Zero Waste; Tires

-- Conscious Living Event -- 

Sept 3 -  9:

5th Annual Zero Waste Week

This event is hosted by the Zero Waste Alliance -  a not for profit organization dedicated to raising awareness for recycling materials and promoting a more sustainable approach to resource management and waste recovery.

Visit the link below to learn ways to reduce waste at home and in the office. Find interesting stats on items like unused couches, and food waste. 

http://www.zwallianceuk.org/zero-waste-week-2012-2

-- Positive News --

Recycling tires – a great idea. I’ve seen an interesting service in our city that uses a new technology for recycled tires – replacing the need for asphalt driveways and parking areas. They use a recycled tire cover instead that can go over old asphalt, gravel or concrete and it looks fantastic. We’re considering it for our own driveway and parking spot for a future project. 

You can see recycled tire products as playground surfaces, colored landscaping mulch, resilient flooring for sports facilities and recreational centers, flooring and mats for agricultural and industrial use, for athletic tracks and synthetic turf fields, water parks surfaces and more. Tires are also made into non-slip pavers for patios and walkways, and used as an ingredient in new asphalt.

According to Tire Stewardship BC (tsbc.ca): Over 80% of the 40,000 tons of scrap tires collected in BC Canada each year, are recycled into products creating jobs along the way. The other 20% are used as a fuel supplement in waste to energy facilities for pulp, cement and paper industries. Tires come from wheelbarrows, carts, bicycles, motorbikes, cars and trucks.

There is a site available to help you learn more about prolonging the life of your tires that you can find at BeTireSmart.ca – where they share all kinds of tips including how underinflated tires won’t roll smoothly and diminishes fuel efficiency as well as increases wear on the tire itself. 

For instance did you now that 70% of the vehicles on the road have at least one tire with an inflation problem… and that driving with just one tire under-inflated by 20% means that the tire’s life can be reduced by 6-9 months and another hidden cost - you could be using about 2 weeks worth extra fuel per year because of that one tire?

Vehicle owners are also encouraged to ensure proper alignment, retreading, balancing, tire rotation, and more. 

Be sure to visit those two sites to find other industry related links, grant applications and more. Or drop by our site and check out our Trash Talk book series where you can learn how easy it is to be green, including numerous reuse ideas for old tires: Brummet.ca

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!