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Burning Garbage Releases Dioxins

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"If you're burning garbage, you're making poison!"


2010 Burning Garbage NW Ontario  - PDF Presentation

  • Survey of NW Ontarians regarding household garbage disposal and burning.

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Up in smoke? Think again!,

Burning of household garbage is a major source of uncontrolled pollution, harmful to your health and our environment. Garbage fires pollute whether you burn in a woodstove, burn barrel, outdoor woodstove or open pit. Burning waste – including packaging, plastics, treated wood and junk mail – releases contaminants into the air. Home garbage fires smoulder & burn at temperatures which create dioxins, furans, and a host of other pollutants.

 

What goes up must come down!

In Canada, the open burning of garbage produces more dioxins and furans than all industrial activities combined.  Dioxins and furans released into the air settle on fields, forests, lakes and streams. These toxic pollutants become incorporated into the food chain and accumulate in the fat of livestock, wild game and fish. The toxins are passed on to us when we consume meat, fish and dairy products.

 

Burning garbage can affect your health!

Exposure to dioxins and furans has been linked to certain types of cancer effects on the developing nervous system cardiovascular and liver disease impairment of the immune system particulate matter in smoke from garbage fires can trigger respiratory health problems.

 

Not just burn barrels

     Safe Alternatives

"Bernie the Burn Barrel"

developed by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, Duluth MN, with support from the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office.

 

Don't Burn Garbage in:
  • woodstoves
  • fireplaces
  • outdoor woodstoves
  • campfires
  • open fire pits

 

  • buy items with less packaging
  • seek out local recycling options
  • compost organic waste
  • use your nearest landfill site
  • make less garbage!
Enjoy the special warmth and beauty that comes from the hearth and the campfire, but don’t contaminate the air we breathe and the health of our loved ones by burning your garbage.   

 

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Page last updated on Tuesday, August 30, 2011