Right ! It’s time now to get down to brass-tacks . No more fudging or shilly-shallying .No more let the dear little half-wits have their huge bonfires and gradually burn the entire country to the ashes. I’ve seen the stacks of pallets that are annually consumed by flames in Norneverland. Never mind, the so-called “Political ” ,or dare- I- say , “Cultural” pursuits of the dear little fire-starters every year, there is the simple fact that what we are witnessing is the sinfully abhorrent waste of resources.
I want to know , if only out of curiosity, where the wooden pallets and possibly even where the rubber tyres originate.It is the question of the day. indeed it is a huge elephant in the room .Someone from across the world ,even mused a few weeks ago as to whether the wooden pallets were specifically shipped in on special barges , to be burned. The imagination reels at the idea. Even from a conservation point of view, the idea that there is this astounding quantity of seemingly perfect wooden pallets available to be burned like so much kindling every year. This , at a time when the lungs of the earth,the rainforests , are being decimated and cleared of timber.
There has to be something very wrong going on here.If there are so many spare pallets to be burned, why is this so? Surely a wooden pallet is a perfectly re-cyclable item. Even if it could not be re-used for its original purpose and even though the timber may not be of the best quality, there are bound to be many uses that such an immense quantity of short timber planks could be put to.It only takes imagination.
If there is a never -ending variety of coloured -recycling bins for domestic home use, surely there is a huge black hole in the system here that a million wooden pallets is slipping through and greedily being swallowed up. They are ending up as ashes , being wasted on bonfires.At home I am currently working two wheelie bins for domestic rubbish and garden waste , plus two boxes for glassware , cans and various plastics. My local council expects me to do this and I find no reason not to comply .It makes a bit of sense to save any resources possible, rather than wasting them.
A possible solution to the abysmal waste might be to enforce some kind of legislation, but another way might be to introduce more of the composite pallets into the system by law. It should not be a stretch to make them fireproof either, which would immediately solve the problem.Some wag mentioned that some of the national flags that were to be burned on the fires proved to be made from fireproof material and were the only things to survive.If the authorities are not prepared to tackle these things on a health and safety basis, or on a dumping issue of criminal proportions , surely they should try another tack where they will not have to get their hands dirty.
In the meantime , I’m still curious as to who the suppliers of these mountains of pallets are and why there isn’t a list of them in the hands of the police.I’m sure I’m not the only one with these musings.
Totally agree legislation must be introduced to make this practice illegal
Simple solution, Harry – pass a law that all wooden pallets must be painted with a Union Jack!
Could you imagine all our loyalist pyromaniacs even thinking of burning them?
The Earths lungs are gasping, and yet vast quantities of Wood and toxic burning tyres are ignited, in what seems to be a competition between insane nihilists vying to build the biggest funeral pyres. Idiocy, lunacy and an arsonists’ paradise. If burning things us Culturally cathartic, what lies behind the eyes of those wild folk. Kearney highlighted the point that some argue better to burn effigies than people themselves….where Effigies of people are allowed to be burnt and the Law does nothing, then what when this seething burning turns to people…? And it does. This is a Police matter, and the PSNI to sit on their hands and abdicate responsibility on the grounds that the evidence is burnt…….Bullshit. Where hatred burns, so people suffer,- Simple Cause and effect. A poor fella battered to an inch if his life in Derry, then to linger and die….how many bonfires did his multiple assailants attend? Ask the Nationalist community in Coleraine how they deal with the Embers of these fires. Time to change the law, and ban all fires from all quarters. People get burnt, so Time to put the fires out.
The blue and red pallets that you see on the bonfires are meant to be reused and have a value of £5 or even more.
A year ago a company asked that these pallets do not be burned as it was losing them money.
In effect most of these pallets are stolen goods not that you see the powers that be showing much interest in the matter
It gets even murkier if pallets are being stolen on such a scale…That’s a lot of cash being burned.I dare say that if I wanted to buy a couple of these things i’d not be able to buy them .
Thank you for sending me this way, loved the article. It’s what me and my husband have been talking about for a while is the constant wastage by everyone not just the twelfthers. But why burn wood isn’t that one of the things the earth is having problems getting more of? Why isn’t the Green Party over here going mad at this. Burn whatever you want but not items the world is running out of and definitely not recyclable items. It’s like water parks even that water cannon that was deployed I was watching thinking nooooo that is such a waste of water! Recycled green paint would have been better or something just not the water! (I have no idea when I became such a hippie lol)
In my line of work i speak to suppliers of various goods. There is a pallet provider just south of the border, always very keen to speak with Northern companies.
Excellent article, and straight to the point / true as you always Post, PK.
On and off, during my working years in the UK, i’ve worked as either a Warehouse Deputy or Manager. The 2 main pallets are the blue one’s – that HAD to be returned to the supplier, and the others being what are called ‘Euro-pallets’ – oblong in shape (which were usually kept for use in the warehouse for storing ‘overstocks’ of whatever the Company i would be working for dealt in). Not long after moving over to Kildare in ’01, i worked for a Garden Centre for a couple of years. The large bales of compost you see / buy – are delivered on the blue pallets. Same story again, HAD to be returned to the Supplier. Again, the Euro-pallets we kept – usually i’d come up with a use for them (cut them in half, drape them in some form of fabric – and use them as part of a display in the store). In any case, we’d always find a use for them. – Another strange thing being, that the ‘bonfire pallets’ look to be of a completely different size than i’ve ever seen – and i’ve seen thousands over the years – and a friend (to follow…) a fair few too.
To me, as Pete says, rings true. As Container’s etc, rammed full, collected and shipped over from certain areas of Scotland too.
It wasn’t till relatively recently that a good friend and neighbour of mine was telling me he worked C-I-H for a guy in Dublin, (job kind of fell in his lap just at the right time – his own van called it a day, so lost his carpentry / shuttering job etc, which was reliant on his van). This guy supplied him with a Transit type / size van – and he’d scour every site he could find in Dublin. Most of the time he’d be told “Yeah, load up with what ye can see”. End of the day, he’d drop them at a huge warehouse in Dublin (never any ‘bluey’s’ – so to speak).
After the main guy taking his cut (no doubt 50%, plus diesel), my mate would average 600, sometimes 800 Euro a week. – Once he’d earned enough / put by – He went and bought a decent van, went through his phone list of Contractor’s / Builder’s he’d worked with on and off over the years – Got a start a week later.
(He rectified in his own mind (and i can see where he was coming from) re: his Welfare during that period – that his Landlady wouldn’t take Housing Benefit Payments – and he’d managed to find out that somehow she doesn’t have the Property ‘declared’ (somehow) – which at 1 person in a 750 a month apartment, would have had things pretty precarious if the pallet job hadn’t arrived when it did.
(I did ask him previously if he wondered where the pallets were ending up – as in ‘for bonfires’ – but he said between the guy who took him on, and the guy buying the pallets – “No way!”
By the way, on a completely different note (musical) – i’m pretty sure i didn’t send you this link – it was a previous one i’m sure – plus there’s an extra link in it.
On a more life re-affirming note….
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/10/wilko-johnson-interview-ive-got-a-future
Wonderful John… The mystery of the Missing Pallets continues.If all of this is common knowledge why has nothing been done?There is no way these bonfires can grow in size without a rectangular shape to use as a building block…..I think you shared that link already…hope you are well John.
My mistake John…Wilko’s second coming…and a new documentary…excellent! May he live forever!
Thanks very very much Paddy – and indeed the mystery of the pallets continues!
Check the link out anyway – it’ll come up with a link to Wilko’s journey to a Tibetan retreat (very life-enhancing) – and also a write-up (and i’m sure) – a Guardian ‘Film-Team review of a second film that continues Wilko’s amazing recovery. Made by Julien Temple – Strangely, this reviewer gives 3 stars – but if you scroll down, another gives it 4. From what i’ve seen, he’s made / produced a wonderful Documentary. And of course, a chance to close the eyes, think, cast the memory back – and remember the gigs that were 2 or 3 quid – for me (i’m not sure if you were still in Yorkshire by then) – remembering the Tabloid front-pages, and how Punk was going to destroy the Nation and its youth! Then came 19 years of the Tories / the last 5 up until last May in Coalition – and now…at least 10 minimum (if not 15).
Anyway. Enough Tory abomination for now.
Keep well yourself Paddy – With Best Wishes as always,
John.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/16/the-ecstasy-of-wilko-johnson-review-dr-feelgood