Does anyone else feel like fireworks are a complete waste of money and a ridiculous amount of unnecessary Pollution?

Yup, that could also be said about music, cinema and any other form of art/entertainment/distraction. It doesn't produce anything "useful", but again, what is "useful" varies from one person to another. Some would say the waste of money is the point. You blow fireworks because you can.

Ultimately nothing matters because there is no true meaning of life, so anything that pulls you away from the dark nothingness of existence is good to take.

Fireworks are a cool spectacle, imagine never seeing a fireworks show. Also the money isnt gone, its just changed hands.

They probably shouldnt be how they are now though, where every individual family wants to fire their own, thats a waste and really obnoxious when its in the middle of neighborhoods. Keep it to one centralized show, away from residential areas, and everyone gets to watch a bigger show.

Can't you say the same about virtually any form of entertainment? The electricity that runs the server you used to post this doesn't come from nowhere.

Fireworks are a celebration of peace. They’re made from the same ingredients as bullets but they make something beautiful instead of death. I’ve always found this a profoundly meaningful thing.

I have a dog who would agree. If he could speak English (he's from Mexico).

The long and the short of it is that we live in a society of different people who enjoy different things. Nearly everything is a trade off of some sort. Some people value the enjoyment they get from fireworks more than others. Some hate it. That is true of litterally everything. I strongly dislike the keeping of pets on anything smaller than a farm. But I don't tell people they shouldn't have pets. Being part of a society means living with a mix of things you like and don't. And the society determines what is so commonly disliked that it should be not allowed by the law. Now many will say the fireworks are illegal in a lot of places. Yes so is speeding. Our system has three parts, the laws, the enforcement, and the penalties. Enforcement of fireworks laws are often pretty lax, same with speeding. And the penalties are almost always purely monetary. So society has said it doesn't really care that much about fireworks. And the large number of people who use them and who show up to fireworks shows backs that up.

Waste of money? No more so than any other form of entertainment that is temporary.

Environmentally, yeah…they’re pretty bad. Air pollution is a big issue. Some birds get killed when they run into things because they can’t see very well after being scared off by the fireworks. Any large human event is environmentally bad, like a sporting event.

We generate literal tons of plastic and other human waste when we gather for mass entertainment.

A local, professional display uses about 80lb of gunpowder (NEQ). When combusted this will produce about 40lb of CO2. To put this in context, most new internal combustion engines will produce about 190gm of CO2 per mile.

Therefore a single car would need to travel 88 miles to emit the equivalent amount of CO2 of your typical fireworks display. If you consider the a round trip distance for the entire audience to watch a single fireworks display, gunpowder is a fraction of the CO2 footprint.

Of course they are a waste of money, and the plastic packaging is incredibly bad for the environment. And they are fun and I will buy them again next year.

Fireworks are like. 000000000000001% of a concern for GHG.

You shut down a coal plant for 1 days because you switched to solar temporarily and you probably offset the output.

Love them. There are tons on unnecessary things we do.

I wouldn't say it's ridiculous if it's once a year. If we did it every night...yeah. But people spend more money on a lot dumber stuff, like expensive purses and giant luxury trucks.

I think they're amazing. The chemistry of colored flame has fascinated me since I was young, and there's nothing quite like being close to explosions. If I had more time and lived in the US I'd be a hobby pyrotechnician.

I hate fireworks and always have. I get people like them, but I wish they didn't go all night from every direction. If each area had a central park/spot where they did a big firework show for everyone for a little bit I wouldn't mind it as much, but now every street has they're own fireworks that go off randomly through the night.

Also something I don't think a lot of people think about. In my old neighborhood a lot of us had varying forms on PTSD and couldn't deal with the loud bangs. Holidays where fireworks were heavy were treated as a ceasefire/peace day for the most part since basically everyone who had been involved in a shooting was a mess, which was almost everyone. Others took the chance to disrespect that and use the fireworks as cover, they weren't treated well.

I'm sure most veterans feel the same or worse.

It's not just dogs who lose it at fireworks.

What are your hobbies, OP?

I am not worried about their environmental impact, but I hate seeing my dog spending the evening shaking because of the explosions. Even sedatives aren't enough. If you could have fireworks without the big booms, I wouldn't care, but the big booms scare the shit out of a lot of animals.

I love animals. So I would agree with you. I do enjoy watching fireworks but it's not worth the suffering of innocence creatures.

I like them. The big shows are a rare form of artistic expression. And even the stuff you can buy, is a form of fun you cannot get anywhere else.

Drone shows are boring. You can watch them on a screen and lose none of the experience. I mean, the first time you see it it's interesting, but then you remember it's just a bunch of drones, and your going to be stuck in traffic just so you can see a pixilated coke can or something. There's nothing unique or special about the experience I feel. Unlike fireworks, while they can look fine on a screen (if recorded properly) but you can see the difference on someone's face when you're there. You see it, feel it, and smell it. It makes sense why humans have been doing this for hundreds of years.

It hurts so many animals too.

in this part of the world, we are blessed with stray dogs who are also protected by our supreme court. it's quite literally against the law, for example, to prohibit the feeding of strays by animal lovers.

i once saw one of them shudder and whine at the sound of fireworks. its tail scrunched under and it pissed itself in fear and confusion. its plaintive moans were drowned out by the incessant blasts of the "mala" crackers (a literal garland of 10,000 or so crackers strung out in sequence that goes on bursting for an hour or so). the poor thing just did not know what was happening and it became a shivering ball of anxiety until the blasts stopped.

anyone who sees an innocent animal suffer like that will never, ever, want to light a firecracker again.

Several other people feel this way and you're all wrong. Is good food wasted because after you eat it it's gone? Are vacations stupid because once it's over nothing has materially changed? No? So why are fireworks pointless simply because they're temporary?

Yes. They only exist for brainless people who think blowing useless things up, annoying neighbors, scaring pets, and waking sleeping babies is fun.

2.7 billion dollars gone in a cloud of smoke.

... you know that's not how money works right?

Fireworks are a funny one because you're completely right and also not completely right I think. It's one of those unresolvable dichotomies of life where two opposing ideas are both true at the same time. I've often thought fireworks were the most obvious way to set fire to a lot of money that could be better used somewhere else. However, what is also true is that humans have a deep need to celebrate and to come together in large groups and have shared experiences. Fireworks are perfect for that. You can put a million people together and launch a massive firework display and they will all immediately connect with each other through the shared experience of going "Oooooohh" and "Aaaaaaahh" :) Fireworks are awesome and also, personally I feel they remind me that there are bigger things out there than the daily grind of existence.

I'm ok with professional firework shows.

I'm not ok for every kid in the neighborhood having access to little explosives.

i think fireworks are nice but they're to a large degree something from a different age and at this point we should only really be using smaller volcano-style ones, and like holy shit we have drone technology, why aren't drone displays standard in any vaguely populated area?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lnBmYAiduo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyEWcfn7rT0

look at this shit, it's so cool! can we please push for this to be the standard?

Fire, explosions and bang sounds are fun. It gets old quick (I'm not a fan of firework shows), but I do enjoy lighting a small bunch of fireworks with some friends once a year or two.

Edit: I hear the argument for poor puppers, and I'm not saying I don't care about them, but I'm pointing out the argument that they're not just a complete waste of money/pollution

No, fireworks are cool and fun and people enjoy them.

Does anyone else feel like adding salt to food is a complete waste of money?

I absolutely hate them. Birds die because of them, and they terrify my dog.

Fireworks are art. Art isn't inherently wasteful.

I definitely think they can and are often overdone. Where I'm from civilian fireworks use is very uncommon unless you're out in the sticks. So we get at most 2 municipal fireworks display per year, New year's eve and Canada day. New year's eve fireworks happen some years and don't others.

I personally love fireworks. The awe of the display is never lost upon me. I can see it becoming old if it's something you deal with all the time. That isn't an issue here though and I always step outside to watch them when a display is done locally.

It's like asking a texan to get rid of their monster truck. Sure they live with their parents and never use the truck for work. But it's just not gonna happen buddy.

They seem very backwards when there are drone displays and other forms of entertainment. Humans cling on to things way too long.

no i think they are beautiful

Personally I hate them and I think they are more harm than good.

Let's do some clarification: I can appreciate the high in the sky fireworks, while I simply hate those you fire by hand in between the legs of other bystanders.

Overall I think they are dangerous and should not be freely sold, while keep doing the big ones in the sky.

But, honestly, a form of art that harms so many people and animals maybe should be banned after all.

Same goes for all american flags.

I mean, yes and no. The festivals I visit and my gaming PC are also a complete waste of energy when you view it like that. I hate the dangerous situations we have every year in the Netherlands with fireworks. The heavy fireworks and loud bangs, the vandalism. But I'm okay with the people who send a lot of nice colourful fireworks into the sky around new year's eve, and the farmers with their loud "carbid" launchers.

They also scare the crap out of my dog, and cause a lot of accidents. Though, they can be beautiful...

A community of ultra redditors must of course be the fun police :(

I don't like the loud noises, the smoke, or the debris leftover.

Maybe 200 years ago they were impressive. All the color and whatnot up in the sky. But we live in a modern age. We have things way more entertaining than colorful explosions that don't have such immediate drawbacks.

It's also supremely annoying and like a microcosm of everything wrong with humanity that some folks will be like "I don't like them for a set of valid reasons" and a bunch of people will be like "but I like them so I don't see the problem and won't stop"

My city had a drone show this year and it kinda sucked. I probably won't go again

The art of it has use. However I think drone shows would be an interesting replacement.

They also cause fires, severely injure and kill people, trigger people with PTSD, frighten animals and disrupt local wildlife.

So many injuries and fires every year, aside from all the noise and pollution. My friend’s house (old farm) burned down because a firework landed on the roof :(

For pollution, at least CO2, 300M lb is 136k metric tons. I didn't know the water to CO2 ratio for solid rocket motors, but I'd guess maybe half is CO2. Cars produce 1.5B tons of CO2 per year in the US, so the CO2 would be about equivalent to about 24 min of driving cars. That doesn't seem too unreasonable.

But maybe you were taking about the metals? I don't know how much of an issue those are.

Yes, I wholeheartedly think this

If it weren't for fireworks, we wouldn't have funny stories about dumb people shoving them in their ass cracks, setting them on fire and cauterizing their buttocks.

As someone who grew up in a country where fireworks are legal and used on every festivity, they suck if you are a baby, a dog or not the one lighting the up.

They’re just used by people that hate birds and/or war vets

Drone displays are increasingly popular.

He's one: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LLhkrj1HDNo

The average number of drones for a Sky Elements performance is 300 typically costing $45,000 all included. Though costs have been dropping, they're still usually higher than for a large fireworks production, which averages about $1,000 a minute and usually lasts about 20 minutes.

They're worth it when it's a sanctioned display, and they've spent enough money to make it worthwhile.

I'll never understand why people set them off in their own garden. Fireworks aren't cheap, and unless you spend some proper money you're basically just setting off fireworks for a dick-swinging contest with your neighbourhood.

But.. muh freedum

I agree that they've moved into the territory of mostly annoying, but getting rid of the fireworks is unlikely to reduce the cost of celebrations. they'll just be replaced with equally expensive drone shows and the like

I'm not totally against fireworks. As others have mentioned, sometimes we do need to just have some fun and not worry about the consequences. But they should be done far from residential area, so that unwilling people (e.g. vets, children, or pets) aren't disturbed. (Honestly though, I wish we didn't have any vets with PTSD, that's the worse problem. As long as we still have wars, I'd say let the people have some fun.)

No.

I think people should get to do them! I don’t enjoy them, but whatever. If we could make louder noises, flashes and colors with environmentally friendly fireworks, that’d be awesome. I think the noise, flash and color of fireworks is what other people enjoy, but we all suffer the poor air quality afterwards. So I just want something that will make other people get what they want out of fireworks while not damaging the air quality

Hey, most of us drive about in small, fuel-efficient cars the whole year

Ban our fireworks once you ban your millions of tiny-penis trucks!

Firework is usually used by assholes.

I agree for a multitude of reasons but I much prefer the drone shows. They look much cooler.

Fireworks are a complete waste of other people’s money. Besides the regular fireworks show (taxes), I like watching people’s money go up in smoke. It’s fun!

Backyard fireworks, yes. Professionally done fireworks at a planned place and time, no.

Professionally done fireworks are usually pretty amazing and fun to watch. They usually happen right around 9pm and last 15-30 minutes.

Backyard fireworks in dense neighborhoods are pretty fucking lame. One mortar every 30 seconds is not the spectacle you think it is. And it typically goes on for hours in my neighborhood. It terrifies dogs and is completely unpredictable. Maybe if everyone agreed to light everything they had between 9 and 9:30 it would be more impressive and less annoying, but that’ll never happen because “muh freedom” or something lol

It's not really pollution since the materials at the end are trace minerals necessary for biological processes. But the fire hazard is going to get them banned some day soon. Maybe they should move the 4th of July to February or March. You know, one of those wet months.

Yes, they should be replaced by drones or LED light shows

Honestly I just don't care about them anymore, they are all basically visually the same, once I've seen one professional fireworks show it starts to feel like I've seen them all. It's loud as fuck too, it hurts my ears more than it used to, I just stayed in yesterday.

Nothing good about 'em!

Not only that, but they seriously freak me (and like a bunch of animals) out. Not to mention everytime they go off, even on 'murica day, someone thinks it's a gun. At least where Ive lived.

but the volcanoes do more damg tho

Nah friend, I spend time, bandwidth, electricity, etc., talking to strangers and morons on the internet, fireworks give me much more bang for my buck.

here and there are fine, I think sometimes they have their place but I'm really not a fan. the noise bothers me and I hate that people shoot them off to celebrate the same veterans that suffer ptsd during firework shows. I hope some communities start to move to drone shows in the future. https://youtu.be/pZ-zJ0Vq0FU Much quieter and leaves way more room to switch it up year to year.

I agree completely. I could see an argument for one instance that is shown globally via screens or whatnot as each year passes, but other than that it is such an enormous amount of unnecessary wastage.

Asceticism is a dead end.

Yeah I don't care for them. Had fun when I was a kid but that was before we all had computers in our pocket.

No

Yeah, it's a silly tradition. But old habits die hard and traditions like this die even harder.

A lot of song birds with their heads blown open by fireworks lay around this forested neighborhood after every 4th of July and New Years.

For freedom, I guess.

Yep

I dislike when they're used to excess

Actually Cities generally do not consolidate funds to have big enough shows, just a bunch of tiny embarrassing shitty shows.

I agree with the waste of money, I like them but they are far too expensive to be worth it.

as for the environmental impact, I don't really care, there are far worse things that people could be focusing on environmental wise instead of things that help bring joy in this already gloom world. I would prefer efforts be wasted on that then wasted on trying to ruin others fun.

Not sure if art good or just lights up

Wow. Much American. Literally only country that fireworks.....

And noise pollution

Bring back the drones! They were way cooler.