h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Head east from Oklahoma City, take the Choctaw Road exit. Drive north for a while. You will notice plenty of burning brush piles, but no barrels. Out here they take all the brush, make a wide enough dirt pit, pile it all on, add gas and slip in whatever trash they want to dispose of, and light. Same end result, and you don't even have to waste a barrel (barrels make excellent barbeque grills).

Yeah, that happens out here too...but there's not always brush around when you want it.

Even better, this is a wheat-farming area, and lots of people still practice weed control via controlled burns. So we get times in the fall when there are acres of wheat stubble on fire and clouds of smoke over the entire area. Of course now the yuppies are moving in and trying to put a stop to this. Never mind that it's the best way to keep wheat growing, and that no one made them move to the country.

Someone should do a Guide entry on improvised barbecue grills, too.

For a time I lived in bumf**k Arkansas and burning garbage
and the fields was a common practice.I admit I did it myself.
Other than burning haz-mat material,is this such a bad thing?

Well, I personally don't think it's such a bad thing. But some of my more politically correct friends bust a gut over the practice.

Well, you are creating a lot of carbon dioxide which is said to be the cause of global warming as it lets the sun's heat in but reflects most the heat from Earth. As you said, it isn't a CFC but that still doesn't make it right.

Some of us just have more faith in man's ability to solve problems as they come up than others, I guess. Global warming doesn't particularly worry me.

What worries me more are the liberals and their 'programs' to aid this or that.Is it at all possible we could be responsible enough to take care of ourselves? Do we need a commitee to tell us how to wipe our asses?
Sorry, I'm angry today.

Yeah, we need committees to tell us to wipe our figurative asses. I've seen enough of how most businesses operate to know that they wouldn't give a damn about pollution or job safety unless there were fines involved. And people do put stuff they aren't supposed to into their trash fires. Everybody's breaking the law and then complaining when they have to make committees to figure out why everything's screwed up.

It is an unfortunate, and sickening aspect of human nature, that we do exactly as we choose, but complain bitterly about anyone else doing as they choose. Before you commit totally to the preservation of the sacred burn-barrel, consider the world you would choose to live in. The country I live in is one of the most ecologically degraded on earth. Its governments are all in the control of the Yuppies, and you think you got problems!Oh boy!

Having been all over the map politically, I have indeed considered the world I want to live in. It's the one where I do as I choose, and so does the other guy. I don't believe that burn barrels are a significant contribution to pollution.Too much of the ecology movement has always been about guilt and feel-good measures rather than serious change. Considering the costs of generating electricity and the pollution effects of semiconductor manufacturing, you'd probably make a more positive difference in more lives to give up your computer -- not that I'm advocating that.

There are just too many of us.Soon the planet will be unable to support all of us.I see two options,population control and space exploration and colonization.The first option is a very scary concept,especially if it's out of my control.Trust no one.

What gets on my nerves is inconsiderate people having fires on a nice day in London, it ruins your day if you're sitting out in the sun. It also makes your clothes stink if you put them out to dry, it also makes your house stink if you don't close your windows. These people are burning stuff which they could compost or recycle.

If you go to the top of Parliament hill, which is the highest point in London, you can see a cloud of smoke hanging over the city from all the car exhausts. It's disgusting, but I'm glad I don't live in LA, apparently it's much worse there.

There are not too many people, there are too many cars and too many selfish people that want to hog everything for themselves. I want more people on the planet then we can have bigger parties. We have to stop being selfish and make space for other people, but still make sure women and men can plan their families properly in the short term by having access to contraception.

The lean green loving machine