Healing Spark: Community

Here's one of those great ideas that just can't seem to get off the ground (pun intended). Municipalities are charged with tire disposal, occasionally charging you $2 to take each tire. Of the approximately 242 million tires discarded annually in the United States, 189 million are sent to landfills, are stockpiled, or illegally dumped, and only 16 million are recycled. The rest are burned for fuel or exported.

States frequently use collected tree and grass debris for mulching on public property, and some even sell mulch to residents. How about states recycling the rest of those tires for landscaping instead of burying the tires?

To make tires into mulch only costs 2-3 times as much as tree and brush scraps initially, but lasts from 25-80 years with very little maintenance. The shredded wood mulch needs to be replaced almost every year, which adds up annually in not only government labor costs but materials costs.

The most frequently expressed concerns are toxicity and heat concerns. But you can find a good deal of independent research showing that properly cleaned and shredded tires are inert, produce 100-300% less chemical residue than allowed for outdoor products, and are now available with color treatments that keep them only 5-15 degrees above the temperature of nearby grass. Recycled tires are so safe that your pets could even eat a handful without worrying about toxicity.

We're not even talking about playgrounds, just regular landscaping. Homeowners would additionally benefit from a lack of termites attracted to wooden mulch that then also chew on the house, by eliminating those rotting mulch smells, and because rubber doesn't blow or wash away for a whole lifetime. Not only would property owners save money at home, but the government would have something to do with the tire waste that is currently a financial liability instead of free mulch. Yes, they would have to get in the business of shredding and cleaning tires, but it's a small step, seeing as they do that now for wooden mulching. Residents could buy the excess recycled material for their own use, and tire disposal issues could drop right off the map.

If you like the idea, then take a look at what California is doing to recycle their tires www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Tires/Grants/, and make a call to ask your state or county government why they aren't recycling tires like this.