ban wood burning appliances in Vancouver

A ban of all wood-burning fireplaces and other devices in Vancouver would make good sense. This practice would then be adapted by other communities included in the Greater Vancouver District and the sooner this happens, the sooner everyone will be able to breathe cleaner air. Air is the most important element – and comes to us - free of charge - and it does belong to everyone - and no-one has the right to pollute it!

For anyone that has questions about the harmful effects of wood smoke take a look at:
http://www.lunghealthframework.ca or
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cd-mc/crd-mrc/crd_figures-mrc_figures-eng.php

You will find resources for information on the adverse health effects of, and toxins from wood smoke.

To learn how these pollutants have an even greater potential impact on the health of children go to:
http://www.cape.ca/children/resp4.html

Also, anyone who is concerned about these pollutants on our health and quality of life I would encourage you to express those concerns to:
The National Lung Health Framework Partnership Secretariat
framework@lung.ca

Anyone who can immediately feel the impacts from wood burning activities in their neighborhood, knows that it doesn't take a study on the health effects wood burning pollutants to exacerbate preexisitng repiratory conditions. Also, determing that exponentially growing cases of these conditons, which have corresponded with the increase in wood burning activites over the past few years, doesn't require a PHD. There are 600,000 reported cases of COPD, Asthma, Lung Cancer or related respiratory conditions in Canada, according to Health Canada studies.
This is epidemic, and fixing the problem by telling us to take control of our health, while not eliminating the source of the issue is like trying to drive you car in neutral.

Janet

Don't forget to ban all charcoal burning BBQs etc as well.
Coal/ charcoal burning is one of the #1 health hazards more so than wood burning. It is even worst when you have an idiot who uses charcoals in a gas BBQ and the smoke is blowing directly at your home.

I am from Calgary, where there is much less consideration and respect for the environment (O.K...none). It has become so bad in some residential neighborhoods here, that there is no transition between wood burning outdoor firepits and indoor fireplaces. The only controls we have (only on firepits) is a rediculous set of rules that favor the wood burner, while rates of asthma and respiratory conditions continue to escalate, and still, we see no connection...duh...

I lived in Vancouver years ago, and they have always been far in advance in their consideration for health and the environment. It surprises me that this isn't something that has been taken into consideration (harmful effects of wood smoke from fireplaces and woodburning stoves) .

There are studies being done at the federal government level that list the harmful chemicals emitted by wood burning, and their direct effects on respiratory and other health issues. Along with this information are facts about the exponential increase in respiratory health issues and subsequent negative impact on health care and the economy.

Be the voice of wisdom that you have always been on the environment, and ban wood burning activities such as firplaces and wood stoves. Afterall, how can a province like Alberta ever see the light, if it isn't turned on, even if it takes several years for them to see it. Maybe a reduction of pollutants such as this, in Vancouver, can offset the huge negative impact Alberta has had on the environment.

Janet

How can it be that you can live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world yet you can't breathe clean fresh air in your own home, yard and neighbourhood because of a neighbour's wood burning fireplace. Well, if it has happened to us for the last 2 1/2 years then it can happen to you. We have gone from 1 to 3 wood burning fireplaces that pollute our air in 1 year.
Please ban all wood burning appliances and protect the only air we have to breathe.

Add up all the chimneys & woodstoves burning over winter in Metro-Vancouver (one residence in twenty). Its the equivalent of a 250 acre forest buring continuously October thru March. Yes, a forest fire 250 acres big burning for six months within MV boundaries.
The reason our Air Quality went from 2 to 5 over Xmas is the number went from "1-in-20" to "1-in-10". Waken up folks, we are poisoning ourselves, no-one else to blame. Superman is busy right now bureaucrats at Metro-Vancouver so YOU will need to fix this. Almost forgot, pellets and Incinerators will just make the forest fire bigger. Thx John McCrossan

Can you imagine that you live in the greenest city in the world, Vancouver BC. You have chickens in your backyard, an organic veggie garden, and a clothes line but 1 day
you become sick and you are diagnosed with lung cancer, cardiac disease or some other serious illness.
Your doctor is puzzled about the cause but later asks, do you use a wood burning appliance or are you in a neighbourhood with wood burning appliances and you answer yes our neighbours use theirs all the time.
The light goes. The doctor informs you that the cause of your illness is the toxic emissions from your neighbour's wood burning appliance.
Preventable yes, but you never knew that it could make you and your family sick!

Help clean up our air...STOP BURNING WOOD!

Studies show that people who heat their homes with wood have more respiratory problems than those who don’t. Smoke particles also invade neighboring homes. Research shows that children in wood burning neighborhoods are more likely to have lung and breathing problems.(From Focus on Wood Smoke Pollution - Washington State Department Of Ecology)

"For those on the receiving end of a neighbor's fireplace or wood smoke,
it is often similar to living with a chain smoker."Wayne R. Ott, Ph.D.

Many people don't think of smoke from wood stoves and fireplaces as air pollution but it is. Some people even like the smell of wood smoke, but much like cigarette smoke, both contain hundreds of dangerous air pollutants, gases and fine particulates that can cause cancer and other serious health problems such as: blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis; irritation of the lungs, throat, sinuses and eyes; headaches; allergenic reactions; increased hospital admissions and even premature death. The particles in wood smoke are too small to be filtered by the nose and upper respiratory system, so they wind up deep in the lungs and act as vectors for bacteria, toxins and virus. It is a severe health hazard and a preventible burden to our health care system. These health effects have a human, social and financial impact, costing Canadians several billion dollars per year. This should concern all of us.

Wood-fueled Biomass Power Plants and CO2 Emissions

Wood fuelled biomass energy is worse than fossil fuels for carbon dioxide emissions and similar for air pollutants. It threatens forests, rivers, and air quality and will worsen global warming impacts. Wood fuelled biomass burning is a false solution to our energy and environmental problems that diverts attention and resources from truly clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal, appropriately located and scaled wind and hydro, and most importantly conservation and efficiency.

Contrary to industry claims, wood burning biomass energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it increases them. Wood burning biomass power plants emit about 50% more carbon per unit of energy than coal.

Is wood a sustainable source of renewable energy?

Burning trees for energy is not a truly sustainable renewable energy because burning trees for energy emits pollutants at higher or similar to fossil fuels depending on the pollutant, and emits more carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced than any other fuel source, including coal. Increasing air pollution levels and emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere is unsustainable. In addition, the large increases in logging needed to fuel wood burning will have a serious negative impacts on forest ecosystems and detrimental impact on wildlife.
In reference to wood burning and "carbon neutrality", let's set the record straight. Here it is explained in a simple way! Most tress have lifespans measured in the hundreds of years, and some live thousands of years. Additionally, when a tree dies, it decays slowly. So, the carbon released when a tree is burned in minutes needs to be compared to carbon that otherwise remains sequestered for the tree's lifespan and decay period, as well the carbon that would have been sequestered had the tree been allowed to continue growing.

When you a burn the tree, you release all carbon instantly. And then what do you do? You stuff another tree in the stove and burn it and release more carbon. You release in a matter of minutes, carbon that the tree sequestered over many decades or centuries. Carbon dioxide levels will increase even if cutting equals growth rates, because those forests would otherwise increase and help absorb carbon dioxide.

Burning forests versus letting them continue to grow as they are today is not “carbon-neutral” or a"carbon-offset" or "renewable". Nor is it “clean” heat.

Additionally, trees in general do not just rot as claimed by some biomass proponents, only the dead ones do. Most trees that will be used for biomass are living, green trees which are not rotting; they are instead actively absorbing carbon and cleaning the air.

Source: http://www.maforests.org/MFWCarb.pdf

Source: Department of Energy and Footnotes 1&2 Emissions Chart.

Ban wood burnig fireplaces

In the January 2010 Alive Magazine Mayor Robertson talked about making Vancouver the greenest city on the face of the Earth by 2020.
Let him start now by protecting the air that we breathe and ban wood smoke from wood stove, fire pits and back yard burning. Let Mayor Robertson lead the way in B.C.

Wood burning is NOT "carbon neutral" please read this:
http://burningissues.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=668

Air Is Precious

For Mimi

All Woodburning is destroying our health and our quality of life. There was smoke last night in my neighbourhood. There is Woodsmoke in many neighbourhoods. Our pristine air is being destroyed by the acrid Woodsmoke emissions that permeate our air. Woodburning is taking away our freedom to enjoy our home and our yards. Everyone suffers from Woodsmoke Pollution!

Without healthy lungs and clean air to breathe, the quality of our life is greatly diminished. When you struggle for one breath of air to sustain your life, when you see little children using asthma inhalers to help open their air passages for another breath, when you see millions using oxygen for survival, then you know that Woodsmoke Pollution is unequivocally destroying every breath we take!!

Isn't it time for our political leaders and govenment to recognzie and take action on this Woodsmoke Crisis? Isn't it time to stop the suffering from Woodsmoke related diseases? Isn't it time to make Woodsmoke Pollution our number one priority? Isn't it time to see the children stop struggling for each breath?

The time is long overdue to end Woodburning in our Nation. Every city in Canada has polluted air from Woodburning.

Unequivocally Woodsmoke does take your breath away!! Scientific and medical evidence confirms that Woodsmoke is killing millions world-wide and destroying our fragile environment. We know that even low levels of Woodsmoke Pollution inevitably can do harm to our lungs and our cells.
Fine particulate matter PM (2.5) when inhaled goes deeply into the lungs causing irreparable damage.

Take action NOW!! BAN all WOODSMOKE in our communities. Become informed today. Don't wait, your life and breath depend on it!!!

See the following esteemed websites that reach out world-wide helping others who suffer from Woodsmoke pollution in thier life. You will find scientific and medical evidence that will validate the claims that Woodsmoke is a deadly silent killer!!! Read the poignant stories of those who suffer daily from Woodsmoke destroying their health and quality of life.
Then you will begin to grasp the nightmare that people live with daily being subjected to breathing these toxic chemicals found in Woodsmoke that are even worse for our health than tobacco smoke.

Everyone deserves the right and common decency to breathe healthy air woodsmoke-free!!

See: Breathe Healthy Air http://breathehealthyair.blogspot.com/

Clean Air Revival http://burningissues.org/

Canadian Clean Air Alliance http://www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca

Freedom of Air http://www.myspace.com/freedomofair

Agreed --- Vancouver is not a good place to visit in the winter or even a cold summer day

For Mimi. The last time I smelled wood smoke was this past weekend.

this totally preventable airpollution must stop

multiply the results of the behaviour of your local stinker by 10

multiply what you are asking for, CLEAN AIR, by 10

what results in a more liveable environment?

bingo and welcome to the club

cheers

NOMORESMOKE