1: In Australia, pallets are chipped (then the nails etc are sorted & recycled) The chips go to mulch, etc.
2: Tractor tyres, with the sidewall cut out would make a good bed. (Use a pointy carving knife to cut the walls out- & do not tell the wife! Women just do not understand! (TIC)) Lay plastic in the tyre, then fill with soil/compost: that should isolate the tyre from the soil (but leave the bottom open, so the bed does not waterlog) regards Doug On Monday 10 April 2006 4:13, Keith Addison wrote: > Hi Darryl > > I think your caution is well-founded. Tyres were discussed on one of > the organic lists a while back and rejected because of cadmium > leaching. I'll try to find the details, but maybe I won't get that > far. Maybe they're okay for flowers, but do you want to have to > segregate bits of your garden that could be poisoned? Not that it's > not already poisoned, but there are degrees. > > America discards 270 million tyres a year. One each. Californians > throw away 33 million tyres a year, which "tremendously outstrips" > the demand for recycled rubber. Only 12 million to 18 million of > those are recycled, leaving the rest to clog landfills or stand in > massive piles that are fire hazards (and leach). > > That doesn't make sense, eh? Somebody has to be looking at their > bottom line instead of the recycling imperative (let alone the reduce > imperative). > > Something else that comes to mind is that a lot of natural gas is > used to make carbon black, most of which is used to dye tyres. In the > circumstances that's nuts. > > Pity tyre containers are a no-no for plants. We use permanent raised > beds in the vegetable garden. We're starting to give them wooden > sides, 12-15" high. It's a bit of a job but it works really well in > several ways. Chipped sticks and other rough brown stuff in the paths > between with a thin layer of manure underneath, which brings the > worms while the woodchips prevent too much soil compaction when you > walk on it. Eventually the roots grow under the paths too. > > But there's a major annoyance with this. For the wood we're using > discarded container pallets, of which there's an endless supply, > which is annoying in itself since they really shouldn't exist, but > nearly all of them are made of fine mahogany and other tropical > hardwoods. This is atrocious. It's excellent wood, I really hate > doing this with it but we can't find any more deserving use for it > than the beds, along with several big compost boxes, some slatted > pathways, a floor to keep manure bags and so on off the ground and > dry before it's used, all stuff you should use junk wood for, not > mahogany. But at least we're using it. > > In the US: "In 1999, for instance, 7.5 million tons of wooden pallets > went into the solid waste stream, accounting for over 60 percent of > all wood waste." And: "There are an estimated 6 hardwood palletts in > landfill for every resident of the US." > > What the hell is wood waste?? Which gets landfilled, sheesh. > > "During 1991, Ohio produced about 32 million pallets. Hardwoods make > up 72 percent of the total production, softwood 15% and mixed 13%. > One-third of the pallets were constructed for reuse and two-thirds of > the pallets were one-way, or disposable pallets. Only 7.5 million > pallets were repaired or recycled. The study estimates that disposing > wood from pallets into landfills claims the equivalent of the saw > timber on more than 18,000 Ohio acres each year. Eventually, a > substantial quantity of wood pallets enter landfills, thus rendering > this valuable resource useless." > http://www.epa.state.oh.us/opp/recyc/pallet3.html > Pallet Management Guide > > :-( > > Anyway Darryll I guess you'd be just as righteous using pallets as > tyres. I haven't seen any pressure-treated pallets, which would leach > arsenic. What a world! > > Best > > Keith > > >Robert's posts are making me envious. The ground is still frozen here, > >and my short visits in the greenhouse to start tomatoes, peppers and > >some salad greens just aren't enough. > > > >There has been some talk on a local plant e-mail list about using tires > >for raised gardens. I'm tempted. I'm tired of bending over to weed, > >and have access to tires and compost to fill them with. Cedar planks > >are rather expensive hereabouts. (There will undoubtedly be issues with > >the local aesthetics harassment, er.. by-law enforcement patrols, but > >that's a separate issue.) > > > >However, there is concern about using tires for food crops due to > >materials that will leach from the tires (e.g., zinc). There is > >material at SANET and http://www.paghat.com/rubbermulch.html etc. > >criticizing the practice. However, most (if not all) of that is > >specific to use of shredded tires as mulch. I could not find anything > >in the biofuel archive (after an admittedly quick search). > > > >So, my questions are: > > > >Is the hazard associated with leached materials from tires sufficient to > >be of concern for food crops? Does it make a difference if we're > >talking flowers? (The soil is still what's being affected most, right?) > > > >Is the hazard using whole tires reduced relative to using shredded tires > >due to reduced surface area, relative amount of tire being used or other > >factors? > > > >Other thoughts or comments? The idea of finding a viable re-use for old > >tires remains attractive, but not if it introduces a new hazard. > > > >-- > >Darryl McMahon http://www.econogics.com > >It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will? > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
