This can replace the fireworks – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
The list of those who want to cancel the noisy New Year’s celebration is growing ever longer.
Everything from influencers to farmersdog owners, animal rights activists and war victims are among those who want to ban fireworks.
According to Animal protection it has reached over 20 organizations and professionals who are calling on the government to introduce a ban on fireworks for private individuals.
Because fireworks also have negative sides. In addition to local air pollution, littering, serious damage to people and fires, it can frighten people and animals.
But in step with the dawning concern for both the environment, people and animals, the proposals for alternative ways to light up the night sky also increase.
Biodegradable bubbles
The Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde was very much inspired by fireflies when he created what he calls a “sustainable celebration”: an installation of biodegradable bubbles floating through the air, illuminated by floodlights.
The performance is neither noisy nor polluting.
The artist has called the project SPARK and it was first shown in Bilbao in the summer of 2022. In August, London also got such a show.
Drone show
The drone organization UAS Norway believes the time is ripe to retire fireworks.
According to the day-to-day manager of the organization, Anders Martinsen has engaged in Norway to get things in place digital fireworks. He believes the public should start asking for alternatives to traditional fireworks.
– MDG, also in Oslo, wants to see the possibility of giving people good municipal drone or laser shows. But this is weather-dependent and expensive fun, so I understand that it is not easy to prioritize in the tight time of the year, says deputy head of MDG, Ingrid Liland.
In Oslo, private fireworks have been banned in the city center for several years.
MDG-bcouncilor Sirin Hellvin Stav wants to ban it in the entire municipality. But today they can only ban it in parts of the city for fire reasons.
Men tdespite the ban in the city centre, residents will not get municipal fireworks for comfort.
– In an expensive time when everyone has to save money, the city council majority has also decided that this year taxpayers’ money will not be spent on public fireworks for a few minutes either, writes MDG in an e-mail to NRK.
Laser and light show
Several cities have started with laser light shows instead of fireworks. Among them is Salt Lake City in the United States.
There has been a lot of drought and lack of water lately, so the city didn’t take the chance with fireworks on the national day, July 4.
Also in Newcastle in the UK, they are ditching the fireworks this year, and are planning a laser show on New Year’s Eve. The reason is that it is safer and more environmentally friendly, writes ChronicleLive.
The possibilities are starting to become many, also for private individuals, when it comes to lighting effects.
Both for Halloween and Christmas celebrations, there are simple and cheap spotlights and projectors with a light show, which can be displayed on house walls and other surfaces.
Or, if you are really equipped with lighting designers and fountains, you can do like Tivoli in Copenhagen and have a light show in lakes, water and ponds.
According to the spokesperson for the Norwegian Fireworks Association, Rikard Spets, around 80 percent of families with children celebrate the new year with fireworks. He does not believe that organizing public light or drone shows will reduce the use of private fireworks.
– For many families with children, it is not practical to travel to a city center to see a light show. In addition, there are limitations with regard to the weather, it must be clear and a little windy, says Spets.
He also points to geography as an important aspect.
– Norway is not Oslo. There are a thousand towns. I can’t imagine that it has to be such a light and drone show in all these places. In the big cities, it can be a supplement if the weather permits.
Environmentally friendly fireworks
Traditional fireworks usually contain coal and sulphur, binders, dyes and propellants.
When it is ignited, large amounts of smoke are emitted, and heavy metals and environmental toxins from dyes are released, writes BBC Science Focus.
Eco-friendly fireworks have cleaner-burning, nitrogen-based fuel and lower amounts of metal salts.
Spets emphasizes that everyone should follow the rules of launching fireworks, because predictability is important for animals and people, who can be red.
– If fireworks had been toxic, they would not have been legal, he says.
Several countries, such as India, China and the USA are looking for more environmentally friendly alternatives to fireworks.
In India, the air pollution is so bad that the authorities have banned fireworks. It has accelerated the development of more environmentally friendly rockets.
Recently, the minister of health in the country announced that the newly developed fireworks will pollute and make less noise, cut emissions by 30 percent and cost the same, or even less, than the old types, writes New York Times.
It is not yet known whether the claims are true. And before India gets the production of the new fireworks, thousands of Indian fireworks manufacturers have become unemployed.