300 million lbs of fireworks and 2.7 billion dollars gone in a cloud of smoke.
Backyard fireworks, yes. Professionally done fireworks at a planned place and time, no.
Professionally done fireworks are usually pretty amazing and fun to watch. They usually happen right around 9pm and last 15-30 minutes.
Backyard fireworks in dense neighborhoods are pretty fucking lame. One mortar every 30 seconds is not the spectacle you think it is. And it typically goes on for hours in my neighborhood. It terrifies dogs and is completely unpredictable. Maybe if everyone agreed to light everything they had between 9 and 9:30 it would be more impressive and less annoying, but that’ll never happen because “muh freedom” or something lol
Fireworks are like. 000000000000001% of a concern for GHG.
You shut down a coal plant for 1 days because you switched to solar temporarily and you probably offset the output.
Yeah but no one ever actually does that.
Love them. There are tons on unnecessary things we do.
Exactly. Movies, the Internet, traveling.
As a life form, the 4 key aspects of life are:
1). Eat 2). Sleep 3). Defecate 4). Reproduce
Literally everything else you do is irrelevant or secondary to the core mission of life.
I am not worried about their environmental impact, but I hate seeing my dog spending the evening shaking because of the explosions. Even sedatives aren’t enough. If you could have fireworks without the big booms, I wouldn’t care, but the big booms scare the shit out of a lot of animals.
My dog couldn’t use the bathroom or drink water. Had a healthy appetite though lol. I felt so bad for him because I should have went outside earlier in the day. This year my neighborhood went all out. I also feel bad for vets.
Mine did a little better this year because instead of trying a prescribed sedative, the vet suggested we try catnip because (I never knew this before) it has a calming and sedating effect on dogs and it’s safe for them. We tested it first because apparently it doesn’t work on all dogs, but at least that time only the big fireworks scared her and she was able to be okay through the little ones. But she was still shaking and panting a lot. I was just glad she was able to go to sleep after the big ones ended.
I’m not a vet, so don’t just take my word for this obviously, but I thought I’d put that out there in case anyone wanted to ask their vet about it. I did some research after they recommended it and (I have a good vet, but you never know) it seems like there’s no health issue if you use it in moderation.
Edit: Our dog is 60 pounds and the vet suggested a half a teaspoon sprinkled in her food.
Mine and my family’s literally just vibed with everyone. They might have been dog tired from running around with everybody, but I’ve never seem a freaked out reaction from a dog that isn’t a little ankle-biter.
My dog is 60 pounds. So that’s pretty big for a little ankle-biter.
Nah friend, I spend time, bandwidth, electricity, etc., talking to strangers and morons on the internet, fireworks give me much more bang for my buck.
I like them. The big shows are a rare form of artistic expression. And even the stuff you can buy, is a form of fun you cannot get anywhere else.
Drone shows are boring. You can watch them on a screen and lose none of the experience. I mean, the first time you see it it’s interesting, but then you remember it’s just a bunch of drones, and your going to be stuck in traffic just so you can see a pixilated coke can or something. There’s nothing unique or special about the experience I feel. Unlike fireworks, while they can look fine on a screen (if recorded properly) but you can see the difference on someone’s face when you’re there. You see it, feel it, and smell it. It makes sense why humans have been doing this for hundreds of years.
It’s only a waste if you don’t enjoy it. Just like some people think painting a bunch of nonsensical images is a waste of time and money but you might thoroughly enjoy it
At least in that case you have a choice of whether or not to look at those nonsensical images. With fireworks the general disruption and potential danger is not a choice.
You can always hide in my basement, I’ve got video games and ice cream down there. We can play a game of twister if you’d like 🙂
Sounds good to me.
Fire, explosions and bang sounds are fun. It gets old quick (I’m not a fan of firework shows), but I do enjoy lighting a small bunch of fireworks with some friends once a year or two.
Edit: I hear the argument for poor puppers, and I’m not saying I don’t care about them, but I’m pointing out the argument that they’re not just a complete waste of money/pollution
I’m the opposite, I think a proper show with professional fireworks is super fun but clowns setting off tiny loud POS fireworks randomly over the course of several hours are just annoying. They don’t have the boom boom, they don’t make much light, and people just set them off in residential areas near kids/dogs.
It’s not really pollution since the materials at the end are trace minerals necessary for biological processes. But the fire hazard is going to get them banned some day soon. Maybe they should move the 4th of July to February or March. You know, one of those wet months.
Does anyone else feel like adding salt to food is a complete waste of money?
Yes but we’re talking about fireworks now. Have you tried adding fireworks to your food? Could be a huge win.
Doesn’t salt act as a preservative for food? There are only a couple things I’ll add salt to. Now if we just started eating fresh food and less processed food no doubt we’d be better off. Hell we’d probably offset carbon emissions by eating locally sourced food and not having it delivered to us more than we would by banning fireworks
Lmao are you really comparing salting food to setting off fireworks?
Does anyone else feel like dyed clothing is a complete waste of money?
I want my food dyed and my clothing salted. Toothpaste is a waste. I use Duncan Hines frosting instead.
If it weren’t for fireworks, we wouldn’t have funny stories about dumb people shoving them in their ass cracks, setting them on fire and cauterizing their buttocks.
It hurts so many animals too.
It’s like asking a texan to get rid of their monster truck. Sure they live with their parents and never use the truck for work. But it’s just not gonna happen buddy.
I live in a city that has criminalized all fireworks, including pop-its. We’re talking arrest and jail time are on the table just for transporting them in your car through city limits (I’m sure this violates the Commerce Clause).
However, drugs are legal. I love their priorities.
Oh, and cutting down or trimming trees on your property is illegal without a permit. My neighbor was hit by a $10,000 fine because the street tree died and they didn’t pull a permit for it.
Talk about taking it to an extreme. It’s almost like the whole city is managed by an HOA.
we got rid of smoking and arguably that was sexy and cool
Who got rid of it, and when??
In the US it’s down from 45% of the population, to 15%, and then it used to be that 60% of those smokers smoked a pack or more a day, now 68% smoke less than a pack a day, with only 1% smoking more than a single pack (smoking exactly an entire pack in 1 day remains around 30% of smokers)
But… muh freedum
Fireworks are a celebration of peace. They’re made from the same ingredients as bullets but they make something beautiful instead of death. I’ve always found this a profoundly meaningful thing.
instead of death
Unless you count birds that abandon their nests, and other animals that flee their homes. Or the heavy metals and other chemicals that are added to the environment. Or the significant increases in particulate matter in the air.
We can come up with that laundry list of environmental impacts for a lot of things. Should we start with the electronic device you used to type your comment?
If you’re thinking to argue that your phone is essential while fireworks are mere entertainment, all I can say to you is “bread and roses.”
Are you saying “Whatabout…”?
No, you’re reaching for that word to try to categorically dismiss an argument you have no response to.
“they make something beautiful instead of death” Agreed, but your neighbor’s kid’s fingers might not agree after that M-80
we should ban every single thing that’s dangerous to the user
No, but as a general rule in society we think that explosives are dangerous things, yet we happily sell them to teenagers who blow out stuff or light them horizontally pointed at other people.
I don’t like fireworks, but when it’s done by professionals I at least know that no one will be intentionally hurt by it. I don’t think they should be entirely banned, but I think that they should be regulated, anything even remotely as dangerous as most fireworks already is.
I don’t believe fireworks should be retailed to the public in any form. They’re a very different story from an aeriel display put on by professionals.
