David Hembrow

It's Easter weekend. The weather is expected to be a bit better than we've had through winter, and lots of people have holidays. So, is this a nice time to go cycling ?

Unfortunately not in the Netherlands.

Over the Easter weekend this country is held ransom by religious (and non-religious) lunatics who light absolutely enormous fires made up of assorted rubbish and these cause ridiculous levels of air pollution, especially of particulates, which blanket the entire country. The Germans also do this, so an easterly wind (which is predicted) doesn't blow the smoke away but just brings extra smoke from Germany.

As a result of this you basically don't want to breath outside on the Easter weekend, let alone do any exercise which would make you breath deeper.

There are fires planned for this evening, tomorrow evening and Monday evening. So there's no quick escape.

The selfish people make Easter in the Netherlands almost as much "fun" as New Year's Eve !

Completely unrelated story: There's also currently a well publicized national shortage of asthma medication, as if that's of any importance at all to the selfish smoke enthusiasts.
#easterfire #airpollution #houtrook #woodsmoke #asthma #astma #netherlands #paasvuren #paasvuur #airpollutionasahobby #idiotsmakinglifeworseforeveryoneelse

Mar 30, 2024 at 8:02amWeb
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Mar 30, 2024
@hembrow wait, the takeaway from this was that “trash fires for the Risen Son” are a thing in the Netherlands.
Show threadDavid HembrowMar 30, 2024

@paninid That seems like a fair summary.

Fires will be lit to remind us of a (probably mythical) Palestinian refugee who was murdered by a tyrannical regime 2000 years ago, while we ignore the plight of real Palestinians who are dying right now because of a similarly murderous regime.

Show threadHalla RemptMar 30, 2024
@hembrow There is nothing religious about easter fires, though. It's a completely separate 19th century neo-pagan invention.
Show threadDavid HembrowMar 30, 2024
@halla True, but I don't know how many people actually know that these days. As a result, their motivation to take part may still be religious, but of course I've not surveyed people to find out...
Show threadMetin Seven 🎨Mar 30, 2024
@hembrow @edgeofeurope Well written. The smoke lovers over here are frustratingly ignorant, antisocial and entitled. Next to the Easter fires, every single day, from the afternoon until late in the evening, lots of bad quality wood is fed to countless hearths and wood stoves in just about every neighbourhood, because it's "romantic" or "cheaper than gas" (which is actually not the case).
Show threadDavid HembrowMar 30, 2024

@metin Indeed. We have that problem as well. Expensive gas has resulted in people installing wood burners into modern houses at an even higher rate than previous years. We've rarely been able to open our windows this winter because of the smoke.

I've been pointing out to any of our neighbours who will listen, as politely as possible of course, that our use of an air-air heat pump through the winter has resulted in us having absolutely no energy bill at all, while on the other hand they're paying for wood to burn in their wood stoves, and that those stoves more to install than did our heat pump. i.e. what they're doing is DEFINITELY not saving them money. Quite the reverse.

But how do we convince people to do the sensible things instead of the ridiculous ones ?
@edgeofeurope

Show threadMetin Seven 🎨Mar 30, 2024
@hembrow @edgeofeurope Yes, our heat pump has also saved us from large expenses last winter, while being beneficial to the environment. 👍
Show threadMetin Seven 🎨Mar 30, 2024
@hembrow @edgeofeurope
Show threadAnne-Martine🍋🍋‍🟩🟥Mar 30, 2024
@hembrow It was a bit damp (drizzle) here at the coast near Leiden, but no fires, so easy breathing while exercising. I hope the wind changes in your favour.