While the practice of burning garbage has been around for centuries, city ordinances have rigid laws that prevent residents from burning their garbage. Common burn laws exist in almost all states, with a few exceptions.
Health Risks When Using Trash Burning Barrels
Burning garbage creates dioxins, which are harmful when inhaled. It’s better to dispose of your garbage the proper way by having it picked up and incinerated by professionals. While the cost of removing your own garbage may be higher, the health risks are less.
In fact, burning 10 pounds of trash in a burn barrel produces as much in toxic chemicals as burning 400,000 pounds of trash in an incinerator. Common burn laws are put into place for this very reason; open burning of garbage is harmful to the environment and to human health. It’s also recommended that you compost your organic waste in your garden to turn it into fertilizer instead of burning it.
When are Trash Burning Barrels Legal?
There are a few situations where burning is legal, such as when you are burning for campfires. These campfires should be no more than 3 feet in diameter by 4 feet in height. Small cooking fires are allowed, provided that you only use dry and unpainted wood as fuel.
Barbeque grills and grills burning charcoal are allowed to be used whenever there is an event. Also, agricultural burning may be carried out on farms with an area of more than than 5 acres.
Finally, common burn laws often allow the burning of tree branches. This is usually subject to restrictions on the length and diameter of the branches to be burned. Even so, there are probably better alternatives to burning, even for getting rid of those old fallen tree branches in your yard.
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