Why I don’t like 4th of July fireworks

The 4th of July is the commemoration of American independence from British rule/oppression and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution was a bloody battle spanning eight years, taking an estimated 25,000 lives, and wounding another 25,000.

Now, I can understand the desire to commemorate this holiday – it’s where America became America.

I don’t partake because not only do I not like the America we have today (which is a whole ‘nother can of worms) but I don’t like the yearly re-enactment of war.

People spend so much money on fireworks to shoot into the sky. The common reason I hear is “because they’re pretty.” So they pour money into foreign economies, most often China, to buy these artificial bombs to get just a few seconds of visual pleasure.

To me, it’s not much more than just loud explosions, one after another. We’re commemorating our “freedom” by re-enacting the bombs? Is it a celebration of the birth of a country or just an excuse to blow it up?

And there’s also the environmental impact:

The EPA studied a lake in Oklahoma last year and found that within 14 housrs of the fireworks display, perchlorate levels were 1000 times higher than background. (Perchlorate inhibits the workings of the thyroid gland). {Treehuggher.com)

While I don’t like fireworks because of the noise reminiscent of war, there are ways to lessen the environment impacts of fireworks:

To minimize impacts from fireworks pollution, individuals should reduce or eliminate their use of personal fireworks ­– these tend to concentrate their smoke near ground level. Instead, residents may attend community-sponsored aerial fireworks displays. These create pollution as well, but generally much higher above the ground where it can dissipate more completely before reaching people at ground level. {Olympic Region Clean Air Agency}