They're Pretty...but so are stars: Why I'm Over Fireworks
I used to love fireworks.
They were romantic, lighting up the sky in the cool night air, and the person you're sitting with puts an arm around you...it's nostalgia, but the older I get, the less “magical” and the more “please don't let them start a fire or blow off a finger” fireworks become.
While we’re launching glitter bombs into the atmosphere to commemorate freedom, I’m looking around at our local housing crisis and wondering about the actual cost of fireworks in terms of both money and mental health.
The Fall Out
Between 2023 and 2024, homelessness increased by 18% in the United States. As of January 2024, there were approximately 771,480 unhoused individuals in the U.S.
According to statistics from the American Pyrotechnics Association, in 2024, Americans spent $2.2 billion on fireworks for the Fourth of July. Not to mention all the hot dogs, burgers, beer, decorations, fuel, and those matching Independence Day T-shirts that you have to buy every year.
It kinda makes my stomach hurt, and I only ate one hot dog.
There were 14,700 people treated in ERs in July 2024 for fireworks-related injuries and 11 deaths.
In 2023, fireworks were responsible for an estimated 32,302 fires. There were 3,760 structural fires, 849 vehicle fires, 27,252 outside fires, and 441 unclassified fires, which resulted in an estimated 15 civilian deaths, 58 civilian injuries, and $142 million in direct property damage.
On a smaller scale, I spent July 5th picking up litter in my yard, even though I didn't participate in fireworks or have a BBQ.
I'm boring, what can I say?
But I do get it.
We all want to experience joy and nostalgia. Plus, fire can be oddly mesmerizing.
But maybe, just maybe, there's a smarter way to celebrate freedom than testing how many small explosions a neighborhood can tolerate.
Are we ready for alternatives?
I know it would be a change, and change is hard.
Still, I wonder what it would be like if I were able to sleep on the week of Independence Day and wake up for work the next morning feeling refreshed (or at least close to it), if my dog didn't have to be tranquilized for the entire week, or babies were not fussing and keeping parents awake in between booms...
Have you seen a laser show? Because this is impressive.
There is even a bit of nostalgic fireworks incorporated to keep tradition intact.
They even make low-noise fireworks now. Imagine celebrating liberty with a soldier by triggering his PTSD, when we have the technology not to.
That sounds like the opposite of how we should honor a soldier.
Check out these quieter options. They're not perfect, but I bet I could sleep through this!
Imagine a peaceful community BBQ: the dogs may be barking, but not as chaotically as we have grown accustomed to in July. Children playing without mothers feeling constant anxiety that someone is going to lose an eye or a finger?
Well, they may still worry about this, but not because of our habit of playing with explosives...
Fireworks are stunning, but it's 2025.
We have alternatives.
I spent the Fourth of July (and the days leading up to and after) soothing my panic-stricken dog with calming treats while someone’s leftover Roman candle fizzled in my backyard.
Fireworks are inconvenient and unsafe for the basic reasons that we, as reasonable humans, know, but that's not all. They also spew particulate matter and heavy metals (such as barium, lithium, and copper), which then drift into our lungs, water, and soil, potentially triggering asthma and polluting our communities.
We can do better.
AI writes our emails, and billionaires are going to space.
Can’t we find a way to celebrate that doesn’t require traumatizing living creatures everywhere, further polluting the environment and burning thousands upon thousands of dollars?
Fireworks are pretty. Stars are prettier, and way less likely to send your neighbors to the ER, your babies into meltdown mode, or your air quality index into shame.
Let’s have joy without the collateral damage.