Where The Rubber Meets the Road

I normally don't get into this whole "save the planet" thing, but there's something that's been bothering me for quite a while now. If I throw trash out of my truck window, I can see it fly away in the rear view mirror. When I drive into a parking spot, I can tell when a previous occupant cleaned out their ash tray. Their butts are all over the place. I can even tell when the folks that live around our back field have cleaned out their house or their yard. They seem to delight in throwing their trash over the fence and into our field. That's OK. I periodically drive the truck back there and throw it back. SURPRISE!!!

NO, that last one is not the thing that bothers me. What's been bothering me is wondering where in the world all the rubber from tires goes to. I mean think about it. As you drive along the road those tires on your car or truck wear down. That rubber has got to go somewhere. Think of the hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road. Think of all the tires on those vehicles. And think of how long those rubber tires have been rolling on the roads. Now here it is. Where is all that rubber that has worn off the tires? I mean, shouldn't there be mountains of the stuff along the roads and highways? I throw paper out. I see it. I wear through nearly an inch of four truck tires and I don't see a thing.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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