TIL that “microplastics” sources include tires. Had no idea.
Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
111–120 of 635 posts
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
In other words: you're proposing to replace a set of possible, if difficult, technological solutions, with an near-impossible social solution. I'd call that misguided. Technological solutions tend to be discussed because they can be implemented. Social solutions may work better, but only in imaginary la-la land where they can actually be put into practice. In the real world, you can't " just " get people to not drive…
Automobile dependency is not a technological problem, it is a social problem. Enormous sums of money were spent on lobbying, laws, and infrastructure, all just to make driving tolerable . The cost of this social experiment was that walking was made miserable and dangerous. A century ago people were saying, "in the real world, you can't just get people to not walk". But they did. We coined the term "jaywalking" to ref…
> Automobile dependency is not a technological problem, it is a social problem.
This is what the commenter said.
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#113It’s great to bring this problem up. But the focus on EVs is a distraction. > EVs tend to shed around 20 percent more from their tires due to their higher weight and high torque compared to traditional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. It’s covered in this panel discussion on Fully Charged: https://youtu.be/LeHakmL6eEc?si=ebBAn8RSDhmmLfHI Fleet operators don’t see any significant difference in tire wear. E…
> What we need to focus on is infrastructure for walking, biking and public transportation And busses, light rail, intercity trains. But America associates one-car-per-person with all kinds of twisted politics and self-esteem anxiety. We need a psyops program to wean people off cars, and it will take a decade or more. Just look at the anger in any HN thread that is critical of cars, it runs deep.
Be willing to enforce civility in public. In Japan 7-year-old kids can ride the subway; here we have junkies burning fentanyl, vagrants with pitbulls, and "showtime". Gee, why wouldn't I want public transit to be an inseparable part of my life?
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Fleet operators don’t see any significant difference in tire wear. Larger vehicles have larger tires. The size of a tire on a Tesla is a lot bigger than on my small sedan. They may both go 150,000km but one surely pollutes more.
True, but you should be comparing like with like here. A similar sized ICE vehicle will have similar sized tyres to the Tesla.
A similar sized ICE vehicle by weight will be much larger in volume. I compare a Tesla sedan with an actual ICE sedan and not a 3 row minivan.
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Do we want 100-people in a neighborhood driving 100x cars to a store? Or would we rather have 1x large truck deliver a (heavier) package to 100x different people? Why can't the majority of the people walk to a store and the rest can be serviced by a smaller truck?
Housing density, and radius of "walkable" to the average human. I live in a neighborhood full of small apartments, single level duplexes, and single family homes. What stores are walkable? The liquor store, and gas station, and if i really feel like it, dominos and 7-11, both of which are at least 1/4 mile one way. Most others in this area, dont get those even. Past that its about a mile one way to the actual grocery…
So people in your type of neighbourhood maybe can't start walking everywhere right away, but you don't need to also think "walking is out forever" - you can start lobbying your local politicians, and voting for the ones who want to improve things rather than sit in their 4x4 enjoying the status quo.
(And personally if I lived somewhere unwalkable I'd move home to address that, though I appreciate there can be reasons to either not want to move or to not be able to move.)
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are two main working solutions that have ALREADY been used and proven to work since WWII. First: a fungal disease has wiped out ALL the rubber trees in south america, thats why we cant grow in it the Western hemisphere, a fungus. If we could grow it here we would and it would drop the price by A LOT. But, we already have a solution, a transgenic species that is resistant, nonsense Government regulation and moro…
"Rubber Made From Dandelions is Making Tires More Sustainable – Truly a Wondrous Plant" (2021) https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/dandelions-produce-more-sust... : [I'll leave in the hashtags from when I wrote this up to remind myself at the time:] #DandelionRubber Tires; #Taraxagum > Aiding the bees and our environment > Now, Continental Tires is producing #dandelion rubber tires called #Taraxagum (which is the genus n…
A less hashtag version: https://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/CropOp/en/indus_misc/chemical/r...
Other Common Names Include: Dandelion, Kazak dandelion, TKS, rubber root. Latin Name: Taraxacum kok-saghyz
Dandelion roots also contain substantial amounts of the starch inulin, which can be fermented to produce fuel ethanol.
USDA Report from 1947 entitled "Russian Dandelion, an Emergency Source of Natural Rubber" https://archive.org/details/russiandandelion618whal/page/n1/...
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#117Typical hackernews to have threads full of well meaning but ultimately misguided people saying ah we have some technological solution for this. The solution to this problem and every other problem caused by driving is not driving . Period. Not driving doesn't require any new technology, it just requires getting serious about alternatives to driving. (safe, separated bike ways, ebike and micromobility subsidies, rail,…
In other words: you're proposing to replace a set of possible, if difficult, technological solutions, with an near-impossible social solution. I'd call that misguided. Technological solutions tend to be discussed because they can be implemented. Social solutions may work better, but only in imaginary la-la land where they can actually be put into practice. In the real world, you can't " just " get people to not drive…
Writing off a shift towards walkability as a "near-impossible social solution" I think is misrepresenting the nature of the problem.
Shifting car-centric suburbs and exurbs to a walking-friendly lifestyle is a massive challenge, but that only covers 20% of the population.
The remaining 80% of the population already live in urban areas that, in many cases, are already very livable car-free, and are a few small policy changes away from taking a massive step forward.
Even a couple large municipalities legalizing accessory dwellings, abolishing parking minimums, and rezoning to allow business conversations of existing residential properties could have a sizable impact.
Additionally, many of the most expensive areas in the country are ones that are designed specifically to support walkability, which is a strong indicator of unmet demand for such areas.
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
So you're going to drive a multi-ton vehicle instead of bringing a folding cart?
Yes, because we're a wealthy and productive society and the fruits of human progress in the past 300 years have allowed us to build a civilization where nearly everyone can afford to use a multi-ton machine of nearly incomprehensible complexity and sophistication to carry them around, instead of pushing a cart like a peasant 5,000 years ago did.
Unfortunately we have been pushing the costs onto everybody else: as evidenced by climate change and micro plastics. And now the bill is starting to come due.
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
The nearest store is a 45 minute walk (one way) from my townhouse. I'm not in the US, but Canada. Driving drops that to 8 minutes. The sprawl is real and I just don't always have 1.5 hours to dedicate to grabbing bread.
> The nearest store is a 45 minute walk (one way) from my townhouse. I'm not in the US, but Canada. Driving drops that to 8 minutes. Assuming an average adult walking speed of 3 mph, I'm guessing that's somewhere in the ballpark of 2.25 miles? So something like 11 minutes at an average cycling speed of 12 mph, yeah? The distances here don't feel insurmountable.
It isn't the distance that is insurmountable by bike, no.
Alone it would be fine, I know what I'm doing. If I add my children to the mix, it is a little sketchy due to what I'd consider tricky spots.
There are no sidewalks, no bike lanes, no curbs, a squeeze over a bridge where two cars won't fit around the corner simultaneously, and a couple of roundabouts that drivers just don't understand (one normal, one mini). I can't quite trust them to do the right things. The drivers or my children in this instance.
Re: Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Do we want 100-people in a neighborhood driving 100x cars to a store? Or would we rather have 1x large truck deliver a (heavier) package to 100x different people? Why can't the majority of the people walk to a store and the rest can be serviced by a smaller truck?
> Why can't the majority of the people walk to a store and the rest can be serviced by a smaller truck? Single-use zoning. Most people in the US live in areas where you can't walk to a store.
For example, San Jose: https://youtu.be/SWtb3GsLrTI