Stupid question re no rubbish on fire...

Matt,

I totally agree with you. However some many times the rubbish is not taken out of the fire place next morning.

If we camp for a few days, take the rubbish with you. No need to burn. Where ever use the waste transfer stations. Every town has some sort of waste disposal area some where.

On the more remote area trips where rubbish can become a health hazard a burn off at night is necessary.
I call it 'Secret Men's Business'.
The fire is built up, the bags of rubbish are collected around the fire, woman and children are sent to bed and in a controlled fashion the Port is passed around as the rubbished is burnt.
Next morning what is not burnt is racked out of the fire crushed and placed into a rubbish bag for disposal at the end of the trip.

Wayne

Matt

As Wayne says. It is OK to burn some rubbish as long as you take ALL of the residue out of the fire and place it in your rubbish bag.

Trouble is, blokes (mainly), sit around the fire till late and throw their empty cans and bottles in the flames and then conveniently forget about removing what is left the next morning. There is nothing worse than finding an old fireplace full of the 'heroes' cans when you are setting up camp. I have had to clean out many of them and in the remotest places too!

What is so hard with placing all rubbish in your rubbish bag (I have one hanging off the spare wheel) and taking it out and disposing of it at the closest Rubbish Tip or drums provided for the travelling public

Cheers

On some aboriginal communities it is considered rude to burn anything other than wood. Even paper (which is seen as rubbish) is not permitted on the fire.

I was always told to "Burn, Bash and Bury" in my Army days, although nowadays I "Burn, Bash and Carry". Burning the rubbish when possible and safe to do so eliminates smells and health worries due to rotting matter. It also means you only have to carry what's really necessary.

Where are you camping that you need to dispose of rubbish with such dispatch. You probably drive past a dozen local council or Nat Parks' bins in your travels the next day.

Glad to hear your fires aren't "6 foot". How bloody big are they?
A cooking fire needs to be maybe 30-40cms diametre, and the flames may get to 30cms high before dropping back to cooking coals. And need not be any bigger to drown a few reds around later.

I fully agree with what others have said regarding disposal of COMBUSTABLE rubbish in the fire. It is things like disposable babies nappies and cans/bottles and bottle tops etc that irk me. I kid you not about the babies nappy...... we were camped up at Davies Hut in the Vic High Country with DB of Great Divide Tours and a dozen Ultimate Campers. The camping area was already inhabited by a 4WD Club from the ACT. They seemed to be quite "put-out" that we arrived. It was a few years ago and my memory of the exact events is a bit hazy; but one thing I will NEVER forget is the sight of a woman who entered into our fire circle area where some of us were cooking our evening meal and proceeded to through a soiled ( number 2's) plastic disposable nappy of the centre of the fire!!! We were gob-smacked and let her know in no uncertain terms that we were not impressed!!! She replied with words to the effect that.... it will burn down to nothing!!! The smell was disgusting.

I still shake my head in disbelief at the temerity of some people.

Cheers

Roachie

Just wondering what people are tossing in a fire that is classed as rubbish?

About the only thing I toss in is maybe some food prep stuff, scraps after our meal and paper / cardboard.

I don't put plastic bottles (mainly because of the smell), cans or the like, these things spend time in exile (rubbish bag) till the bag can be disposed off in allocated bins.

Brian

On longer trips it pays to chuck it all in the fire
especially cans and stuff and fish them out later. this ensures the contents remaining are burnt and dont stink and attract flies while in the rubish bag

Thanks guys, really appreciate your thoughts.

And completely agree with the grotty nappy whilst people are trying to cook or even sitting around enjoying the fire.

Appreciate the comments, don't want to get into a debate on the finer points, happy that I'm not completely off my rocker.. lol

Matt

Gday Troopy
If youn know of a "land fill" that is leaching into water ways, you better get onto the EPA and report same.

On my first trip into the Mitchell Plateau nearly two decades ago, there were no rubbish disposal facilities for several hundred kms. I found that it was impossible to keep crows and dingoes from ripping apart the rubbish bags as one stored it to take out. And the increasing smell from the rubbish was getting worse as the days went on.
I found burning the rubbish last thing at night, then retrieving all the cans in the morning and bashing them flat with a gympie allowed us to take out one small bag of clean, crushed cans, with nothing left back at the campsite.
The story above of the burnt disposable nappy reminds me of the first time I camped at King Edward River campsite, and of the minefield of nappies etc dumped in the bush, not even buried. There are some shockers out there!
cheers,
Gerry