Hiding the toxic stuff inside a ring of wood pallets before you set a bonfire alight doesn’t lessen the impact on little lungs.
That’s the one message I have for bonfire builders getting ready to set their pyres alight this July bonfire night.
Those sofas, mattresses, plastic waste and everything in between will go up in flames, yes.
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But the toxins they emit as they do could include everything from cancer causing fine particulates to fire retardants that release hydrogen cyanide as they burn.
Every year those building Eleventh Night bonfires are advised not to burn tyres and other toxic waste and while some heed that advice, some still don’t.
I’m not here to bash bonfire night - fire away in a safe manner lads.
But I am here to tell you the folks you are harming are those who’ll be standing right next to you as you watch those towering pyres crackle and burn, before crumbling to the ground as you breathe in toxic fumes.
Air pollution is a killer.
According to a recent report from the British Heart Foundation in NI and the Irish Heart Foundation, about 900 people’s deaths in Northern Ireland can be attributed to air pollution - every year.
That’s a staggering number - so we really should be doing everything we can to reduce the toxins emitted into the air.
And not burning things that can cause all sorts of health problems when breathed in, is a good place to start.
Harmful pollutants, like PM2.5, can narrow and harden blood vessels and cause abnormal heart rhythms and increase blood pressure, increasing the risk of potentially deadly heart attacks and stroke.
Air pollution kills three times as many people as alcohol and unsafe water, more than six times that of HIV/AIDS.
And air pollution is 89 times more deadly than conflict and terrorism.
But toxic air pollution can also harm children as they grow - and we don’t want that for our wee ones.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency tells me that while it plays “an important role in the multi-agency management of any serious environmental risks and harms surrounding bonfires, it is not responsible for bonfires”.
But it will help to remove any hazardous material from pyres.
A spokesperson added: “The NIEA recognises the complexities in the management of traditional bonfires and their use as a means of cultural expression and works within a range of multiagency partnerships with the aim of ensuring bonfires are managed in a safe way; that they do not endanger life or property and the impact on the environment is minimised.
“As part of the multi-agency approach, we will, where it is safe to do so and with appropriate support from our partners, assist in the removal of hazardous and problem wastes including waste tyres from bonfires sites or associated locations.
“We have, and will continue to prosecute those who illegally dispose of hazardous and problem wastes were possible. Our efforts are focused in trying to prevent such wastes reaching bonfire sites in the first instance.”
So if you or anyone in your community is worried about what’s being thrown into bonfires, why not raise the issue with the bonfire builders who can ask the local council to get some of the more worrying things delivered for the pyre taken away before it’s set alight?
Making Eleventh night as safe as it can be for everyone involved, is a no-brainer.
You can enjoy your pyre in a responsible manner and no one will be harmed by toxins in the air or otherwise.
‘Flatlining’ on climate crisis
Climate committee chair Lord Deben told the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee earlier this week we are “flatlining” on climate change.
“We cannot go on increasing the sources of oil,” he said.
The Conservative peer was calling out his party colleagues in government about just how far the UK is falling behind on climate adaptations since they took power.
While once a leader on the push to tackle climate change, he says this government is “allowing the UK to fall behind” on climate action, water and energy solutions.
And that if they don’t change their ways we will not meet legally binding targets.
Lord Deben told the committee we’ve had the hottest June and the hottest day in history, while his part of England is suffering drought.
“These are really very serious things and they have an impact on the public,” he said.
“We have lost more biodiversity in this country than any other country in the world.
“Our soils are less productive than they have ever been.”
He said climate policies around EVs benefit the rich - who have driveways - and not the poor and called for home insulation, home heating improvements and work to encourage behaviour change.
“All governments are much better at policy than they are with delivery - I find the same about climate change,” he added.
“It is not too late for the government to put it right... but they have to do it now.
“The trouble with the delayers is that they make everything more expensive and much more touch and go.”
If you’ve got a problem, you define it, you measure it and you set out a plan, he explained.
“We won’t have a new economy unless we have a green economy.
“If you want to fight the climate and cost of living crisis we should be producing more and more energy in the cheapest way possible rather than whittering on about more expensive ways [like fossil fuels].”
Global Justice Now hit also out at PM Rishi Sunak this week, saying he will ‘pour fuel on the fire’ of climate crisis if the UK’s £11.6bn climate finance pledge is dropped.
Campaigner, Izzie McIntosh, said: “Rishi Sunak was already set to plumb new depths of climate incompetence by giving the green light to new coal, oil and gas in this country.
“Now it seems he’s planning to scuttle the UK’s contribution to the global climate finance. This would be a shameful failure.
“The UK is one of the world’s biggest historical emitters and home to two of the largest oil companies in BP and Shell.
“The government could meet this pledge many times over if it was strong enough to make these polluters pay.
“But Rishi Sunak seems to have stopped caring what happens after the next election. In climate terms, he is in a burning building pouring fuel on the fire on his way out the door.”
Belfast Healthy Cities learning from Cork
It’s great to see North-South relations extend to climate adaptation.
Belfast Healthy Cities recently headed to Cork to learn about major changes to bike networks and transport to encourage active travel as well as biodiversity initiatives.
Programme Manager from Belfast Healthy Cities, Anne McCusker, said: “The projects we visited included community gardens, biodiversity, growing initiatives and regeneration.
“Each of them is having a clear impact on the people using them, from children right through to older people.
“Our local environments and how we interact with local communities has an important role in our health and wellbeing, and we hope that we can use what we have learned as we work with local organisations to improve the health and well-being of communities across Belfast.”
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