By Harry Wallop
One New Year’s Eve in the Lake District, well over a decade ago, after watching the bongs of Big Ben on the television we rushed out of the house, in Windermere, and watched from afar not just a few fireworks going off, but hundreds of Chinese lanterns that had been lit.
They looked spectacular floating high above the lake, reflected in the water.
At the time we thought the mini hot air balloons were a cheap and beautiful way to celebrate any occasion – birthdays, weddings, the end of the year. Only later did we learn they were an environmental nuisance, which when they – eventually – fell to the earth, deposited a bundle of metal wires in which cows or sheep became entangled, as well as being a fire hazard.
Most responsible people would now think long and hard before lighting one and even Amazon slaps big warning signs on the product: “WARNING: Launch away from dry crops,woodlands and grazing animals. Check if it’s legal to fly sky lanterns in your location first.”
The same rethink is needed with disposable barbecues. They are just as bad, if not worse. A menace that not only can cause untold fire damage and belch out the pollution as well as representing the worst aspects of our single-use culture – a big bit of metal that ends up in landfill after cooking a dozen sausages at most. And cooks them badly too. The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment calculates, conservatively, that a million of these things get sold every year in the UK.
It is all very well that the Lake District National Park Authority banned them. But do you really think that the individuals who left instant barbecues at Surprise View or Dodd Wood bothered to log onto the LDNPA website to check the rules before firing up their fire boxes? Of course not. People presume that if they can buy something from a reputable, national retailer it must be legal. It is not an unreasonable assumption.
Which means the only solution is a ban. I am instinctively against outlawing anything that brings people pleasure, but the risk of disposable barbecues is too great. Our summers are only going to get drier and wildfires – once something that only the Mediterranean and California had to cope with – will become an increasingly common feature of England in July and August. Cumbria has already suffered from wildfires this summer. It seems crazy to allow the public to purchase and consume something that significantly increases the risk.
Aldi and Marks & Spencer have vowed to stop selling them, and have been good to their word. You can not buy them in store or on their website – at least not as far as I can discover. Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda, however, still sell them. And only last week Poundstretcher was actively promoting them on social media as an ideal product to buy for “hiking through the hills”.
The retailer rapidly removed its post once it was pointed out how irresponsible it had been. But it hasn’t stopped selling them. The sooner a national ban is implemented, the better.
