eco fire article

I recently wrote an article about eco fires for a design web-zine and though I don't want to be naive about the journalistic world, I felt that the edit that they published pretty much obliterated the structure and sentiment of my original version

here's the original:

The EcoSmart fire is a clean burning, free-standing fire place that uses renewable fuel. The flame produced is clean and bright, and complimentary to the design itself. It is, effectively a cleaned up, paired down version of a flame.

The design of the fire is a product of its function. The stainless steel in which the fire is housed is chosen for its durability and has been computer cut for accuracy of assembly (as well, one assumes, as for speed of assembly in a competitive market place). Having no need for a flue, the fire is free-standing and self-contained, leaving it with an incidental, though not unconscious, contemporary feel.

The fire burns denatured ethanol, i.e. Methylated Spirits. This is a bio-fuel, the use of which may be morally questionable; giving the amount of land - including areas of rain-forest - required to produce it. Having said that, what fire can claim to be truly ecologically sound? Wood burners require the felling of trees and natural gas fires require the tapping of gas reserves deep beneath the earth’s crust. This fire is not so much ‘eco’ as it is renewable. The word, ‘eco’ is more of a selling point for a rather aesthetically unique fire design in a buzz-word obsessed market.

and here is their edit:

Eco Fires February 6, 2009
By Henry Ireland

It’s something of a cliché that smoke comes with fire and when it comes to fireplaces that was until recently quite true. Whilst the functionalists out there will of course remind us that a fire is necessarily a method of heating the home and modern environmentalists will tell you fireplaces are not a viable option en-masse, the market is ablaze with the introduction of a wide range of supposedly eco-friendly and affordable smokeless fires.

As a buzzword 'eco' appears to be everywhere and in the surest environmentalist terms its hard to see how much of what is widely produced is in any sense environmentally sound, however, the EcoSmart fire claims to be a clean burning fireplace which uses a renewable source of fuel (bio-ethanol) and is transported flat pack to add to its eco-credentials. Having no need for a flue, the fire is free-standing and self-contained, leaving it with an incidental, though not unconscious, contemporary feel.

Having not as yet had the opportunity to toast marshmallows in front of one were not quite sure how the fire works in terms of heat output but it might just be a case of watching this space. As a substitute for a gas burner and all that entails, EcoSmart, and products like it, may well be the most convenient and least damaging substitute for the real thing.