Towards Freedom

Loud explosions can be terrifying for wildlife, livestock and pets. At best they are a nuisance to people who at least understand what is going on, but can be severely traumatic to many who are trying to sleep or have high sensitivities. In some situations, the anxiety can be fatal.

Additionally, sound of fireworks can trigger PTSD in some individuals who have been in war situations. While PTSD triggering is unavoidable in some cases, replicating the noises of war seems unnecessary and callous to do just 'for fun'.

Bright bursts of light can cause wildlife, livestock and pets to panic. These can also trigger seizures in some people.

Debris from fireworks discharge can be macro (containers, paper holders, metal from sparklers etc) or micro (smoke, agent toxins such as nitric oxide, aluminum-bromide-arsenic-lead-barium contaminants). Both can result in health issues (including death) for individuals who encounter them.

Various health hazards outlined in petition e-4351:

• The chemical analysis is worrisome: 0.5% of the total weight of a consumer display could be lead or arsenic;
• Dr. Terry Gordon states "although people are only exposed to these substances for a short time each year, they are much more toxic than the pollutants we breathe every day";
• A study by the Canadian Environmental Law Association and the Ontario College of Family Physicians states that the surface has only been scratched in understanding how detrimental toxic environmental it is;

These are some solutions to protect oneself, our children and our animals (though not wildlife):

• heavy curtains or eye shades to protect against the bright flashes
• ear protection to reduce the sound
• a gas mask to deal with the fumes and particulate matter

You can also build and retreat yourself, your pets and livestock into a bunker for certain safety. By all means, reduce your personal freedom, so others can have theirs to set off fireworks at their whim!

Or …

Be pro-active and even pre-emptive:

• get your politicians to pass laws banning the sale and discharge of fireworks (see Presenting To Politicians)
• get your community educated on the fireworks issue (see A Ban Done Fireworks)
• get your neighbors to realize they have a right not to be bombarded (see Charge of the Right Brigade)
• get your law enforcement to be aware of illegal fireworks discharge (see Pilgrim's Process)

Low noise fireworks (aka silent fireworks) are partial remedy to snap, crackle, pop. These contain less flash powder and the actual noise is greatly reduced providing some measure of relief to wildlife, pets, children and veterans. They have been adopted by many places in Canada, Europe and UK. See the article Silent Fireworks Promise Relief. They have been around for 3 decades, produce half the noise output and there are no good reasons not to use them instead of the usual as this article, Low-Noise Fireworks Exist, So Why Won’t We Use Them?, points out. However, they are still a disturbance and hazardous.

A more spectacular alternate is the Drone Show. These may eventually replace fireworks for a variety of reasons as this article, Drone Light Shows "Way Cooler" Than Fireworks, in Forbes explains. Articles on these alternatives can be found in our Media Articles section under The Drone Show. While drone shows are a definite improvement (in both reducing the pollution and long-term financial costs), we should explore this possibility and as Lesley Fox of The Fur-bearers says, "strive for shows that cause the least amount of harm".

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