Light my fire
Here in Portugal most people use some white napalm-like wood lighters to light their fireplaces, bbq’s, etc… they are not very pleasant to use if a fireplace is badly built because they leave you with a stench of burnt fuel (in a good fireplace you won’t even smell it because the chimney sucks it up).
Well, as I was walking home from the train station with a friend and one of her co-workers she told her co-worker we could stop by the market to buy the said lighters.
“Oh no, no way, this market doesn’t carry the biological lighters and I won’t use any other kind”
Biological fire starters? What on Earth?
“Do you mean pine cones?” I ask.
“No, wood chips pressed together with some natural oil that helps it burn and a built in match. I can’t believe you folks use anything else!!!”
“Well, sorry but for me the only biological fire starters are pine cones and cow dung, and I’ve never really used the second ones…”
“Why do they place a match in it? Why don’t you use two rocks instead?” Adds our friend.
From that point on the conversation started to collapse into jokes upon jokes.
Those said “biological fire starters are said to be environmental friendly” but the funny thing about it is that the company that makes them uses a lot of electricity and fossil fuels, plus they make a lot of garbage that is carried out to a dump.
There is also another brand who uses regular glue to stick the pieces of wood chips together. Don’t they know burning glue produces toxic fumes?
Why don’t the eco-freaks take some of their time to check if something is really a better alternative? I like to go with the eco-friendly alternatives when they make sense. Like in this case: I really prefer to use pine cones (expensive unless you do pick them yourself) but I would never pay up to five times more to use the lighters she mentioned knowing the production process isn’t all that environmental friendly.
Well, as I was walking home from the train station with a friend and one of her co-workers she told her co-worker we could stop by the market to buy the said lighters.
“Oh no, no way, this market doesn’t carry the biological lighters and I won’t use any other kind”
Biological fire starters? What on Earth?
“Do you mean pine cones?” I ask.
“No, wood chips pressed together with some natural oil that helps it burn and a built in match. I can’t believe you folks use anything else!!!”
“Well, sorry but for me the only biological fire starters are pine cones and cow dung, and I’ve never really used the second ones…”
“Why do they place a match in it? Why don’t you use two rocks instead?” Adds our friend.
From that point on the conversation started to collapse into jokes upon jokes.
Those said “biological fire starters are said to be environmental friendly” but the funny thing about it is that the company that makes them uses a lot of electricity and fossil fuels, plus they make a lot of garbage that is carried out to a dump.
There is also another brand who uses regular glue to stick the pieces of wood chips together. Don’t they know burning glue produces toxic fumes?
Why don’t the eco-freaks take some of their time to check if something is really a better alternative? I like to go with the eco-friendly alternatives when they make sense. Like in this case: I really prefer to use pine cones (expensive unless you do pick them yourself) but I would never pay up to five times more to use the lighters she mentioned knowing the production process isn’t all that environmental friendly.
posted by DCveR at 5:46 PM
5 Comments:
Last summer I used something like the stuff you're on about in Spain. Built in matches! I thought it was quite ingenious! Biodegradable stuff! Not a bad idea but I'm sure that the burning charcoal lets off just as much carbon dioxide!
Cow dung and coconut shells. That's what folks here used long ago to light their mudstoves. Didn't chop down trees.
sometimes people get so caught up in the vanity of being eco-friendly, they forget what it's really about.
isis: Biodiesel is a good alternative to re-use some of the cooking oil that gets wasted, but growing cereal to produce it wouldn't be viable, it would take too big an area and it would wreck the soil in a couple of years. A good solution that yet doesn't solve the entire problem.
cream: But food sure tastes better cooked on an open fire!
GG: Cow dung! I guess people have used it all over the world!
cadiz: Some people just read the label and get all happy because it has "eco" or "light" on it.
Yes, it's true, food cooked in an open fire is DELICIOUS. Only today a woman I met and I were chatting about this.
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