Bloody bonfires? Really?

[Cornettoninja]

Some dick by me has been merrily burning stuff all morning. It’s smells like paper/garden waste maybe but the smoke is hanging really low and it’s intolerable out there. I’m not asthmatic or anything but I can feel it on my chest.

It’s a pandemic caused by a respiratory disease, chances are there’s a couple of people in the vicinity suffering with it. Really not the time to smoke people out imho. Never mind people’s washing or having to keep their windows closed.

Bastards

My mums local council have banned bonfires at present. Maybe ring the council and see if they are planning to do the same?

As I said they’re still collecting all waste as normal round here so far but have closed the tips. If our collections had been changed I would have expected it.

It’s a going to be a few weeks and as a previous poster pointed out, if you have the room to have a bonfire you have room to keep some garden waste till the tips reopen or start your own compost.

Yanbu - this has happened a few times with my neighbours. It makes my asthma much worse and the whole house smells of it. It is really antisocial!

we normally have an annual bonfire to get rid of loads of DRY garden waste (because only fuckwits burn damp stuff). Big garden and far too much to take to the tip or in the green waste bin. We pick a still day and have enough space that it doesn't disturb neighbours.

this year we are just going to have to put one pile on top of another because in a respiratory disease pandemic, even the most well planned bonfire is anti social.

gash wood etc doesn't compost FYI.

We would never normally have a bonfire but will be having one this weekend as we have large amounts of grass clippings and piles of leaves You would be better off composting it, especially as potting compost is almost unobtainable at the moment.

Government advice - or maybe it's Council advice - is not to light bonfires during the COVID restrictions. And burning waste on a garden bonfire is in any case illegal if the smaoke can cause harm.

gash wood etc doesn't compost FYI. Of course it does, well, at least it rots down. Just not quickly. But it can be shredded.

YANBU. Selfish fuckers behind us lit a bonfire of wet wood. Blew straight across our garden where I was gardening and DS (who is asthmatic) was happily playing.

We were out enjoying the sun. Now we’re stuck inside and DS is wheezing.

It’s incredibly selfish. A local person had a particularly revolting one in the week - and yes we all had washing out - our local council has even asked that people reconsider at the moment due to Covid19 being a respiratory issue but have stopped short of banning it unfortunately. As we have asthmatics in our house I’m pretty intolerant of smoke at the best of times - a couple of our neighbours have revoltingly smoky chimneys too 😷

There is a thread on here at the moment about BBQs. Everyone piling on saying go for it.
I know bonfires are 10 times worse but tbh, Smoke / air pollution of any kind would piss me off at the moment.

CathyorClaire I didn't think of people burning garden waste,not having a garden myself. Did you used to read 'Jackie' magazine,by any chance?!

Compost bins are the way forward for grass clippings and shredded paper/card. Obviously it won't be ready until next year but it's a good start. Make sure to stick to the right mix of greens and browns. You can also use grass clippings as a thin mulch on flowerbeds - the worms will take them down into the soil.

Twiggy piles are to be encouraged for wildlife 🙂 I have several small piles in back of the flowerbeds and out of the way places. They eventually break down. Or look at building a bug hotel?

If you're lighting a bonfire of autumn/winter garden waste make sure to give it a good sift through in case it harbours hedgehogs, toads or other wildlife.

I'm hiring a skip, we have an old shed to get rid of too but most will be garden waste. We have filled 11 of those charity bags today with just the grass cuttings.

I did consider burning but I would need a fire for days.

Did you used to read 'Jackie' magazine,by any chance?!

I did! Was a huge fan. Had the three part poster of Donny on my wardrobe door for years

There's all this social media activity about not driving to places for exercise at the moment.

I wish even 1/10th of the effort was made to stop bonfires.

I hate them at the best of times but this is categorically not the best of times.

To coin a phrase that I learnt on here yesterday, people who have garden bonfires are wankpuffins.

We would never normally have a bonfire but will be having one this weekend as we have large amounts of grass clippings and piles of leaves

I very much hope you reconsider. This virus affects the lungs. It is not a good idea in any way to create smoke! You can wait to dispose of your garden waste.

Yep. I agree. I was in a thread recently where this was being raised and there were so many posters responding that people saying please don’t have bonfires or barbecues in built up areas now were “the misery police”. They were also arguing their right to have a fire to cheer up their children/dispose of waste because what else were they to do?/because it was romantic or good for their own mental health.

Utterly selfish and also ignorant.

Do whatever you like to get through as long as it doesn’t affect other people. Isn’t that obvious?

We would never normally have a bonfire but will be having one this weekend as we have large amounts of grass clippings and piles of leaves

Well, don't! It's hardly essential. All of our grass and leaves go on our compost or into the garden waste bin. It's just idiotic and selfish to burn it.

don't burn leaves or clippings, dickhead! Make a compost heap, those items DO compost.

Burning leaves and grass is antisocial fuckwittery at the best of times as you'll make lots of smelly smoke as the stuff will be damp.

Every time I open my window I end up having to close it after a while because some dickhead is having a bonfire. It always smells like burning plastic as well which is just rancid.

Should say though that our local council are no longer collecting the garden waste and the local tip is closed due to covid so I can see why people would want to burn garden waste.

Not bothered about bonfires tbh but our council aren't emptying the garden waste either. We have a mulcher thing for the lawn mower so now it's been cut if we keep on top of it we can mulch and rake up the cuttings from when we do it in future.

Sorry but you are a total twat if you live in a built up area and have a bonfire at the moment. There is no good reason for it ATM. Don't be a twat.

YANBU!

In our area of SE London there seems to have been a sharp increase in bloody bonfires!

May be related to fact that local council has stopped collecting all recycling & garden refuse. And hiked up council tax as of a couple of days ago

I find bonfires pretty antisocial at the best of times, they're going during the day now, not just after sunset/evenings

The smell is so bad esp twats use those wood burner things to burn everything they can get their hands on, am pretty sure that is "not allowed" normally

My selfish arse of a neighbour did this right next to our houses last week and I yelled at him for it. We are just recovering from an illness with symptoms akin to cv (possibly cv) and it affected my breathing and made me wheezy and breathless again. The sheer idiocy of burning stuff now, during a lung disease pandemic fgs! Anyone that does this is a hugely selfish inconsiderate ocean going [four letter word]. It needs to be made illegal asap!

I can’t believe people in here thinking it is fine or normal to fo this right now. If you have grass clippings or branches, compost them or pile them in a corner (good for wildlife too). Your garden doesn't need to be pristinely tidy. Don’t be a dick. Noone NEEDS to burn stuff right now! Unless it’s medical waste and you are a hospital incineration unit.