Four Unique Uses for Tire Chips
Non-recycled tires are a serious environmental hazard. But shredded tires, also known as tire chips, can be surprisingly helpful in saving the environment through tire recycling. They can also help you save money on everyday tasks. Here are four uses we found for tire chips that are especially helpful for Utah residents.
Gravel Replacement
Tire chips are heavy in weight and water can easily drain through the chips to the ground. This means that almost anywhere you would need to use gravel you can use tire chips instead. Because tire chips are just recycled tires, they tend to be much cheaper than gravel.
Drainage
As mentioned above, tire chips provide a great draining service. They are especially helpful in landfill areas because the chips allow the water to drain to contribute to groundwater while keeping the trash from the landfill from contaminating the water. For this draining process to work most effectively tire chips need to be shredded into 4-6 inch pieces.
Gardening Mulch
Mulch is a compost material that gardeners and farmers use to cover a plant and insulate soil. Tire chips can act as a durable mulch for plants. They not only provide the normal benefits of common mulch, but they also protect plants from the hot sun during the summer and freezing temperatures during the winter. Another added benefit of tire chips over other mulch materials is that the chips don’t decompose or lose their color.
Playgrounds
Tire chips provide drainage for playgrounds and a padded surface for when children fall. Shredded tires are nearly indestructible, so covering the playground with tire chips is a long term solution. With alternatives such as sand, the surface needs to be replaced or filled in every couple of years. But with tire chips that is unnecessary.
Tire recycling in Utah can seem a little boring at times, but hopefully you now have some creative reasons to recycle your old tires now. You can check out our website for more tire recycling ideas at westerntirerecyclers.com.
