Subject: Re: Tires

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 10:29:14 EDT

In a message dated 4/16/99 2:05:40 PM, [email-masked] wrote:

<<dan & others,

what's your opinion of tires used for retaining walls, or
earthshelters?  we have 100s of tires at dreamtime, the local county
charges $3/per to dispose of them now. what say?

miekal>>

HiMiekal

Always nice to hear from you.
	Retaining walls can be problematic, or may be no worse that any other 
ground fill method, depending on the total design.  You want to know where 
your leachate goes.  What happens to tires when you break down and fork over 
the $3/hit to the county.  Is it a less polluting use, as in recycling, use 
in road construction materials, etc.?  Do you think that your tires pollute 
less hanging around than being put to structural use?  (I don't.)  
Personally, we pay the fee (but only $1/hit in florida, I think.)  
	Tires in Earthshelters require total picture analysis, also.  The 
problem is that once the tires are made, the pollution will go somewhere.  If 
we can use the old tires to make new tires, we reduce the new pollution load. 
 Even recapping tires is better, though not always done well.  Having said 
that, I must add that personally, I won't use recapped tires because they do 
represent an increased failture rate and I place an inordinately high value 
on my neck and that of my loved ones,, for that matter.  
	It is interesting that this tire discussion and the discussion about 
how lovingly we embrace the industrial society are proceeding side-by side on 
the same mailing list.  I can't be the only one seeing this connection.  When 
we committ unsustainable practices, such as using vehichles that require 
tires that are only available with cadmium (you wouldn't buy they 
otherwise--they wear out too fast)...well, when we buy into the unsustainable 
model we find some of the consequences right in our laps.  We now have to 
deal with the individual tires, but if we don't address the industrialized, 
global cash economy, the context in which the tires are produced, we  have a 
type 1 error, to wit, an endless hazard. Maybe this should be a *BOLDFACE* 
type one error, because this problem will not merely persist, it accrues and 
interacts (add *ITALICS*) with other problems also consequent of our overall 
unsustainable design.  
	Question.  What does a permaculturist do about unsustainable design?

	Question.  Why does the chicken cross the road.  Answer: to peck at 
the roadkill on the other side.   Question:  Is this sustainable chicken 
design? Answer:  Well look at what killed the roadkill and figure it out.

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since 
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses, 
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and annual correspondence 
courses via email.  Copyright, 1998, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway, P.O. Box 52, 
Sparr FL 32192 USA  Internships. [email-masked]  

We don't have time to rush.

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