Environmental Issue
By Jeanette Joy Fisher, Fri Dec 9th
Environmental Psychology considers two issues with wood burningfireplaces. What's important to you? Your home environment foremotional support or saving the environment? If you plan to move to a new home or to build a home, you maydraw a line through a as a necessity. Although peoplelove the warmth, comforting crackling sounds, aromas, and movinglight a wood burning fire provides, fireplaces can emit pollutedair into your home and into your neighborhood. Most home shoppers request a fireplace. Home buyers desire ahearth, which symbolizes home. Families gather around thefireplace during holiday celebrations and quiet conversations.Book lovers enjoy curling up next to a fire on a cool afternoon.Many new homes feature fireplaces in the main bedroom. Afterall, what's more romantic than a fire?
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, wood-burningfireplaces emit nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, organic gases,and particulate matter. These pollutants can cause serioushealth problems for children, pregnant women, and people withrespiratory problems. Like cigarette smoke, some of theseelements contain cancer-causing properties. Some urban cities have considered banning wood-burningfireplaces altogether to stem the flow of pollutants in thesmog-filled air. Some California cities and counties haveenacted local ordinances to limit the growing wood smokeproblem. Mammoth Lakes, Squaw Valley, Cloverdale, Fresno, andmany cities and counties in the Bay Area permit installation ofonly U.S.EPA certified wood-fired appliances in all newconstruction. Since 1991, the Bay Area AQMD has issuedadvisories for a voluntary no-burn program on poor air qualitynights, "Spare the Air Tonight." But wait! Solutions exist so you can enjoy your fire. To keeppollutants from entering your room air, you can install acertified clean-burning insert and a glass screen. Buya carbon monoxide monitor and an oxygen-depletion sensor toensure safe air. The new systems keep pollutants fromleaving your chimney. Other considerations for you to ponder include the source ofheating for your home. What happens when natural gas demandoutpaces production? Prices skyrocket. And if your heat comesfrom a coal-burning electrical plant, doesn't the burning coalproduce toxins that pollute the air? If you're building a new home, consider installing a PelletStove, the most efficient and least polluting of the new stovedesigns. Pellet Stoves provide less than 1 gram per hour ofparticulate emissions. Most of these stoves s requireelectricity and burn compressed wood waste formed into pellets. Be kind to yourself and to the environment. Consider theseenvironmental issues when you light up your fire. Copyright © Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. About the author:For more home environmental issue articles, visit EnvironmentalPsychology http://environmentpsychology.com/
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