Heck yeah thats one hell of a deal.
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Heck yeah thats one hell of a deal.
Having researched and worked with used tires for 20 years ( I own an earthship and have built 11) there are some serious inaccuracies in the rubberecycle ad. Used tires are mostly inert due to vulcanization and 99.9% of the outgassing happens in the first 6 months (less if exposed to sunshine), this according to a 1.5 million dollar study at Montrose Geo-tech 1991. Shredding the tire into mulch increases the toxicity and is not recommended for mulch etc. Tires are a federally mandated fuel source for coal plants and cement plants (an excellent way to recover the steel) and barring reuse this is the best way to recycle them at the end of their wear cycle. Indecently an OCED study concluded that car scrapping schemes have a net increase in carbon footprint since most carbon emissions happen in the construction of the car..not tail pipe emissions. In fact the mileage had little to do with carbon footprint (average car must go 2.5 million miles to exceed construction footprint). Cash clunkers is really about spurring consumer consumption, it much greener to use a car as long as safely possible since that carbon debt is already paid.
Wired magazine ran an article on this a few years back...this is a general summary: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/05/the-ultimate-pr/
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