burning your trash? seriously?

[Slim Jim]

I always burn mine, especially if I get a deer down miles in the backcountry. That shit is heavy and I'm going to do all I can to cut weight for the packout

 

[realunlucky]

I can't remember the last time I packed in glass that I would consider burning. Those kinds of products make me wonder...who has the energy for that sort of thing?

Horse has plenty of energy for carrying nonessential stuff

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Hatchet Jack]

The op must be from California.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

^^^well that makes sense. Can't say the last time I used horses, didn't even cross my mind.

 

[Tsnider]

Okay so how many people are hunting at any given time during archery season in Colorado alone? I'm gonna say 10000 are hunting on private or public at any given time. Maybe that's way high maybe that's low. If half of those people burnt their ziplock that held that days food alone that's 5000 ziplocks being burned into the air that day. That's 150 thousand ziplocks for the month of September being burned up. Maybe that's way overstatement but using that as a number for my logic on why it seems ****ed up.

I'm a diesel mechanic for the largest trash company in the country, if not the world. Trash gets dumped into landfills yes, once landfills get packed up and closed big waste corporations buy the land and first use it for its methane as the waste breaks down (and power hundreds of thousands of homes) and they also mine the landfill and collect plastics to package and resell to manufacturers. It all depends on prices at that time. They do bury recyclable products until the costs go up and then pull it back out to sell it.

I'm sorry a lot of you see it as me being a tree hugger. Maybe I am. People can make excuses on why not to pack out. I can tell you my fuel economy isn't effected by carrying out 9 days worth of zip lock bags, sorry but that is just silly. If a trash truck drove only to your house to get only your hunting trash and to the landfill to dump, yes that might be a valid point. A diesel powered truck emits 99% less carbon emission than a gasoline powered one. These trucks haul 100,000 pounds of garage a day or better on 1 tank of diesel.

 

[belly-deep]

Okay so how many people are hunting at any given time during archery season in Colorado alone? I'm gonna say 10000 are hunting on private or public at any given time. Maybe that's way high maybe that's low. If half of those people burnt their ziplock that held that days food alone that's 5000 ziplocks being burned into the air that day. That's 150 thousand ziplocks for the month of September being burned up. Maybe that's way overstatement but using that as a number for my logic on why it seems ****ed up.

What exactly does burning ziplock bag do?

It seems like a prerequisite to getting worked up should be knowing the consequences.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

The electricity used to post this thread has caused more pollution than hunters burning sandwich bags.

 

[COlineman78]

I re-package all of my Mt house meals into zip locks so I can burn them up in sheep country. Nothing is left. Folks that just drop their trash and keep walking are the real problem.

I talked to a forest ranger last year in MT while I was on a backcountry fishing trip 7 miles in they were breaking up illegal fire rings and cleaning up. They packed out tons of trash and they said the worst culprit is Mountain House bags. Now I will admit that I also burn mine, but I check the fire ring before leaving and pack out any trash that didn't completely burn.

The toxic fumes argument is just nonsense. There were was probably 10x more harmful emissions from making a plastic bag than from burning it and any fumes that are emitted have nothing to do with global warming. Every time you take a shit you contribute more greenhouse gasses to the environment. Like someone else mentioned; the extra fuel you burn just having the extra bag in your car as you drive to/from the trailhead probably amounts to more emissions.

 

[Tsnider]

The Danger of Burning Plastic
Plastic Bags Must Never Be Burned — Project GreenBag

Dangers and bad effects of burning plastics and rubber on humans and global warming | Science online

Can we safely burn used plastic objects in a domestic fireplace? | MIT School of Engineering

 

[Shrek]

A diesel powered truck emits 99% less carbon emission than a gasoline powered one. These trucks haul 100,000 tons of garage a day or better on 1 tank of diesel.

Dude ! Put down the bong ! A trash truck isn't moving two hundred million pounds of garbage in a day much less doing it on a single tank of fuel and diesel emits more co2 than gasoline per Kw of energy. I burn my trash and usually in my stove so it helps keep me warm.

 

[COlineman78]

Most of the links your provided talk about the carcinogenic affects of burning plastic, which is very plausible but just like everything that "causes cancer" has never been proven (the CDC uses classifications like "Reasonably Anticipated to be a Human Carcinogen"). The person who wrote the first post that you referenced doesn't even have an MD and is an acupuncture and homeopathic remedy practitioner and therefore cannot be used as a scientific source. The online-sciences article is a little more science based but still is talking about effects on your health, but uses words like "have been linked to" which are major red flags when reading any article referring to research. But I would agree that burning plastic in an enclosed space is probably not a great idea. Notice that they say one of the chemicals produced is "organic", which means that it occurs naturally, just that burning plastic creates a localized concentration that may be harmful. The MIT article is a good one and the only one from an actual scientific source but it specifically talks about burning in your fireplace in an enclosed area and it's dangers to your health if done in large quantities. The Project Greenbag article is trying to sell you their bags, so is so obvoiusly biased that it's disgusting. There are no scientific references for any of their arguments. One of the chemicals that they say is produced by burning plastic (BENZO(a)PYRENE) is combustible and therefore it being a byproduct of burning plastic is chemically impossible.

None of these links mention anything about any sort of greenhouse gas emission.

This only emphasizes the "fake news" issue as of late. MIT is the only credible source here and even then it was written by a PR person at the university quoting a professor rather than referencing formal research.

 

[SHTF]

Yep I'm that guy sorry but next year I'm going to be the guy again

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LMAO. This made me chuckle Have to admit Im that guy also. The earth burns a lot more wicked crap and lets out some insane toxins into the air. I really don't see the issue here. Guess I am uninformed. I do however pack out my trash more often then not but if I got a good fire going then yeah I don't mind throwing it in to watch the funny flames it makes. Its relaxing =)

 

[SHTF]

foil and cans drive me crazy when people try to burn them and end up leaving a mess in the forest

outside of that, I always burn garbage. It really isn't much, if you're careful when you pack.

think about this for awhile... you pack the garbage out of the mountain, load it in your vehicle, your vehicle burns a little more fuel because now you have extra garbage for your vehicle to carry, then the garbage juices and general bullshit gets all over your gear so you have to do a couple more loads of laundry when you get home, then you get home and put the garbage you packed out and drove 300 miles with into your garbage can, then the garbage man comes and picks it up and puts it in his truck, then he drives another hundred miles to a dump, then the garbage gets covered in some acceptable standard amount of dirt next to some poor guy's house that couldn't afford a lawyer to fight the zoning board's landfill plan, the garbage truck driver drives back to town where he lives, and finally a bunch of bears get habituated to the landfill and some poor fish and game guy has to spend his time mowing them down instead of doing his real job. the whole thing is exhausting, carbon producing... if only i just burnt it

unfortunately garbage sucks, regardless of how it is disposed of.

Dude we need to hang out. You'd be a hoot on the side of a mountain after 3 days. Winner 2016 Post of the year. To freaking hilarious made my night.

 

[Tsnider]

To be fair, I make bongs. No shit I'm a Glassblower in Colorado. Or at least I used to be, kind of moved on after 6 years of doing so.

 

[Tsnider]

Dude ! Put down the bong ! A trash truck isn't moving two hundred million pounds of garbage in a day much less doing it on a single tank of fuel and diesel emits more co2 than gasoline per Kw of energy. I burn my trash and usually in my stove so it helps keep me warm.

Your right typo on my part. 100000 pounds.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I would rather see people burn it than half-ass bury it.

I also love finding empty fuel canisters!

 

[Dinger]

On some hunts I'm sure I would leave more boot rubber behind than whats left after I burn a bag.......

 

[belly-deep]

The Danger of Burning Plastic
Plastic Bags Must Never Be Burned — Project GreenBag

Dangers and bad effects of burning plastics and rubber on humans and global warming | Science online

Can we safely burn used plastic objects in a domestic fireplace? | MIT School of Engineering

Those articles make it sound like the biggest danger from burning plastic comes is if you breathe it in.

So don't breathe it in. Simple.

As far as greenhouse gasses go, they are burning truckloads of it in third world countries across the globe. I'm not worried about a sandwich bag here and there.

If you're really that concerned, you should probably stop eating anything but organic fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. Actually, you can't eat meat either. It causes cancer. So I guess you'll have to stop hunting.

 

[belly-deep]

Seriously though, you remind me of the countless vegans I've met over the years who wear leather shoes.

 

[COlineman78]

If you're really that concerned, you should probably stop eating anything but organic fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. Actually, you can't eat meat either. It causes cancer. So I guess you'll have to stop hunting.

Agriculture is the #1 source of greenhouse gasses. Now this includes both produce and livestock of which livestock is the greater contributor of methane for sure. I saw a study where they concluded that the most environmentally friendly food other than certain forms of algae is kangaroo due to their soft feet and ability to live in harsh environments. I don't remember what university did it.

With everything that supposedly "causes cancer" I think we can all draw one conclusion: humans get cancer; like a lot. This causation through correlation conclusion that everyone loves to use when it comes to cancer is annoying. It's impossible to isolate someone from both genetic predisposition and other possible factors long enough to draw any meaningful conclusions about what causes cancer. The fact that we are living longer is the leading cause of cancer along with the fact that people actually care why an old guy died.