January 21, 2011--My Fireplace

Now they've gone too far.

We bought a car that gets 35 miles on a gallon of gas (but as a consequence has no acceleration). We've switched to fluorescent light bulbs which save a lot of electricity (though they do not give off enough light for me to read after dark). We use only "green" cleaning products (which leave ring-around-the-collar). We don't let the water run when doing dishes or when shaving and take rather cold showers (which we have convinced ourselves are good for our circulation). We don't drink bottled water or anything bottled for that matter (wine being the exception). We are demon source-separators of our garbage (never letting glossy newspaper inserts get mixed together with the newsprint). And we religiously use biodegradable toilet paper and flush only twice a day (comments not welcome).

For God sakes, our apartment in New York City is only about 1,000 square feet and we have the downstairs radiators turned off. How much smaller a carbon footprint can we leave?

Moreover, our house in Maine is unheated and we get through cold mornings and nights wrapped in Snuggies.

While up there we think we're doing the virtuous thing when we wake up by using our fireplace to take the chill out of the air before spending the rest of cold days in bed huddled under down comforters. But now they're telling me that fireplaces, in this environmentally-sensitive age, are not only not cool any more but hazardous to one's health. Half the reason we bought the cottage on the Pemaquid Peninsula is because of its old, free-standing stone fireplace.

According to an article in the New York Times (which I have reluctantly linked below), not only does an old-fashioned fireplace discharge all sorts of bad stuff into the air (which, I confess, I sort of knew but have been ignoring for the sake of the charm that only a fire can provide), but, to quote--

The smoke from a fire smells very nice but it can cause a lot of harm. The tiny particles can cause inflammation and illness and can cross into the bllodstream, triggering heart attacks, as well as other conditions.

Oy.

Now I not only have to worry about second-hand cigarette smoke. Though, in spite of what I am learning about them, I think I'll take my chances when it comes to my fireplace. Life is short and charm is charm.