Just because it's recycled doesn't mean it's okay to burn...

People buy firelogs because they are convenient - they provide a fire without the lugging, stacking and fire-building skill needed for firewood. However, there are two very different types of firelogs - wax-based and all-wood firelogs - and it is important to understand the difference.

Wax-based firelogs

The common firelog that you find at the supermarket, individually wrapped in coated, colored paper, typically consists of a mix of industrial by-products -- up to 60% petroleum or vegetable wax mixed with sawdust and other combustible materials such as recycled cardboard, nutshells or spent coffee grounds. Wax-based firelogs are essentially candles with the sawdust or other particles serving as the wick, and the wax as the fuel. They light very easily and burn with fewer particulate matter emissions than firewood.

However, even though finding uses for recycled materials is important, burning them is not necessarily okay. The EPA, the American Lung Association and local air quality agencies ask that we avoid burning dubious materials such as colored paper, plastics, rubber, and other trash that gives off harmful chemicals. They also advise against burning common paraffin-based candles indoors. Paraffin (petroleum wax), a by-product of the oil refining industry, and plastic are derived from non-renewable fossil fuels and release toxic chemical emissions such as benzene and toluene when burned. Since it is often unclear what you're burning --- if the materials in your firelogs are not clearly identified - DON'T BURN THEM!

Why we think all-wood firelogs are best

We prefer "densified" all-wood firelogs because we know exactly what they're made of. And our firelogs consist only of clean, not recycled, renewable resource materials -- wood chips and sawdust collected from local mills and woodland clean-up operations. The wood chips are ground and compressed so densely that the wood's natural lignin actually melts and binds the wood particles together, without the use of petroleum or chemical binders. Due to their lower moisture content and density, all-wood firelogs burn hotter and cleaner than regular firewood, with 50% fewer emissions and less ash.

All-wood firelogs create the ambience of natural wood and, unlike wax-based logs, can be used in all types of fireplaces, woodstoves, chimineas, inserts, and campfires. Pound for pound, they also produce more heat than firewood – 8100 BTU per pound as compared to 6400 BTU for typical firewood. Wood firelogs are environmentally preferable on many fronts - they utilize wood that would otherwise be landfilled, they produce significantly less woodsmoke emissions, and, unlike fossil-fuel-based products, are carbon-neutral when burned (i.e., the same amount of carbon gets released through burning as through decomposition).

PLEASE USE RENEWABLE RESOURCES - FOSSIL FUELS ARE FOR DINOSAURS! Burning fossil fuels (including coal, gas, oil and firelogs made with petroleum wax or plastic binders) increases the overall levels of carbon in the atmosphere and has been determined to be a primary cause of global warming.

Goodwood® Products from Summit Views LLC, 880 W Beach St #101, Watsonville, CA 95076 1-877-872-8341

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