The US EPA was created as an administrative agency in 1970 by the Richard Nixon administration as a compromise against creating an executive level environmental agency. While conservation, pollution and public health agencies have been around for some time, uniting them under one banner was seen as a popular initiative in the 1969 into 1970 brought on by the new found interest in pollution, especially on a national sense after the blue globe photos of NASA Moon Mission, greater suburbianizatiom and professionalism of the working professionals.
The thing is conservation, public health and pollution concerns existed long before 1970, though in some ways the science and technology of the 1950s and 1960s made it much easier and practical to control pollution by the 1970s. Yet it’s not like the change was overnight, it took 55 years to get where we are today with pollution controls – which by no means are perfect. I think it’s a mistake to say nobody in society cared about pollution before 1970, and that everything was perfectly controlled there after. Societies evolve slowly.
They estimate roughly 1 in 4 rural residents burn at least a portion of their household trash. With most things packaged in lightweight plastics and paperboard, a significant portion of waste can be burned. Rural households that burn can often only run to the transfer station or the landfill once or twice a year as most can go up in smoke.
Most of it is inevitably burned in smelly trash burning barrels which are typically 55 gallon drum with holes shot or poked in it. But it can be done better. Burn barrels are fine for disposing of trash in outlying areas but they have several shortfalls that very from a nuisance to a downright public safety threat.
They can smell bad when certain plastics and other trash is burned – as they tend to smolder due to the trash being wet and not enough oxygen
Some of the chemicals released can be toxic, especially when trash solders due to moisture and lack of air
They pose a fire risk – as many are used without screens and are placed near grass or trees
Hot fires eliminate the volatile organic compounds, along with many of the toxins like arsenic, dioxin and furans from incomplete combustion.
I think when I build my incinerator, I would include a fairly high stack maybe 5-6 feet high to create a good draft. A good draft would mean a hot fire, with less emission and odors. Forced air into the incinerator using a blower motor of some sort would increase the incineration process. While a fan would take energy which is always precious on an off grid cabin, the benefits of more complete combustion with less odor and ash might be worth it.
Adding scrap wood and cleaner burning plastics to the fire could further help increase combustion temperatures, reducing ash, unburnt waste, smoke, toxins and odors. Rip roaring fires can make ordinary kitchen and farm trash quickly disappear.
I would sort the waste that went into it. Food waste is good for composting or feeding to pigs and goats. A lot of and metal can be recycled – although maybe it would be better to burn the cans out then waste perfectly good water which may be precious on an off grid homestead. Plus who really wants to wash your trash?
I would also take steps to make sure that the incinerator is away from grass and trees, and that the smoke stack is covered so no paper or sparks could fly out. This would allow disposal of waste even during open burn bans and dry conditions outside. Trash accumulates regardless of the weather in our consumer society. Every time you go to the mail box there is more paper trash and kitchen waste baskets are quickly filled with plastic wrappers, bottles and paperboard boxes. Homesteads also produce feed sacks, pesticide containers and twine needing disposal.
It would be nice to use some of the heat from the incinerator to heat water for washing and other chores around the farm. A lot of city people pay to get rid of their trash, it would be nice for waste to be an actual asset – heating water and providing a useful service on the homestead.
There are a lot of good plans on the internet for improved burn barrels and incinerators widely used on farms and rural homestead. A hot fire can eliminate most waste, saving money and time, turning waste into an asset rather than more fill at the massive garbage dumps.
At least that’s what the news man is reporting this morning. The sun is shining and there is blue skies as the sun is rising.
Eggs and spinach this morning 🍳, watching as the sun rises over the skies. Laying back in the hammock on this most colorful morning. Heading out later on the mountain bike 🚲 to Little Otter Lake most likely though I could change my mind and do Mason Lake or somewhere else.
Yesterday was a nice day, 🍂 checked out the Moose Festival 🦌 in Indian Lake but didn’t stay long. Rode back to Pine Lake and spent some time sitting by the Hudson River by the old Gooley Club parking and then rode along Chain Lakes Road. Not the most brilliant of autumn colors this year but still nice in many places. Stopped at Indian Lake boat launch on the way back to camp, had a smoke and some dinner, sat by the fire until around 11 pm looking up at the stars. ✨ In the afternoon especially, there was deep blue skies.
Today I plan to be fairly laid back, 😴 as besides that ride and hike, I want to spend some time reading 📖 and relaxing. I need to get my ten monthly books 📚 out of Hoopla before they expire for the month. And just enjoy the beauty of the world ❤️maybe after a toke or two, lol. ✌️ Today is the day to relax before the craziness of tomorrow – you know taking down camp, working until five o’clock at the Lake Pleasant library the driving 🚘 home. Tuesday it’s back to working in person in my office that always smells a bit like sewage treatment plant. 🚻 But then again I have my Tuesday meeting downtown and they always provide lunch. 🌮 That’s always good.
The web advertisers have decided I’m into Schizophrenia and depression and are serving me up lots of ads about medication and mental health treatment again. 💊 Truth is I’m quite fascinated about mental illness and how society views it as it’s so tied into recreational drug use and concepts of policing 👮 and justice ⚖. What are acceptable thoughts 💭 to have in a free society? Can’t we live and let live? I guess for people who are seriously mentally ill maybe treatment helps but it seems like they are pigeon holing a lot of healthy people. 🕊️
If you don’t take the first step, you will never get there. But I’m so close but not ready to step off the bus.
At one level it seems like the most exceptional year with high interest rates and a booming stock market that swelled my net worth at twice the rate of my salary – which ain’t bad figuring this year I will close out the year with a six figure income for the first time in my life. Which ain’t bad, though six figures ain’t what it once was before inflation. I have a job I love, that is a lot of fun, pays good even if I am staring down another winter my grimy, falling apart mold infested apartment – assuming I’m not evicted. I’ve been looking at houses but none really suit me or the way I want to live anywhere within a reasonable commuting distance from Albany.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve worked 11 days in the office and spend much of the rest of the time working remotely from the woods. At the end of this weekend it will be 8 nights camping in Rennselaerville, the Green Mountains and now the Adirondacks. I am fortunate at least for a few weeks in the autumn every other year, remote work returns from the wilderness then my normal suburban office overlooking the old city dump. I’m. happier out in wilderness. Some day this won’t just be a trip but home. I know it, I can do it as I’m building up the resources and skills to live the life I want to live.
Truth is that there are many alternatives to the vinyl siding and marble counter tops and carpets of suburbia. There are many options for cabins, woodstoves and off grid buildings. There are many rural areas out there where nobody cares if you have fires, burn trash and debris. More and more states are legalizing cannabis and many states have far better gun laws than New York. Many have excellent public lands and forests within a short drive. I’m saving a lot and it’s a dream I can live if not tomorrow then the day after then. My life won’t be over at forty unless I want it over then. But the best is yet to come I believe.
One of the things I notice about autumn evenings is how much the sun angle has changed. The sun is lower place throughout in the day but come evening they are most pronounced. It’s kind of a special time, one to embrace before darkness, at least in my mind.
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I was thinking it was almost a year since I was camping up at Canaan Heights in West Virginia. I remember the autumn feel down there in the evening both when doing evening rides on Forest Road 13 and that evening I watched the sun set from Canaan Valley WMA.
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Especially on very clear autumn evenings like tonight with deep blue skies offsetting the autumn colors of the trees. After a warm autumn day… Soon to be chilly autumn evening. How fast time comes and goes.
I really don’t get the appeal of campground camping. Who wants to spend time in the woods in a campground bunched up against a whole lot of other people, smelling their smoke and hearing their boombox playing. Really if at all possible, I camp in the wilderness as far away from people as possible.
But then again, buying a house has as much appeal to me as campground camping. Really all the same things apply.