One of the most promising ways to recycle tires is by turning them into ground rubber "crumbs" and adding them to asphalt for paving roads, running tracks, runaways, and playgrounds. The result: pavement life is increased by 4 to 5 years.
If you are a commuter, consider carpooling. It saves on overall wear and tear on your cars.
Recycled rubber is also used in boat bumpers, carpet padding, and wire and pipe instillation.
In India, tires are cut up and used to make durable and inexpensive shoes.
A burning tire can leach 2 1/2 gallons of waste oil into the ground, threatening the ground-water.
Check your tire pressure! If all tires in America were properly inflated, we could save two billion gallons of gasoline.
Americans discard 280 million tires a year, 25 to 30% of which are re-treaded or otherwise reused.
About eight out of every ten tires in the U.S. wind up in landfills or "stockpiles." An estimated 2 to 3 billion tires are currently stockpiles in the United States.
At one site near Modesto, California, 8 million tires were stockpiled as of 1991. By 1995, through recycling efforts, that number was reduced to 2 million, although they receive 20,000 tires daily.
Artificial reefs, breakwaters and erosion control barriers made with whole tires can preserve precious natural habitats.
It takes half a barrel of crude oil to produce the rubber in just 1 truck tire.
A new trend in tire recycling has been to made tunics from used bicycle inner tubes.
When tires are ditched, they can collect rainwater. This makes them the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.
In Iowa, 80% of used tires go to making tire derived fuel (TDF). The rest are made into products like door mats, crumb rubber, roofing, playground material and asphalt.
By chipping tires and recovering the steel wire, up to 99 percent of the average passenger car tire can now be captured for recycling.
Comment
We have 2-3 billion tires in landfills now and discard another 280 million tires a year. Why arent the landfill tires being recycled? How expensive is it to recycle those tires? How long does it take for tires to break down in a landfill? When they DO breakdown, do they pollute the ground, since they are petroleum products themselves? Why cant they just be ground up and made into new tires?
Showing posts with label carpooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carpooling. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
carpooling
The Basics
Cut your gas costs by half -- or more
Carpools are good for a lot more than just saving on fuel. Here's how to find people to share your commute and some guidelines for a smooth ride.
[Related content: savings, cars, gas prices, budgeting, frugal]
By Diane Mapes
MSN Money
Gas prices may not be at an all-time high, but who couldn't stand to save cash now? Here's one way to chop your costs at the pump: by carpooling.
Sharing rides is easier than you might think. And by dipping your toe into the carpool now, you'll be sitting pretty no matter which way gas prices move.
"I easily save $250 to $300 a month," says Jeremy Chrysler, a 31-year-old vice president of business development in Tampa, Fla., who's been carpooling 37 miles to work and back for the past nine months. "I save twice as much by carpooling as I would by bringing my lunch to work every day."
A one-person work commute costs about $320 a month, or $3,840 a year, based on AAA's cost of car ownership and operation (54 cents a mile) and the average roundtrip commute (28 miles). Split that cost four ways in a carpool, however, and you cut your commuting cost to about $80 a month (a monthly savings of nearly $240), or $960 a year (a savings of $2,880).
And that's not even taking into consideration other benefits:
•Less time behind the wheel means less stress. The time you spend not driving can be spent doing other things: catching up on e-mail and reports, taking a power nap or jawing with fellow carpoolers.
•For areas with carpool lanes, more people in the car means a faster commute.
•The structured routine often increases productivity and creates better work-life boundaries.
•You're reducing fuel consumption, traffic congestion, and wear and tear on infrastructure.
•Fewer cars on the road cuts pollution and the nation's dependency on foreign oil.
More from MSN Money
Make your car last 250,000 miles
Which cars cost more (or less) to insure?
The real reason you're broke
Left-lane slowpokes drive you crazy?
Could you pass a driving-skills test?
.
Yes, carpools are cleaner, greener and a simple way to save real money -- money you can use on those ever-rising food costs. During World War II, similar "car clubs," as they were known, were considered patriotic for their fuel savings. But how does one get started down this sensible stretch of the highway?
Neighborhood hookups
For Chrysler, it was as simple as looking in his rearview mirror.
"One day I looked back and saw two of my co-workers driving the exact same route as me," he says. "We looked like those guys in 'Swingers' -- three guys in our three cars."
Chrysler proposed that they join forces, and a neighborhood carpool was born. The group was informal at first, sharing rides just once or twice a week, but after a few weeks, it became more organized and added a fourth carpooler. At present, each member of the pool agrees to drive five times a month, which means no money changes hands (unless someone needs to make up for a lost driving day).
Carpool etiquette is guided by a few basic rules:
•The driver dictates the music (or lack thereof).
•Anyone running late notifies other members ASAP (and drives in alone if he or she is more than 10 minutes behind).
•Calling "shotgun" doesn't apply (if you're in the front on the way there, you're in the back on the way home).
Multimedia on MSN Money
Could you get by with just one car?
Vehicles outnumber people in the US, but some see the tide turning. Public transit use is up, and families are starting to wonder whether they could downsize what's in their garages..
Other tips:
•Figure out a driving schedule, a route, pickup/drop-off points and how you'll handle gas money. Many carpools simply divvy up the driving, with no money changing hands.
•Establish policies regarding music, perfume/cologne, food and drink, smoking and errands. Some carpoolers will dovetail brief grocery runs into their commutes; others prefer to stick to the basics.
•Keep your car clean and safe, and always drive responsibly
Cut your gas costs by half -- or more
Carpools are good for a lot more than just saving on fuel. Here's how to find people to share your commute and some guidelines for a smooth ride.
[Related content: savings, cars, gas prices, budgeting, frugal]
By Diane Mapes
MSN Money
Gas prices may not be at an all-time high, but who couldn't stand to save cash now? Here's one way to chop your costs at the pump: by carpooling.
Sharing rides is easier than you might think. And by dipping your toe into the carpool now, you'll be sitting pretty no matter which way gas prices move.
"I easily save $250 to $300 a month," says Jeremy Chrysler, a 31-year-old vice president of business development in Tampa, Fla., who's been carpooling 37 miles to work and back for the past nine months. "I save twice as much by carpooling as I would by bringing my lunch to work every day."
A one-person work commute costs about $320 a month, or $3,840 a year, based on AAA's cost of car ownership and operation (54 cents a mile) and the average roundtrip commute (28 miles). Split that cost four ways in a carpool, however, and you cut your commuting cost to about $80 a month (a monthly savings of nearly $240), or $960 a year (a savings of $2,880).
And that's not even taking into consideration other benefits:
•Less time behind the wheel means less stress. The time you spend not driving can be spent doing other things: catching up on e-mail and reports, taking a power nap or jawing with fellow carpoolers.
•For areas with carpool lanes, more people in the car means a faster commute.
•The structured routine often increases productivity and creates better work-life boundaries.
•You're reducing fuel consumption, traffic congestion, and wear and tear on infrastructure.
•Fewer cars on the road cuts pollution and the nation's dependency on foreign oil.
More from MSN Money
Make your car last 250,000 miles
Which cars cost more (or less) to insure?
The real reason you're broke
Left-lane slowpokes drive you crazy?
Could you pass a driving-skills test?
.
Yes, carpools are cleaner, greener and a simple way to save real money -- money you can use on those ever-rising food costs. During World War II, similar "car clubs," as they were known, were considered patriotic for their fuel savings. But how does one get started down this sensible stretch of the highway?
Neighborhood hookups
For Chrysler, it was as simple as looking in his rearview mirror.
"One day I looked back and saw two of my co-workers driving the exact same route as me," he says. "We looked like those guys in 'Swingers' -- three guys in our three cars."
Chrysler proposed that they join forces, and a neighborhood carpool was born. The group was informal at first, sharing rides just once or twice a week, but after a few weeks, it became more organized and added a fourth carpooler. At present, each member of the pool agrees to drive five times a month, which means no money changes hands (unless someone needs to make up for a lost driving day).
Carpool etiquette is guided by a few basic rules:
•The driver dictates the music (or lack thereof).
•Anyone running late notifies other members ASAP (and drives in alone if he or she is more than 10 minutes behind).
•Calling "shotgun" doesn't apply (if you're in the front on the way there, you're in the back on the way home).
Multimedia on MSN Money
Could you get by with just one car?
Vehicles outnumber people in the US, but some see the tide turning. Public transit use is up, and families are starting to wonder whether they could downsize what's in their garages..
Other tips:
•Figure out a driving schedule, a route, pickup/drop-off points and how you'll handle gas money. Many carpools simply divvy up the driving, with no money changing hands.
•Establish policies regarding music, perfume/cologne, food and drink, smoking and errands. Some carpoolers will dovetail brief grocery runs into their commutes; others prefer to stick to the basics.
•Keep your car clean and safe, and always drive responsibly
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