Prevention
If you're burning garbage, you're making poison!
Burning garbage can put toxins in the food we eat.
Burning garbage, even burning paper, can release hazardous pollutants like heavy metals and dioxin. Burn barrels smolder at lower temperatures and don't include pollution control devices. Each burn barrel can release more dioxin than a full-scale municipal incinerator. Reports show that backyard garbage burning is now the largest source dioxins in the US, larger than all other industrial sources combined. Dioxins get into the food chain and remain in our bodies, where they can cause serious health problems, including cancer.
Burning can be dangerous to property, too. Each year, debris burning causes 40% of the wildfires in Minnesota. Help keep your family and the environment safe and healthy- don't burn garbage.
Download, print and share this brochure pdf with your family and neighbors.
Backyard Burning is Preventable Pollution!
What can you do?
- Don't Burn Garbage- not even at the cabin or in the campfire!
- Use recycling facilities and garbage services- encourage your neighbors to do the same.
- Educate your family and neighbors about the hazards of burning
- Know the laws- Burning residential garbage has been illegal in Minnesota since 1969.
- Alternatives to Burning:
- Reduce Waste
- Recycle or Shred Paper
- Compost
- Use Garbage Services
Tools for Reducing Residential Garbage Burning for Local Officials and concerned citizens.
For more information about the laws and risks in MN, visit the MPCA Garbage Burning website or the Minnesota Department of Health Dioxin website.
"Bernie the Burn Barrel" and associated materials were developed by the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District in Duluth, MN with a grant funded by the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO).
Contact WLSSD at (218) 722-3336 if you are interested in receiving hard copies of these materials or reprinting these materials for use in your city or jurisdiction.
All materials are also available on the new "Clearing the Air" Burn Barrel Outreach Media Kit CD. Contact WLSSD to receive a free copy. Click here for more information about CD contents and Bernie the Burn Barrel use in your area.
Help spread the word that "It's Better Not to Burn!"