to think that having a bonfire is pure laziness

[chloeb8]

It seems that people around here are always having fires in their gardens. There is a tip quite close by so I just don’t understand the need! Not to mention the fact that it’s a PITA to surrounding houses. I think it’s very thoughtless and don’t know why people can’t just go to the tip to get rid of stuff (and yes the household I’m talking about have cars)

I don't think most people realise how bad the health issues are relating to bonfires especially if the wood is not burnt at high enough temperatures. They can be incredibly polluting, for example an inefficient wood burning stove can emit as much air pollution as 5 diesel trucks.
www.epa.gov/burnwise/wood-smoke-and-your-health

The ‘carbon neutral’ argument is a bit lame. All fossil fuels are made from once living things, and so really are only releasing the carbon that was once stored inside plants as they grew. Burning wood is only ‘carbon neutral’ if you grow a new tree to replace the one you burned.

I’ve got a 1/3 acre garden that I’ve been reclaiming from the conifer wilderness. Sometimes a fire is the only way I had to get rid of things! I always had my fires in winter mind you. No excuses for waiting for the sun to come out and burning all your shit ruining it for everyone.

Are you sure it's not fire pits?

Our tip is only open between 9 and 4, so most people who work can only go at weekends. Sometimes the queue is so long that there's an hour's wait to get in.

I totally get why some people have bonfires here, and I'm very grateful that I work part-time and can take prunings etc to the tip during the week.

what do you think happens to the garden waste that doesn't get burnt?

Goes to landfill and becomes methane -- nice greenhouse that.

Gets composed and compost heaps release CO2 --

wrt GHGs, burning is no worse than composting and is better than adding to methane releases.

I try to burn our garden wood in the woodburner to make the heat useful, but I can't cope with thorn-full things. I chuck them into the fields else we'd have big bonfires to deal with the rose thorn waste.

@Lockdownbear

And if the wood was left to rot the carbon would be released anyway.

But more slowly. Which would be better.

This is totally outing for anyone who lives where I do, but our tip is open by appointment only, and they are absolute goldust to get, and you have to book at least a week in advance (by design, not due to demand). You are also limited to 3 trips a month, which is stupid because often you'll not need to go for months, then will do some work and need repeated visits.

Report it to the council that’s what we do. People that do it are selfish. It’s smells absolutely awful and the soot goes everywhere

New one here is food smokers, I hate them more than a quick bonfire, they seem to be going all day long.

I can’t imagine why people who live near you have the urge to set fire to things.

"Because burning things is fun"

How is it fun for everybody else though?
When people light bbqs when Ive got washing on the line - bbq stink throughout our house plus having to do the washload again.
Or lying in bed at night wondering when the neighbours crowded around their fire pit/bonfire will ever shut up and let the neighbourhood have a bit of peace/sleep.

Fun for those taking part. Crap for everyone else.

We've a pile of wood from pruning the vines, the jasmine and brambles which is going to be a bonfire soon. Our council charges for garden waste and we have no way of getting to the tip. So bonfire it's going to be.

@bigbadbedknobs

Not all councils have fully reopened tips, it's a right pain I'm afraid

Well presumably OP is only bothered by the bonfires in the same council area as her house

YANBU. It's antisocial. People do it where I live, where the houses and gardens are about 5 metres wide, so someone several houses down burning stuff stinks our home out. And I've no idea what they're burning, it could be plastics and suchlike giving off toxic fumes. Certainly smells like it and I've been left with my eyes stinging.

I see two thirds of forum goers think it's OK. I can only assume they either live in the countryside or a naice leafy suburb with massive gardens, or they just don't give a shit.

can't stand bonfires or firepits. awful in the summer when you can't open your windows at night because someone is having a fire

I am in a terraced house and it's a nightmare. For some reason barbecues are fine, but I'd ban chimineas, fire pits and bonfires. Also selfish neighbours who burn paper, can they not just buy a blo**y shredder? Im asthmatic, coughing for days on end when the pyromaniacs start. The smell is all through your house and in summer Ive got to go round closing all my windows and doors or my house just stinks of smoke. I also cannot enjoy sitting in my own garden. People with respiratory conditions just look like anyone else and that is the biggest problem. People don't think. I really think burning items, except barbecues should be banned in built-up areas, we all just live too close.

I don't think it's particularly lazy. 🤷‍♀️

There's an art to a good bonfire, especially if you know it's likely to keep smouldering overnight.

Wrong to have them if you are close to neighbours, but it's a good way to deal with less compostable garden waste if you have a big garden. And of course then you get the ash, which is good for the soil.

My DMum was a positive pyromaniac in terms of the garden bonfire, and it's clearly rubbed off on me. But I've never lived anywhere with a big enough garden to make it worthwhile, and to avoid being a nuisance.

Are you sure they're burning rubbish?!

Had a bonfire for a couple days in row over Easter - did warn neighbours and wind was taking smoke away from houses. But I had a large hedge cut down to half height in autumn and had no way of getting rid of the waste except by burning. Would have taken about 20 trips to the dump in my little car and each trip is a 20mile round trip! I rarely have a fire though so expect they tolerated the one off occasion.

@Somuchgoo

This is totally outing for anyone who lives where I do, but our tip is open by appointment only, and they are absolute goldust to get, and you have to book at least a week in advance (by design, not due to demand). You are also limited to 3 trips a month, which is stupid because often you'll not need to go for months, then will do some work and need repeated visits.

That's appalling.

How do you even know if you'll have stuff to dump a week in advance?
You might be planning to do a certain job, but bad weather or hurting your back can easily throw those plans awry.

And 3 trips a month is crazy. A good clear out can lead to me going 3 times a day sometimes. I had a wheelbarrow full of weeds after just an hour of clearing a neglected corner the other day, and I'll soon be sorting out the loft.

If sorting out the loft leads to less than 10 trips to the tip, I'll be surprised.

I would never do it myself, but I can see how people end up resorting to flytipping.

We have a large garden and the garden bin would hold less than 10% of the grass cuttings each week and is only collected fortnightly. I load the car with all the bags of grass cuttings and so two tip trips, about 30 miles
In total and more trips when doing hedges, pruning etc.

We have neighbours who moan about bonfires too but it is by far the easiest and quickest way to get rid of garden rubbish.

I don't understand that if your garden is small you can have the wast collected at a yearly cost but there is no provision if you have a larger garden and no, it can't all be composted.

Always gobsmacked by people not liking the smell of woodsmoke or barbecue.
They are fantastic evocative smells of summer. I spent much of last night sniffing the air happily as it had wood fire (not mine unfortunately), a hint of rain and it still wasn’t dark at nearly 9pm. It was amazing.

i set fire to the neighbours fence with my bonfire!

i also love a bonfire but agree that i dont like others!