Why are there no more burn barrels?

[GatorFarmer]

Whatever happened to burn barrels? I remember that we had them when I was kid, everyone had them back then. It'd be either a purpose built construction with cinder blocks and an old appliance door or something on top, or just a rusty 55 gallon drum.

Every day one would put their newspapers, lawn trimmings, and various bits of flammable household refuse in it and light it up, then poke at it with a stick until it burned itself up. If you were handy, or fancy, you'd construct some sort of chimney out of more cinder blocks or more old appliance parts.

Then during the fall of course, you'd pile up all the fallen leaves and sticks and such against the side, set them sit and fester for a bit, then pour some gasoline on them and burn them up. (If it sat too long, all sorts of furry things would make a run for it, so best have a shovel handy. And don't use too much gas to get it started or you'll lose your eyebrows...)

Now I'm supposed to recycle my paper and cardboard and what not. Why? This just gives the company that picks it up money, and I don't get anything for doing the labor of sorting it for them.

I remember at some point it became technically illegal to have a burn barrel. But it was still legal to have a "camp fire" or any fire used for cooking, so you just had to take an old pot of water and set it out on the burner to boil...

Is this practice still legal anywhere?

 

[BarbC]

We use them here. I don't mind when people burn paper, cardboard, etc., but the people next door throw every piece of garbage in theirs including plastic and it stinks up the neighborhood.

We generally burn our fallen tree limbs during a drizzly day. I have added paper documents that I wanted to discard but paper is usually a pain because it clumps together and you have to keep pushing it apart.

 

[sipowicz]

They are only legal in the offices of Senators and Congressmen. House rules say they are to be kept lit at all times ....Charlie Rangle neglected his burn barrel and let it die out.....that should serve as a warning to the rest.

 

[writerinmo]

I remember them from when I was a kid, lived in a small Kansas farm town. Had the required "Cat Lady" who lived two houses down, elderly, with about 40 cats, trees grown up all around her house, no lawn to speak of, more like a little clump of forest!

About once a month she would make her way out to the burn barrel with load after load of cat-pee n poop soaked newspaper and proceed to load it up. It never got a good burn going, just smoldered ALL DAMN DAY... the smoke was like a noxious fog that blanketed the neighborhood and of course smelled like what she was burning. Repeated complaints to the City had no results, an officer would talk to her and she'd run him off and do it again. I was sure glad when they put mandatory trash pickup into place, I tell you!

 

[cass]

Still use them here. I cut the bottom out of a couple and put them over stumps, put the burnable trash in and, presto - no stump.

 

[ENGINE18]

I have fond memories as a kid raking and burning leaves and yard debris during the fall! Many state and local fire codes now tightly regulate burning of any kind.

 

[P&R Fan]

My Grandparents had a burn barrel and my Grandpa and my Dad always burned lots of stuff, and of course leaves in the fall. I think I was raised to be a pyromaniac.
Open burning is not legal in my city now, although you can have a "recreational" fire. Nobody really knows what that means. I live on an acreage that is in the city limits so I have to be careful. I always burn papers I don't want to throw away and have never had any problems.

 

[snowman]

I grew up on a farm and we did LOTS of burning(not just in the barrel either). I remember shooting drain holes in the bottom with Dad's old '03 Springfield sporter(they soon were plugged up with ash), and cutting a draft door along the side at the bottom. I'd turn the draft door toward the prevailing wind, load it up and boy would it roar. Great fun.

Andy

 

[Andy Griffith]

I think it has something to do with the value of metal barrels, and the fact that many barrels are plastic now.

Plastic burn barrels don't work too well.

 

[Munsterf18]

OK in GA

I have one right behind my driveway. Just loaded it up with feed bags today. Probably should recycle them, but don't. I recycle everything else, keeps the landfill a little smaller.

We do use it to burn wood for warmth at outside activities also. Mine even has a galvanized lid!

Munster

 

[Sven]

I suppose burn barrels are frowned upon because of the tendancy to put plastic and all sorts of other bad things that produce carcinogens when they burn at the relatively low temps found in a burn barrel. Banned in our county and probably the whole state of MN. But, yes I do remember them in my younger days. Very handy.

I'm no envrio-nazi (I believe in burning coal to make electricity), but I know recycling as much as possible is good for the environment, even though someone may be making a buck off of it.

 

[2152hq]

Clean Air Act of 1970 was the main reason most outdoor burning was stopped or at least more closely controlled. Gave the States & Local Govts more power to enforce rules and regs with emission and overall air quality standards.
It's been updated many times since w/higher standards.
Earlier Federal Clean Air Laws set goals more than regulatory measures. They go back to the mid 50's.

Gone were the days when in the fall of the year everyone raked the piles of leaves to the roads edge in long rows and burned them. They burned and smoldered for days but that was the way to dispose of them.
Burn barrels in alot of yards even in the suburbs. Not too bad till they threw the daily food garbage in there too and plastic food wraps became more common.

They still allow the 'recreational fire pits' in most but not all localitys around here but they get fire dept responses for '(heavy) smoke in the area'. It's not uncommon.
People are just not used to seeing or smelling smoke outside in the summertime anymore other than a BBQ.
And they still try to use those things as garbage disposals!

 

[ltcdoty]

I grew up in Albany, New York and back in the fifties a couple of dirty guys driving up and down the city streets in an old dump truck. They would empty the ashes from your burn barrel for fifty cents. I also remember people using the cinders from their coal furnaces to cover the icy sidewalks.

What a mess people must have tracked in to their houses!

 

[USAF385]

Everyone has them around here. I get them for free to $5. Non recyclables get thrown in there. I figure it's better to burn it than to let it sit in the dump.... plus I don't have garbage pick up.. sooooo.......

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Leaf burning was outlawed in NJ in the 1970s and the shift from rural/low density suburban living to high density resulted-I think-in greater restrictions on outdoor fires. Most businesses I know of use a shredder for old paperwok they want to dispose of but wish to keep secret.

 

[jeffsmith]

We stopped about the third time the field caught fire

 

[zoom6zoom]

I also remember people using the cinders from their coal furnaces to cover the icy sidewalks.

I have a friend who swears she's gonna have her husband cremated when he passes so that at least for once she can get him to do something useful around the house.

 

[enfield]

They're not legal in Tennessee but a lot of people outside of the cities still have them. I don't have one, but I do burn my cardboard and newspapers in my fire pit, and I burn leaves every fall -- truckloads of leaves.

I took down 10 trees this summer, so I have a big brush pile to burn this fall also.

 

[Jst1mr]

In WI, burning barrels are allowed (with restrictions, of course), and only dry, unpainted or treated wood or NON-recyclable paper or cardboard. EPA claims that a single burning barrel (paper only) puts as much dioxin and furan into the atmosphere as a well-regulated industrial incinerator serving thousands....

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

My Grandparents had a burn barrel and my Grandpa and my Dad always burned lots of stuff, and of course leaves in the fall. I think I was raised to be a pyromaniac.
Open burning is not legal in my city now, although you can have a "recreational" fire. Nobody really knows what that means. I live on an acreage that is in the city limits so I have to be careful. I always burn papers I don't want to throw away and have never had any problems.

A recreational fire is one that you don't start building by putting an old tire in the middle

I think it has something to do with the value of metal barrels, and the fact that many barrels are plastic now.

Plastic burn barrels don't work too well.

Maybe so, but they don't rust anywhere near as fast as the old metal ones do