Who knew this, there is a World Wood Day! March 21st is also International Day of Forest. The purpose of this day is to celebrate wood as an not just a renewable material but to educate the public on the role of wood and the importance of wood to biodiversity and forest conservation and how to use wood. First proposed in 2013 in Tanzania (who knew!) this proposal resulted in World Wood Day Foundations which is a (501(c)(3) non-profit organization)
So of course I am going to talk about wasted wood and wood abuse on the beach. This is not just my beach, it is a problem worldwide. There is nothing like a great bonfire on the beach, roasting hot dogs and having a good time. There is nothing wrong with doing some salvaging from alleyways to get your wood.
What happens is multifold.. people truck in pallets of wood and just leave them behind for others to pick up.
In other cases, instead of taking construction debris to the landfill or putting FREE WOOD on Craigslist, they just leave it in a park. On any day you can find a trash can filled with this look. Not only does it fill up needed trash cans, it leaves a huge mess, there are nails on the wood and all that plastic packaging.. gets blown away. Again leaving trash for others to pick up.
Illegal fires. There are reasons why there are designated fire pits. The top reason is safety. In my little stretch of the beach, there are 5-10 illegal fires daily, with lots of leftover wood. About half of these illegal fires are still left burning. This is what happens with this wood, either the beach cleaners have to get out and pick it up, but if it is in ‘The Wet” (Grunion are running) they have to leave. The wood gets washed out to sea, where boats, surfers, swimmers and other ocean activities can get hurt by it.
Most of this wood is wasted. In fact if I had a fireplace, I would never have to buy wood again. I have found full bundles of wood, you know the one that go for $5-8. Every store sells them down here.
The problem of all this wasted wood is deforestation. There really is no reason to buy wood bungles. Go to Craigslist and click FREE Wood and there was over 100 listings between logs and pallets. Even tourists who decide to come to the beach at the last minute can find leftover firewood in the pits.
The other issue and the one I find abhorrent is… notice the plastic packaging. That is rarely disposed of properly, just left on the beach.
I Just Have To Eco You
- 80% of the world animals and plants are in forests
- 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, are gone United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- 50% of the world’s tropical forests have been cleared (FAO)
- Countries with large deforestation: Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of Africa, and parts of Eastern Europe (GRID-Arenda)
- 90% of continental United States’ indigenous forest has been removed since 1600.
All of that said, have a legal bonfire on the beach, use reclaimed wood for Free and pick up your trash.
Resources
Live Science: Deforestation Facts and Causes
It is a shame that your city cannot implement a zero-waste project like san francisco..there are a number of canadian cites that are heading that way too