Burning Autumn Leaves May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Sunday October 19, 2008
Now that autumn is well under way in the northern hemisphere, deciduous trees are putting on colorful displays of fall foliage and starting to shed their leaves. Although burning piles of fallen leaves is a seasonal chore and time-honored tradition in many places, leaf burning also pollutes the air and can cause serious health problems for many people. Fortunately, there are some great eco-friendly alternatives to leaf burning.
Learn how skipping the leaf fire this fall may actually give you a nicer lawn and garden next spring.
Photo by Getty Images
Comments
This is such an important issue! I recently posted a ‘recipe’ for quick leaf composting that you can find at my blog, Easy Going Green.
I wholeheartedly agree, burning leaves is such a total waste of our earth’s resources. We should recycle nature – return mulch to the earth which created it, so it can and will be used and reused over and over. But to put it in the context that it may be hazardous to one’s health is, while potentially circumstantially true, almost trite. After all, living in itself is hazardous to one’s health. So, to live longer we should live less?
Sorry, I just had to say that.
damn
Nobody breathes enough leaf-smoke to cause COPD or CAD. Asthma can be exacerbated by breathing in the particulates, but burning in a rural setting isn’t hurting anybody.
Burning leaves with fire is rapid oxidation; composting is slow oxidation. The end result is identical.
THIS IS SO STUPID!!!!
well you have to consider this some people might mess around or purposely cause other stuff on fire and that usually end up burning houses or stuff you dont want burned