TIME TO RE‑TIRE?

 

Every two weeks, Americans wear almost 50 million pounds of rubber off their tires. That's enough to make 114 million new tires from scratch.

 

BACKGROUND. Tires have a bigger impact on the environment than you might think. By maintaining them properly, you help conserve the energy and resources that would go into making new ones, prevent the pollution generated by tire production, save gasoline, and reduce the problems created when we throw them away. (They're bulky, don't decompose, and provide places for mosquitoes to breed.)

 

TIRE-TRIVIA.  Some 240‑260 million tires are discarded annually in the U.S. In fact, right now there are billions of tires clogging landfill space all over the country.

 

Some landfill operators don't even accept scrap tires ... or they charge more because tires often don't stay buried‑they trap gas and float to the top of landfills.

 

In New York state alone, tires take up an estimated half‑million cubic yards of landfill space each year.

 

It takes half a barrel of crude oil to produce the rubber in one truck tire.

 

THE COST OF INFLATION

 

We don't normally think of tire inflation as an environmental issue, but it is. Keeping tires properly inflated preserves the life of the tires (preventing premature wear from "overflexing" and overheating), and saves gas.

 

Right now, there are more than half a billion tires being used in the U.S. It is estimated that an incredible 50% to 80% of them are underinflated.

 

Since underinflation can waste up to 5% of a car's fuel by in. creasing "rolling resistance," this meani that more than 65 million car owners could substantially boost their cars' fuel efficiency by simply putting more air in their tires. How much gas could we save with this simple step? Up to 2 billion gallons a year.