What would you call a person who announces with fanfare that there will be no smell of alcohol in his house as an unnecessary, health-damaging and money-wasting attribute, but refuses to sign a letter formalizing a promise to his roommates? And what would you call someone who, less than a year later, not only allows a party in the apartment, where alcohol flows freely, but also says that he has no business being here? A manipulator or just a liar?
Such an epithet is suitable to describe the municipality of Vilnius. What do I mean? One very specific case is the manipulation of the etiquette of a sophisticated, pyrotechnics-rejecting city.
How Vilnius blew the green fog
The world and its consciousness are slowly but surely advancing. If in the past we normally kept one trash can at home or did not see a problem with smoking in a cafe or on the balcony, today we behave in a completely different way - we are more and more active in sorting, and we accompany those who try to smoke in common spaces not only with a condemning look, but also with a disapproving word.
Similarly with fireworks. If earlier they were considered a necessary attribute of the holidays, today it is increasingly recognized that it is a disposable, polluting and dangerous entertainment, for which it is neither right nor moral to sacrifice the well-being of others. More and more cities in the United States, Europe and other continents are declaring fireworks-free zones.
Sensing that this attitude is "on the wave", in July 2021 the Vilnius City Council adopted a resolution acknowledging the negative impact of pyrotechnic products and committing to look for friendlier alternatives to this entertainment. Although the resolution is a document expressing political will rather than legal regulation, the move has been widely publicized as an example of the city's progress and welcomed by residents.
It is true that it is worth noting that the date of entry into force of the resolution adopted in July was probably deliberately set in December 2021. Why? Apparently, there would be no need to blush in front of the residents due to the decision not to stop the already promised support for the international festival "Vilnius fejerija 2021" planned for the fall of 2021.
However, the 2021st of December 31 in the capital ended more quietly than usual: on the occasion of the New Year's holiday, the municipality gave the citizens not smoke and noise, but a laser show. Taking into account the calls of the green and other organizations, other municipalities - Anykščiai, Alytus city, Panevėžys city and others - welcomed the New Year in a similar way.
In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of this practice, in May of this year the Lithuanian Green Party invited all Lithuanian municipalities to sign a memorandum in which they would undertake to refuse fireworks at events organized by themselves and their subordinate institutions, and this decision would be enshrined in legal acts (e.g. event organization, noise management or other rules). . Although most hopes for the signing of the memorandum are placed on Vilnius, it replied that it supports the initiative, but the city council has still not adopted the changes to the rules that would legitimize it.
It didn't take long for the reason for this to become clear - letters from pyrotechnicians started pouring into the mailboxes of various municipal council members in the summer, stating that the Greens' arguments about pollution were redundant. Sensing a threat to their business, the pyrotechnicians even received a report from German fireworks dealers that found outdoor barbecues to be more damaging to the weather and more birds to be killed by cats than fireworks. Understand, let's give up food production or pet cats, not pyrotechnics.
Apparently, realizing that correspondence alone will not be enough, the lobbyists also started knocking on the doors of the offices, where, I guess, they also based their arguments on additional "scientific research". In the meantime, they tried to intimidate Vilnius by saying that no star of the entertainment world would agree to come to the capital if fireworks were not allowed here.
Such whataboutism, and perhaps other tools of influence, seem to have affected the Vilnius city government, and no formal changes legitimizing the promises were made. This led to the fact that there is no legal basis for not issuing a permit for this year's fireworks. It's just that event legal makes it right?
Fireworks are archaic come to life
You can argue for a long time whether pyrotechnics are beautiful or not. However, what should not be ignored is the fact that it is the responsibility of each municipality to guarantee a safe and healthy environment for each of its residents. Even more. Lithuania, like all the countries of the European Union, has committed to follow the path of the Green Course, which means, among other things, the aspiration to significantly reduce air, soil and water pollution and guarantee the protection of biodiversity. How does the mass use of fireworks fit in with these goals?
First, fireworks cause air pollution. Fireworks use mixtures of various chemicals - various gunpowders, and metals or their salts are also added to color the flames. This leads to the fact that when fireworks are released into the environment, the concentration of solid particles in the air increases (from several to several tens of times), and the remaining unburned components of the fireworks reach the soil, where they are later washed into the surface or ground water by rain. waters. Particulate matter directly harms human health - it causes various respiratory diseases, especially in children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
Is this also observed in Lithuania? Let the numbers speak for themselves. For example, analyzing the impact of the 2021 consent in Vilnius. that is, the data of December 31, it can be seen that the concentration of solid particles in the air was 23 µg/m24 before the fireworks peak (19-3 hours), and 190 µg/m3 after midnight. The norm beyond which a negative effect on health is recorded is 50 µg/m3. (AAA data from Lazdyni air quality measurement of the station). Fireworks Festival In Vingo Park Gifts in 2015, 2016: sulfur concentration – 732 µg/m (hourly rate – 70 µg/m). Chlorine concentration – 299 µg/m3 (daily rate – 30 µg/m).
Fireworks cause noise pollution. A sound of about 70 decibels is considered annoying and affects health. Meanwhile JAV Research by the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows that fireworks can emit 100-115 decibels of sound. If a person can still protect himself from the sound by wearing headphones or plugging his ears, animals are powerless in this position. Both wild and domestic animals are stressed when they hear sudden explosions, they get scared, they can become disorientated in space, they start to wander when they are scared, and they can even die if they encounter an obstacle.
Fireworks lobbyists say - let's train the dogs, lock them in the bathroom or something. and there will be no problem. But is it necessary to train children, grandparents, and war refugees from Ukraine? Anyone finding the sounds of explosions stressful, not to mention the health effects?
Responsibility vs. commercial interest - where will deviate scales?
In the 2021 Vilnius strategic development implementation report, "Vilnius fejerija" is named as part of the city's identity, as a cultural event that enables the implementation of the city's strategic task: "to ensure the diversity of high-value traditional and modern cultural events in the city of Vilnius". Maybe that's why the festival has had the status of a Vilnius-sponsored event since 2015? Maybe that's why, despite the municipality's formal excuses for the situation, even today trolleybuses with fireworks advertisements, which are also decorated with the municipality's logo, run in Vilnius?
Do the people of Vilnius really want to live in such a kingdom of crooked mirrors? To allow them to be promised one thing and done something completely different? Tolerate situations where the commercial interests of individual companies and organizations are met at the expense of the common good? I think no. Therefore, I invite all residents of Vilnius to join the protest action "Fireworks? Thank you, no" and to say that we don't need such "art" that takes place at the expense of the weak.
Author: Ieva Budraitė, Chairperson of the Lithuanian Green Party
