell. It then goes in the garbage when we put it out.

Most of the burning is paper and cardboard, mostly packaging materials.

Of course burning is allowed in the township, and I have a "fire pit" above ground made of old bricks, on a small concrete pad. I used barrels in the past, but they only lasted a year or so before rusting into un-usability. My bricks are nearly 10 years old.

paul

California · Oct 30, 2004

( Around here, [Sierras foothills] you can not burn trash. You can have a burn pile, but it can only consist of "yard debrie", ie leaves, tree trimming, ect. -RobertN)

Over by the coast its even stricter. Agricultural pruning only.

My neighbor said he got fined when he added grass clippings on to a big pruning pile. That caused more smoke than twigs and limbs would have.

This rule, along with the extension of auto smog control standards to the coastal counties, was enacted to alleviate the pollution that blows east and stacks up against the base of the Sierras.

I think Sacramento exceeds federal air quality standards several days per year and the foothills even more frequently. We've reached the limit of what the environment can absorb for us.

RobertN · Oct 30, 2004

Ah, yes, emissions... I wish they had super-duper extra smog reg's on from the coast over. Living in the foothills, we get everything. And, elevation does not help generally; the smog layer goes to ~4000'.

Everything stacks up here, making the bad smog days REALLY bad for us. I dislike the extra regs, especially as over regulated as Kalifornia is. But the smog... When you watch the forecasts, you can see the ozone and nasty stuff really stack up just east of Folsom on the H50 corridor, and east of Rocklin on the I80 corridor.

PineRidge · Oct 30, 2004

On a calm day I'll burn cardboard and paper in a heavy screen metal bin and recycle the ash in the garden. Everything else we pay to have hauled away. I don't strike a match on a windy day.

vt990 · Oct 30, 2004

burn trash? Where do you think trash goes when you burn it? It's not just gone. It's air pollution. Think of all those milk cartons and frozen food boxes floating around your neighboorhood. Burnt trash doesn't just disappear. It's just disperesed. At least when you pay for disposal you know where your trash is, and you're not forcing your neighbors to breathe it.

And if that doesn't convince you, in most places it's illegal to burn trash.

RICHARDG · Oct 30, 2004

Well,,with all this talk from govenments and politicans about enviorinment and such,,,you would think trash pickup would be free anywhere in america,,,goverment subidized,,thats the word,,,,that would be one of the best ways to prevent pollution and recycle,,,,but it seems they are not interested,,,,mine costs about 250 a year,,no limit,,,not a bad deal I guess,,,but,,,I live in rural w.va.,,,no rules,,,even got an old dump on my property,,small one,,,could burn 24 hrs a day and nobody would bother me none,,,well maybe the real dry months, they might eventually say something if I didn't just burn at night,,,,but what I was burning would never be an issue...trash oughta be picked up for free,,paid for by your goverment,,,they ought to do something for their money except 1/5 fund the schools,,and kinda clean off snow,,,,this is another reason,,I don't vote,,,it just encourges the whole process,,,lest I live in a place where I can say,,,no,,don't want no trash pickup,,,,,go bush,,thingy

To20Chris · Oct 30, 2004

We burn paper or wood only. However, my neighbor, the one who is running an auto restoration business in violation of the zoning, and which must be accessed by crossing my land, burns everything. Plastic, old containers with painting solvents, whatever. Often, when we're trying to enjoy our home on a beautiful day, the reek of smoldering trash goes on all day. It makes your nose and eyes burn, and it infuriates me. So if you burn, keep your neighbors in mind, and remember that burning plastics can release a lot of toxins.

RICHARDG · Oct 30, 2004

Yeah,,know what you mean,,,but you got to relieze,,,over half[maybe 2/3],of the people you meet every day are pure ,,45bc7890,,,and they don't care about their neighbors,,,so,,its best not to have any close,,,and keep a gun handy,,,,roofing nails are even better,sometimes,,,get the shorter ones,,and go heavy,,,thingy

markct · Oct 30, 2004

( burn trash? Where do you think trash goes when you burn it? It's not just gone. It's air pollution )

i know its a little different, but alot of trash goes to an incinerator anyhow, so one way or another it gets burned, i wouldnt burn anything like plastics or that sorta stuff, but cardboard paper are products of wood, so its no different than burning wood in your fireplace,campfire ring etc, and do you realize that what isnt burned goes to landfills, so theres another environmental problem, no clean cut way around trash, but i dont see anything wrong with burning wood or wood pulp products, of course im not a tree hugger so i imagine a tree hugger will be worked up over my post, but thats why its a free country and we can say what we like