Dirt, injuries, pets in fear: must private New Year's fireworks be banned?
For most people it's New Year's Eve, like a glass of sparkling wine, "Dinner for One" and raclette or fondue: at midnight, you can go bankroll!
For a majority of Germans, the private fireworks at the turn of the year is simply a must. A few days before New Year's Eve, retailers start selling Böllern, rockets, volcanoes and Co. - some spend hundreds of euros on the light show.
And over and over again, critical voices are raised: Does it have to be that year after year these crazy sums are literally "burned" in the truest sense of the word? Many will remember the "Bread instead of Böller" campaign, which, especially in the nineties, called on the public to better donate money to starving people than to invest in fireworks. In addition, in just one night almost 5000 tons of fine dust are blown into the air - what an air pollution!
Now Germany is again discussing: Do you have to ban private fireworks at the turn of the year? There are many reasons for that:
Risk of injury and fatal accidents
Quite clear: Böller and rockets are explosives and therefore dangerous. Again and again, on New Year's Eve, many mostly young men end up in hospitals because of improper fireworks. And: at the turn of 2018, even two men died as a result of their injuries. One of them had built his own explosive device.
Pets in fear
Calls have been circulating for years in the social networks in the days before New Year's Eve, but please think about the dogs, cats and other pets in the neighborhood and refrain from fireworks as much as possible. The reason: The four-legged friends get part of the blast animal Fear, over and over again is on Facebook and Co. read by dogs who ran away while walking in a panic, because they have been afraid of a gunman. And also wild animals in forests and meadows are afraid. Julia Herklotz from the animal welfare Lübeck:? I plead to prohibit the private purchase of fireworks.?
Dirt and fine dust
The image on New Year is always the same: The day after the big fireworks the big dirt comes to the fore. Scraps of paper and explosives, rocket sticks and empty volcanoes are scaring our inner cities. And then there is the dirt in the air: "In a single night, 17 percent of the amount of fine dust emitted by road traffic in one year," criticized about the nature conservation federation BUND.
What speaks against it, the cities & Komunen organize a central New Year's Eve fireworks and for the private blunder disappears?
Is already normal in many countries around the world and would relieve the fire department on New Year's Eve and garbage removal on New Year's extreme.
All good reasons to ban private fireworks. Fans of pyrotechnics, however, note that the lightshow is not only beautiful, but also traditional. They do not want to be banned, and will blow up rockets and howlers again next year. What do you think?
