WILLIAM DOLAN

Used Tires

Frequently overlooked in the "Green" movement is the concept of reuse. This is especially true in the automotive sector, where recycling materials is king. With recycling, there is more energy spent and some of the material to be recycled is wasted. A major example of this was the Cash for Clunkers program. Perfectly good vehicles were sent to the crusher that could have been put to use where vehicles are needed. Folks that need to travel to distant low-paying jobs could have used them. They could have traded cars that were on their last legs for more road-worthy Cash for Clunker trade-ins. Their original junks could have then been recycled.

It is in that spirit that used tire shops can be thought of as supporting the Green movement. We still increasingly throw away what is broken and replace it with new.