Woodsmoke....Where do we go from Here?

Woodsmoke....Where do we go from Here?

“Where do we go from here?” is a question that must be asked by every citizen who cares about the longevity of their life, the quality of their health and the environment, now and in the future. Wood burning habits, pervasive in nearly every urban neighbourhood, continually pollute, destroy and fill the air with many of the same toxic compounds that are found in tobacco smoke.

By community leaders and elected officials adopting bylaws to ban all outdoor open-air burning and implementing regulations to phase out the use of all wood-burning devices, communities then can truly wear the mantle of “green and healthy” places in which to live.

If not, then we are residing in unhealthy communities. As long as wood burning exists in urban areas, we are not caring for the environment. We are not caring about the well being and overall health of our residents. Last, but, not least, we are certainly not protecting the health of the future generations, who will suffer the immediate short-term and long-term negative health effects of living being exposed to woodsmoke-filled communities.

Where do we go from here? Ask yourself that question if you care about your community taking proactive action to ban wood burning from all devices. Ask yourself, have you voted into power leaders who do care about health and the environment. Ask yourself, what does “green” really mean? We cannot have communities boasting about being “green” when plumes of toxic smoke billow forth from wood burning and thousands of outdoor open air fires exist each season from April until October. “Green” does not and cannot be applied to air that is polluted, permeated and saturated with acrid Woodsmoke.

“Green” implies healthy, wholesome, fresh, renewed, hopeful, vital, everything that wood burning is not.

Where do we go from here? We go back a few decades when our leaders finally accepted the truth about how deadly tobacco smoking was. Bylaws were adopted to ban tobacco smoke from planes, hospitals, schools, restaurants, workplaces, other venues and now even outside in parks and playgrounds. That is where we must go.

We must recognize the deadly, grave, unhealthy negative impact that wood burning is making in all our communities. We must apply the exact strong initiatives that were taken to ban all tobacco smoking and prohibit the use of all Wood burning in urban areas.

Millions became ill, suffered and died from tobacco. Millions are ill, suffering and dying from woodsmoke. Applying and adopting tobacco bans saved millions from death. Millions of lives could be saved by banning all Wood and biomass burning in residential neighbourhoods.

Where do we go from here? We go forward into healthy, truly “green” communities where there is fresh, pure, unadulterated air to breathe every day and each day thereafter.

Linda Beaudin
Cornwall (Ontario, Canada)


Source: Northumberland November 24, 2011
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com

Webmaster---After reading this informative and dynamic letter, elected officials and leaders in all communities need to step-up right now and really, truly "go green"...and end/prohibit all wood burning, (pellet plants, residential fire pits, OWB's, etc.). Woodsmoke is harmful and deadly to the environment...and harmful and deadly to all of us. Let's get moving, and really, truly..."Go Green"!