Today marks the second Clean Air Night event, created by health charity Global Action Plan to raise awareness of the danger of domestic wood burning.
Clean Air Night was conceived as a sister campaign to Clean Air Day, a focal point in the fight against air pollution since it was launched in 2017.
Much of this year’s campaign activity is focused in and around London, where domestic wood burning makes up 17% of PM2.5 emissions and has a health and economic cost of about £187 million per year.
The London Wood Burning Project Health Impact Evaluation can be read here.
According to research undertaken by Global Action Plan, only 54% of Londoners are aware that wood burning is harmful to health.
Other research has shown that the majority of people who burn wood in the UK do not need to to do so in order to keep warm, they are burning simply for aesthetic reasons.
We have published a number of articles on domestic wood burning recently, covering the topic as it affects us in the UK as well as abroad. A selection can be read on the links below:
Over 5,600 wood burning complaints led to just four fines (December 19th 2024)
Birmingham’s wood burning emissions increased sevenfold over 12 years (December 11th 2024)
The fatal attraction of domestic wood burning (November 22nd 2024)
Doctors react as Scotland ditches wood burning ban (November 12th 2024)
Paediatricians take aim at wood burners (September 20th 2024)
What’s to be done about the UK’s Wood Burning Stove Problem? (May 10th 2024)
Domestic wood burning pollution increased 56% in ten years (February 14th 2024)
Podcast – Tessa Bartholomew-Good, Global Action Plan, on Clean Air Night (January 18th 2024)
Domestic wood burning has same impact as the Black Summer bushfires says Australian study (January 16th 2024)
Defra under fire for mixed-messages over wood burning stoves (January 6th 2024)
Trying to shake the wood burning habit in New Zealand (December 22nd 2023)
Research shows wood burners are more expensive for heating than gas boilers (November 15th 2023)
For the sake of public health, we must change the way we talk about burning wood (September 25th 2023)