Dumping and recycling tires, facts for the environmentally conscious owner.

How to help out the earth and be a responsible tire owner

Keep the tire healthy longer and prolong its life to delay forced replacement

• Make sure that the tires are always inflated to the proper amount. Make sure you always check the pressure in your tires when they are cold. You should do this at least once a month and before your long trips. You will see the label for the correct pressure in your car. Check the owners manual if you don’t see a sticker
• Check out your tires and inspect them for wear, misalignment, improper balance and improper suspension. Do this once a month
• Check for any objects that have become embedded into your tires. There may be glass, or stones which will cause a loss in pressure
• Rotate the tires around every 6,000 miles or earlier
• Drive carefully, avoid things like potholes, curbs, fast turns/ stoops that will harm your tire

Now for recycling

• Make sure you read up on your states laws about recycling your tire.
• Recycle and replace the tires with a facility in good standing. Always ask the facility manager what they will do with the used tires.
• You can also help out by supporting recycled tire products. You can purchase some of these products
• Make sure that you also contribute by reporting illegal tire dumping. To do this you may call your local/ state waste management. Call the office or the department of environmental quality. There is a booklet available online by the Environmental protection agency.
• With help from people like you, the United States can have a thriving tire reclamation program. It will continue to improve until there are hardly any more illegal dumpings or un-recycled tires. Moreover, one day we might be able to use a more earth friendly tire.

Americans throw away about 290 million tires each year. Ever since 1989 (when only about ten percent of tires were recycled) there were more efforts for tire reclamation. There are still however, about 55 million tires that are not reclaimed and are dumped or even thrown away illegally.

There are things known as tire graveyards. Here you see several hundreds of tires just laying there. They create a public health hazard. They are the perfect nesting and breeding areas for mosquitoes and rats! Eww! These creatures carry a variety of diseases that are hazardous to the public.

Another problem with these piles of tires is the risk of fire. The fire made from tire piles can go smoldering for weeks and maybe months! The major problem is that when tires burn, they release many toxic air pollutions. They may create serious health problems for people nearby. The rain water will also get contaminated as it runs off. This can lead to another series problem, pollution in the streams and nearby water sources.

This is all very bad news, but there are some good news among the pile. First off the scrap tires are being reclaimed in many ways the statistics say it all. About 130 million tires are used for fuel, and 56 million are recycled/ used in projects for civil engineering. Another 27 million tires were recycled to be used to make some things like roof pads, stall mats for livestock, mats for truck beds, and so forth. Another 9 million were shipped off to other countries where they may be used to make retreads. Another 12 million of these tires are used for rubber-modified asphalt on roads after they are ground up.
You might be wondering why used tires are not used to make new tires. Well, its an issue of safety. The tires need to be made from new rubber, and recycled rubber can only make up about 10 percent of the entire tire.

Some important tire changing tips

So you forgot to rotate the tires, the alignment is out of place, or you have hit something. Whatever he reason, now you need two new tires. Every year thousands of people are left in similar situations, resulting in needing fewer than four new tires. So be an informed consumer, insist that the new tires are mounted onto the rear of the vehicle.

Do not allow the new tires to be mounted on the front, with the rear tires worn out. The rear tires need to be in tip top shape. While it seems like a subtle difference, it is not. The new tires have deeper tread and will grip the road and channel water more effectively than the worn tires. Thus, the tires with the greater traction should be placed in the rear. If there is any loss of traction in the front tires, the driver will feel it in the steering wheel and the driver can make the necessary speed and/or steering corrections to reduce the amount of spinning out of control.

Your tires are the only part of the vehicle that has contact with the road. This contact can be very important, so remember, when replacing only two tires, don’t put your best foot forward, always put the best tires onto the rear.

Some extra tips:

• Always make sure your tires have at least 2/ 32 tread depth and are in good condition
• Always keep your tires inflated in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation
• Refer to your vehicle owners manual or applicable tire manufacturers limited warranty booklet for other essential safety and maintenance information.

So you have used tires or one used tire lying around and you want to use it for something. So what do you do? Well, there are many great uses for them, its quite surprising really.

Whatever you do, don’t let your tire just sit outside. They are great harboring grounds for mosquitoes, especially if it rains, and the tire absorbs the water. You should clean them with warm water and soap, Then store them somewhere inside, until you have figured out what you want to do with them.

*** If you wish to make a garden using your used tire, make sure that you do not grow any plants that you wish to eat in them. There is a metal called cadmium within the tires. This is a very poisonous metal and oftentimes becomes absorbed into potatoes, carrots, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, and turnips.

Make a hanging table planter.
Make a hanging table with your tire. By a wood round that is about the size of your tire. Then drill four holes into the wood and the tire. Then use strong chains to hang the tire over a tree branch and then bolt the chains together. You can cut in small holes for cups and you can paint the wood. Its great! You can sit under that tree and use the table as a cup holder or plate holder.

Fishing uses
Fishing fleets use the tires as bumpers for boats. This will prevent the boat from slamming into other tires.

Planting
Fill the tire with dirt and place in your favorite plant or flower. You may then choose to cover the tire with dirt. You may also choose to turn the tire inside out. Cut through the middle and all the way around and turn it inside out, it may take some work!

Remember the old days when you were a kid and played with the tire swing? Well, why not make one for your kids. Tire swings back then used old fashioned rope. This time we will use sturdy chains. Make sure that the tire is in a horizontal position and not vertical, its much better that way!

Instructions on Making a tire Swing:

1. Pick the tire out. Make sure that the tire is not too bum or the kids wont be able to sit on it. Look at the tire and decide on which side looks better. The side that looks best will be used for the top. Then flip it over and drill holes into it around the edges, try to space it out equal.
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3. Then flip the tire again. You are now going to drill three holes, that together, are in the shape of a triangle. Then attach an eyebolt to each side. Thread the eyebolt with a net and fender washer. On the inside of the tire place another fender washer and lock washer with another nut.
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6. Attach the S hook through the eye bolt . Then use a pair of big vice grip pliers to squeeze the attached side of the hook. Do this on all the s hooks.
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8. Attach the chains, to each of the s hooks. Once you have attached the chain, make sure to use the pliers to close it in again.
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10. Then take the three chains and hold them together. Attach the top S hook to the three chains. Then use the pliers to close the bottom part again.
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13. You will need a few items for to attach to the top part of the hook : swivel, connector link for the, clip hook, ratchet
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15. Attach the swivel to the top of the S hook. Then use the pliers to close the s hook again.
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17. Take the connector link and attach it to the swivel, then attach the clip hook to the connector link.
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19. Then take another chain and swing it over the tree branch.
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21. Attach the two sides of the chain to the clip hook. Your done!
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