Tuesday, January 24, 2012

PANIC: Leaf Fires Attacking Campus

 

















Does anyone know if leaf/brush fires are sustainable? Do leaf fires make for a "green" campus???

My gut reaction was that leaf fires are pretty shitty for the environment, so I did some Googling (via Bing) to gather some research (via putting my liberal arts degree to good use).

Also, the cellphone picture that I took makes the fire look kinda small, but in actuality it was pretty huge.

So, leaf fires used to be pretty common throughout the United States of 'Merica, but today most counties and states ban the practice.  St. Mary's County obviously has not banned leaf fires, via being St. Mary's county.

Anyways, according to the Wisconsin (cheese) Department of Natural Resources, the burning of leaves produces a lot of fine bits of dust and soot that can cause lung problems.  The carbon monoxide released from the burning of leaves can also lead to other health problems.  According to the EPA the burning of leaves produces a lot of air pollutants that can rival the pollution produced by a factory.  Leaves can also be used as mulch or compost instead of burning them.

20 comments:

  1. I feel as if the fire probably isn't good for the environment :/ also frightened so many students today. Have you heard anything about a tree students are allegedly sticking gum to on the path? Give us the dish!

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    1. I meant to check out the 'gum tree' earlier today but then I was busy. MAYBE TOMORROW???

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  2. Then you can go ahead and volunteer to receive all the leaves and turn them into compost. Have fun with that. What dorm do you live in? They can drop them off at your front door.

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    1. UM HELLO they are called 'Residence Halls' and I am a bird so I live in a nest on a waterway marker.

      I mean the college already has a composting program. I'm not sure you understand how composting works. You collect the leaves and put them in a pile (such as the one that was set ablaze) and then wait for them to decompose. And then you put the compost on the ground where you want stuff to grow. And then you wait.

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    2. f u tom readers demand more gossip

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    3. f u tom readers receive zero demands, I don't negotiate with terrorists

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  3. how is burning leaves bad for the environment wildfires destroy hundreds of thousands of acres of forest worldwide every year and it is a completely natural process which helps keep soil fertile and full of nutrients. just don't stand next to one

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    1. Dude I just explained how it was bad for the environment via citing the EPA and other bros. Wildfires rule via clearing dead brush from the forest floor so that new plants can grow. Leaf fires do not accomplish that because nothing new is going to grow in that lot across Mattapanny.

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  4. Personally, I usually feel better when I burn leaf

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  5. composting is for socialists, and communists, this school being a bastion of democracy made the upstanding choice to burn them.

    end of line.

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  6. effective composting is actually significantly more complicated than "putting the leaves in a pile and waiting for them to decompose." maybe the grounds staff wanted to stand around a big fire and put away a twelve pack of boh during their lunch break. who can fault them for that?

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    1. Well, can't fault them for that. But it was around 7AM.

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  7. communism actually calls for complete and total democracy, but whatever

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  8. The thing is, we humans think its our job to control everything. God forbid we leave the leaves or move them furthur into the woods... Leaves are sooooo hard to compost... thats why in the woods there are 30 foot towers of leaves right?

    This fire was spitting leaves out across the road, causing hazard to drivers and students alike.

    I go out to watch the sunrise as many days as I can, and on this day there was a darker haze like cloud that dominated allot of the morning sky. The same haze cloud that many students and faculty/staff members were trying to get away from by coming to SMCM. Burning leaves not only causes carbon monoxide to form in excess, but also can release molds and toxins that resided in the pile.

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  9. It's not okay to burn leaves and other piles of brush but it's okay to burn couches, chairs and other trash at church point. As well as trash the beach and not keep it clean. . . Makes a lot of sense.

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    1. I don't think anyone advocated burning the couch at the Point, in fact people spoke about stopping that practice last year. When did I say it was okay to trash the Point?

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  10. I literally saw someone dump a can of gasoline on a fire at the point once and then when the fire traveled up to the can at a high velocity, the perp tossed the entire can far out into the water and a large wall of flame sprung up from the fire way out into the water. our own personal deepwater horizon

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