The Stage 2 burn ban that was put in place last Wednesday has been lifted. “The current weather pattern has brought improved mixing and dispersion of the fine particle pollution. As a result, air quality has substantially improved,” the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website states. This means that you can have a nice, cozy fire in your fireplace this evening. (Thanks for the email Geoffrey.)
Stage 2 burn ban lifted
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Wooooo hoo, time to release some CO2 baby!
Burn ban or not, it's still pretty selfish to burn wood in the middle of a dense urban area.
as usual, my neighbor the fireman burns wood all the time. he must think it's part of his job or something.
So according to some it's “selfish” of me to now be able to heat my home legally? Do you drive, eat, urinate, breathe, etc? Just what we freaking need, more GD nannies telling me when where how to do everything. Bleep Algore and his type of hypersensitivity. Let's all hate on the fireman now. Does he still beat his wife too? Perhaps we need “smoke-nazis” in every hood then wtc? Oh I see, you're one currently. Can I see yer stinkin badge? FOAD
does anyone take this guy seriously?
this ain't 1958 any more pal. There's about 3x the population since your little pea-brain entered this world. can't just think about yourself anymore.
” can't just think about yourself anymore”
Couldn't agree more, 'green' is the way to a better, collectively organized world!
Agreed. But, those who have wood-burning fireplaces should be able to use them. The city no longer allows new ones to be build, it just grandfathers in the old ones. Seattle has done its part to try to decrease the wood-burning fireplaces naturally over time. This seems like a cherry-picked green effort. Time is better spent impacting other major environmental causes. Seattle is still a model citizen compared to the rest of the country and certainly the world.
Home heating with wood is actually not as bad for the environment as you would think, when you consider carbon footprint from start to finish as compared to other energy sources (i.e. what it takes to create the energy). Lots of research on this and it's still a pretty lively debate in environmental research circles.
Also, that argument is different than 'woodsmoke in urban areas will annoy/impact more ppl (who are sensitive to smoke) than in rural areas,' which is totally accurate.
I burn wood in my home but do it as thoughtfully as possible (no visible smoke after 20 minutes, burn hot with dry, well-seasoned wood, keep my chimney maintained) so that I have minimal impact on my neighbors.
There's no 'perfect' solution yet, as every option will impact something/someone (earth, neighbors).
I think most people here do not realize how well today's wood stoves and inserts can burn properly-seasoned wood. There is no visible smoke, as virtually all the particulate matter is burned in the secondary combustion process. A well tuned stove/insert does not smoke – the same way a well-tuned car does not smoke.
I choose to heat responsibly with wood. There is no perfect solution, although solar probably comes close. For those of you who think your electric heat is so great, please remember that the wild salmon population has been decimated in order to provide us with cheap and 'clean' electricity. We are a long way from fixing the problems, but the knee-jerk accusations are quite petty and can make you look rather daft.