Be informed

I have come to realise in 2026 that the challenge of climate change means that lives and lifestyles have to change if we are to survive. But all around I see business-as-usual, with the odd bit of recycling and kitchen waste collections. I have to start saying things that are unpopular. So here goes…

It is bonfire season in the UK. We mark the foiling of the so-called gunpowder plot to blow up the British Parliament and see off the Protestant king. In a nutshell. We do this by adding huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere along with a cocktail of other toxic chemicals and with explosives. Usually there are casualties, but they are either unlucky or stupid. It is worth it.

I took a late stroll on 15 October, in my adopted town of Hastings, UK. I came across an area of the beach that had been cordoned off and some pallets piled up inside the cordon. The next day I ventured back in daylight to take a photograph (left).

What is going on? The Council has declared a climate emergency but is allowing the release of c29 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the most abundant of the greenhouse gases – currently locked into the wood from trees that captured it from the atmosphere when they were growing. The Council enables this for no reason at all (of course, this is disputable). In addition to carbon dioxide, the burning of the wood released potentially toxic chemicals (wooden pallets are treated with a range of chemicals such as fumigants and preservatives), and dangerous particulates. It stresses wildlife and pets.

It does not come cheap, either. There is an opportunity cost here. Let us add up the costs: security, fencing (even the fountain is cordoned off), pallets, fireworks, litter clearance (strewn everywhere), medical support, use of resources to manufacture and sell tat…

How much carbon?

I assume 800 pallets. Each pallet weighs approximately 20kg. Each pallet is, again, roughly, 50 per cent carbon. That is 10kg carbon per pallet and 8000 for 800 pallets. When it burns it oxidises. The formular is CO2=C×44/12. So that is 8000x(44/22)=29.3 tonnes. If the calculation is incorrect, please let me know.

Incidentally, the average per capita emission is 7,000 kg. The average Briton, estimated by Mike Berners-Lee, has a footprint of 13,000 kg. It is not negligible. Every kilo matters because every fraction of a degree Celsius of warming matters.

For all of the official events, there is always a fringe. Descending on the town are the “tat” sellers. I do not know if they are licensed, but they seem very organised. They sell toys that are irresistible to children as they are brightly coloured and glow very much in the dark (right). They are single use. They will be thrown away. And my goodness, do they shift this tat. Behind this stuff is a climate disaster in the making, notwithstanding the cheap labour exploited to make it and the addition carbon generated in shipping.

You are stopping people from having fun – get a life

At this time of the year, these bonfire events are taking place across the country ahead of the climax on 5 November. As a kid, of course, I loved this night of the year. November 5th would fall on the week after our school half term. That whole week would be spent collecting wood to build the bonfire. (Pallets were not an option at the time.) Children would go house-to-house with their “Guy” (Guy Fawkes, one of the plotters who managed the explosives) to collect money to buy fireworks. We would have to defend our wood from other gangs who were looking to steal it for their own fire. The idea that we might collaborate did not come into the equation. It was pre- (knowledge about) climate change.

The event in Hastings is a major attraction. It brings in welcome extra money for businesses in the centre of the town, in particular hospitality. The downside is the observation that the streets around the centre of the town were choked with illegally parked cars. Huge ones, all consuming fossil fuels for their motive power. Not a single parking ticket to be seen. I have also been criticised for seeming to be petty – “it is only one bonfire once a year” and “what about the conflagrations taking place currently in France?” I tried to respond politely, but people are naturally defensive and most miss the point that I am making. I am not attacking a particular bonfire or people having fun. I am trying to make the case for improving awareness of the climate emergency and our response to it in our daily lives.