Spring has arrived in the Kootenays, and with it, the usual plumes of smoke as people burn off the dead grass on their lawns or start to clean up their yard and burning waste. Grass-burning is a Russian practice, and I understand that it's meant to stimulate the growth of new grass and clean up dead material after the winter.
This early in the year it's not a huge problem - there is quite a bit of snow still lying around, and underbrush is generally still very damp. It does produce a fair bit of smoke, though, which, combined with the dust from road gravelling, makes for a rough season for people with breathing issues. Later in the spring, when things have dried out and there is still a lot of dead material lying around, grass burning becomes much more hazardous.
What I'm wondering is, has anyone out there done any community-wide education on the risks and/or best practices when dealing with lawn-burning? What steps have you taken to get this information out to the public, and have you been able to quantify any improvements as a result of these initiatives? I'd like to pitch an educational drive to my chief, and possibly to our regional district, but I'd really like to hear about anything that has been done in the past.
Also, I'd like to thank Jeff Dean in Kingsville for this link in response to my question about knot-tying websites: http://www.animatedknots.com/. I can now tie a bowline with gloves on and my eyes closed. It just takes a few tries.
