Environment
Our Environmental Considerations
We take the impact that the Bonfire and Fireworks has on our local environment very seriously, and both Marple Scouting & Guiding commit to planting new trees through our network – whether it’s at local Scouting & Guiding campsites or through community projects – to try to offset our carbon footprint.
Wood
We used to allow donations of wood for the bonfire which at the time felt like the right community spirit, however following review several years ago we adopted a policy of limiting our bonfire material to pallets donated by local businesses.
Our key considerations for making this change were:
- The safety of our volunteers – unpredictable, non-uniform wooden items are difficult to stack safely and often have nails, screws and brackets, making them difficult to handle.
- Donated household materials can be treated, laminated, painted, glued etc – meaning we can be releasing unknown harmful chemicals into the atmosphere once the fire is lit.
We are grateful to a number of local businesses who have donated their used pallets to Marple Bonfire. This reduces the risk to our volunteers and allows us to know what we’re burning.
Waste
You might know that ash is good for returning nutrients to the ground, and our bonfire makes quite a lot of it. The remnants from the bonfire are removed by arrangement with the council, and regular park users will know that the ground recovers quite quickly.
On the Sunday morning after the Bonfire and Firework display our team of volunteer leaders, parents and Scouting and Guiding members congregate in the park to conduct a thorough litter sweep of all areas used by the Bonfire so that we leave the park safe and as we found it.
Our fireworks are carefully selected to be made of biodegradable materials (mainly cardboard) to limit the impact of any debris that is not recovered during our Sunday morning clear-up.
We have new vendors selling hot food and drinks on the night this year – all will be removing all waste from their plot at the end of the night, keeping the carpark free from litter and waste.
Single Use Plastics
In previous years we have had light up toys and souvenirs on sale along the main route into the park.
While we are sad to take away an offering that no doubt people have enjoyed, we have taken our responsibility to reduce non-biodegradable waste seriously, and as such these items will not be on sale this year.
Wildlife
Our bonfire is not built until the morning of the bonfire & firework display with volunteers busy around the area up until the lighting in the evening, meaning small animals have very little opportunity to seek refuge.
Wood is not scavenged from the park’s wooded areas, meaning we are not disrupting animals in the park.