To think fireworks and firework displays should become a thing of the past?

[Spockynocky]

I love fireworks but if we are all being asked to do our part regarding the climate crisis I think councils should stop putting on displays and fireworks shouldn’t be sold for home use.

They’re wasteful in terms of cost when councils struggle to remain solvent. They’re a hazard both physically and psychologically for wildlife and pets.

They look pretty but so do a lot of things that are damaging the environment. I think councils should use the fact that for the last few years covid restrictions have meant displays have been cancelled to make this permanent. The bonfires at these displays are also damaging to the air quality and wildlife. I think we need to change how 5th November is remembered. I also think that Light Nights also are so wasteful. Especially with the cost of electricity. Our council have just put one on with the theme of Back To Nature. It seemed rather incongruous to celebrate the natural world which is under threat from mans use of fuel to light up the city.

I love 5th November and light night. They brighten a miserable time of year but think they’re no longer viable or responsible.

Bonfire night is a celebration. It’s part of our cultural history. If you don’t like it close your curtains. It’s your responsibility to look after your own pets in whatever way you deem necessary.
Close my curtains? That's not going to do anything to block out the ridiculously loud bangs is it? I don't overly mind seeing the colours of the fireworks, it's the endless bangs which terrify me. How do you suggest I stop myself feeling scared, shaking, panicking, crying when there are non stop bangs for hours and hours? As I said in my previous post, an organised display with a known finish time (and which I know has safety precautions in place) I can manage as I know when it will finish. Fireworks being let off constantly in back gardens all around me for hours and hours with no idea of when they will end, I can't.

That’s a lazy argument and I disagree.

It actually isn't. You could pick on any celebration and find it wasteful and bad for the environment. Weddings, birthdays, any kind of party, easter, christmas etc etc. All of these could be done on a much smaller scale with much less waste both financially and environmentally. But what a joyless world that would be.

in 2017, UK spent almost £500m celebrating November 5th. That's a whole lot of money not going into the economy if we stop it.

Lighten up and let people celebrate. I know it is fashionable to whine about fireworks at this time of year, but it is just so boring to hear it over and over again.

If you're worried about the environment there a million other things on the list that should be banned above fireworks.

I think that there should be organised displays only. Community centers etc could get a quick temporary license, because there's different cultural use of fireworks.
I'd rather see helium balloons banned before all fireworks. But it would then mean people buying illegal fireworks which would lead to injuries and possibly fatalities.

I think the problem is that Halloween and Guy Fawkes have merged into one long celebration that lasts a couple of weeks.

And I agree that although fireworks look beautiful they are quite unnecessarily loud.

I don't get a lot of say in what others do (nor should I), but I no longer go to firework displays myself because I am uncomfortable with the environmental and sound impact of them.

I used to love them, but for me they are a remnant of a bygone world. Everything changes.

I agree OP but for environmental and safety reasons fireworks should be banned.

Drone displays are much more spectacular, we should have them instead. Public celebrations are really important.

@ssd

Oh FFS. Bet you don't leave out mince pies for Santa incase he has a gluten allergy.

M daughter has Coeliac disease. Even a tiny crumb will make her very ill for a week. She would do anything not to have Coeliac disease as it’s very isolating socially. It’s also very expensive for me (3-4 times cost of muggle food). She was extremely ill by the time she was diagnosed. Her height has been permanently affected. Comments like this, ridiculing a serious auto-immune disease, are just nasty. Think about others less fortunate than yourself.

I wou lent mind private fireworks and year round garden bonfires being banned but would not want them banned all together. I love fireworks.

Love how human fun is more important to some people than animal welfare. There’s lots of ways to have fun if you can’t think of any other than fireworks then you’re not very imaginative.

Puritans are so sanctimonious

Yes please, and get rid of those lamps that you light and float into the sky.
We’re all meant to be environmentally friendly yet you can fling empty fireworks and those lamps all over

@NutellaEllaElla no, it was the way you phrased your comment which made you sound like a teenager shrieking at their parents ‘urgh! Why are you so boring?! Why don’t you want me to have a life?!’

@ssd

Oh FFS. Bet you don't leave out mince pies for Santa incase he has a gluten allergy.

🤣😂

They should be banned for sale to the general public. They cause terrible and in a lot of cases, life changing disfigurement and disability to people, not to mention frightening animals and in some sickening instances, horrible deaths to animals.
However, a well organised display by licenced groups I have no issue with as they can raise much needed funds for smaller sporting venues etc.

@GoodnightGrandma

Yes please, and get rid of those lamps that you light and float into the sky. We’re all meant to be environmentally friendly yet you can fling empty fireworks and those lamps all over

Yes spent fireworks cause so much litter.

@Whinge

They're at home, in the streets. They're set off when the wedding party reaches the family home.

In which case yes I think they should be stopped. Setting off fireworks in a residential street disturbing neighbours, causing distress to pets / wildlife and potentially causing damage to houses and vehicles just to celebrate a wedding seems selfish.

I tell you why then, have a word with the Muslim leaders who will tell you that the fireworks are part of their religious ceremony for a wedding. See how far it gets you. And while you're at it, tell the Hindu leaders that you think Diwali (which is a Festival of Lights and pretty much guaranteed to be many fireworks) that they should tell families in the community not to have fireworks for their religious celebrations.

It always makes me laugh when people seem to genuinely think they'd have any sway at all with things like this. People are enjoying their lives. Better that than be one of the joyless buggers I'm seeing on this thread.

Bonfire night is a traditional English celebration, and it started long before Guy and his bloody awesome plan to blow the bastards who run this country to smithereens.

If you look up the origins of both bonfire night and Halloween you'll see they're ages old, and something I'd rather not see the end of just because a few people mutter about fireworks and the like.

I have dogs, they're not a fan but they're not scarred for life. It's my responsibility to keep them calm and safe, and that's what I do as the dog owner, I don't put that on someone else by whinging about bloody fireworks.

And as for the waste and the environment, as someone else said you can attribute to at yo pretty much any celebration whether that's bonfire night, weddings, birthdays, even funerals where umpteen balloons are sent skyward.

I'd no more wish to stop that than I would any other thing that people take pleasure in.

I tell you why then, have a word with the Muslim leaders who will tell you that the fireworks are part of their religious ceremony for a wedding. See how far it gets you.

I didn't say they should be banned for weddings. I would have no problem with licensed professionals doing displays as part of a wedding at the venue. However, family members setting off fireworks in a residental street just to celebrate the couple arriving home seems to me disruptive and dangerous.

Its ok if they are just on one night but they seem to be let off earlier and earlier, we had some going off in early October, my poor dog was so scared he was hiding under the Christmas tree

I hate posts like this - the hand wringing virtue signalling is sucking the life out of Mumsnet. You don't approve of fireworks, no problem with that but the shoe horning environmental damage to tug at the heart and conscience is so dull. And before you accuse me of being a Daily Mail climate denier - I haven't eaten meat for over 40 years, I have never driven a car and I recycle, compost and grew my own seasonal veg.

However, I LOVE Halloween and own orange plastic tat that been used for years. And Firework displays in my opinion are a great affordable, safe family fun night out. I remember going to them as a child and I take my children to them. They raise a lot of money for charity - I have never been to a display that doesn't have volunteers shaking buckets. Surely you local council is running it in conjunction with local charities and volunteers.

You says it's bad for the environment and we shouldn't have them just because it looks pretty, where do you stop with that?
What about theme parks? What about their fast food waste, electricity use and the fact they sit idle for a good portion of the year. The light displays (I have been to a couple) another lovely seasonal night out, family orientated and not too expensive. I guarantee it will have less impact than major sporting events, big protest marches or International Climate summits. Never heard of a politician/public figure taking a private plane to drink hot chocolate in the cold to go 'ooooh look' at some glass globes changing colour.

I always think there is an element of snobbery to these posts. The two events you are complaining about would be just about in reach for most families financially stretched and FUN but nowadays it's less about the fun more 'What about the ......' cries.

Everything wrong with the banging ones.

I’m not massively keen on the sizzling screeching ones either.