This fall, let’s clear the air by retiring woodstoves

Autumn is a time of change – cold rain, changing colors and crisper air. A sense of urgency descends upon us to prepare for the longer and colder nights ahead. For many, this is the time we begin burning wood for fires in our homes.

This year things should be different for those of us who live in Tacoma and most of Pierce County: Thursday (Oct. 1) is “Date Certain” for eliminating the use of uncertified woodstoves. After this date the use of uncertified woodstoves in Tacoma and our surrounding towns and countryside in the “Smoke Reduction Zone” will become illegal.

Woodstoves are a dangerous source of air pollution in our homes and neighborhoods. Burning wood creates harmful toxins and fine particles; breathing particle pollution can shorten life and send those most at risk to the emergency room. Wood smoke aggravates asthma, emphysema, pneumonia and bronchitis. All these are chronic diseases that are of particular concern in our county.

Who is most at risk? Children are particularly susceptible to wood smoke. Their lungs are still developing; exposure to air toxins can hinder lung development. The elderly and those with respiratory disease are more vulnerable as well. Anyone using woodstoves may also be at increased risk: Chimneys and stovepipes do not make the smoke magically disappear; as soon as it hits the cold air outside, those invisible poisonous particles can sink and re-enter your home.

Progress by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and local governments has made improvements in our air quality, enough to get a positive designation from the Environmental Protection Agency. But there is still more we can do to protect our lungs from wood-burning emissions. State funding for woodstove replacements has slowed to a trickle, yet only 3,000 of the estimated 20,000 now illegal woodstoves in our area have been replaced.

While this funding is vital, it is time to change the way we think about burning wood. Working together, we can improve our air and our health by moving forward with these five steps.

▪ Change out your woodstove, uncertified or not (www.airsafepiercecounty.org).

▪ Be “Aware of Your Air” by downloading the apps at www.airnow.gov and “burn ban 411.” Stop burning on “yellow” days, before a burn ban is even called.

▪ If you can, switch to gas or electricity to heat your home and you’ll reduce your carbon footprint and improve our air. Even a certified woodstove can produce more than 97 pounds of carbon per year compared to almost nothing from gas or electric.

▪ Retire your open fireplace; create atmosphere by using candles, not wood.

▪ Get involved; talk to your local elected officials about additional funding for woodstove replacement.

Burning wood has been a tradition for many of us. But for our children, our elderly and those with asthma and other lung diseases, the smoke from burning wood creates a dangerously unhealthy environment. If you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.

This fall and winter, let’s put our health first.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 9:03 AM with the headline "This fall, let’s clear the air by retiring woodstoves."