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Tires are one of the essentials of our mobile society. Without them, commuting, excursions, and transportation would seize up.
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I’ve had to replace three tires this year due to nail punctures.
Three tires, three perfectly good tires, with miles of life left on them.
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I’m hardly a long haul driver. I go to the grocery store, to the liquor store, the gym, to visit friends, to the liquor store … but I repeat myself. I acquired these three flats while driving on city streets, streets that ought to be free of such hazards. Clearly, city streets are a minefield. If I can pick up three nails in less than six months, that’s a problem, an expensive, dangerous problem as well as an environmental can of worms.
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I think we can agree that tires represent a significant expense to any household. We can also agree that tires are resource-dense goods that have massive carbon footprints. The integrity of our tires is also crucial to safety. In 2020, the American Automobile Association attributed 664 fatalities to tire-related crashes. Yes, nothing good comes from nails and screws lying around on pavement.
Tires are one of the essentials of our mobile society. Without them, commuting, excursions, and transportation would seize up. If you have a private means of conveyance, you need them. Even if you don’t have a private means of conveyance, almost everything in your life arrives courtesy of a rubber tire.
Disposing of tires, however, has always been a problem. In response to the massive fire at the Hagersville, Ont. tire recycling facility in 1990, the B.C. Ministry of the Environment recognized we needed a better government strategy to deal with end-of-life tire issues. In 2006, Tire Stewardship B.C. was launched and tires were added to provincial recycling regulations. Today, B.C.’s five million discarded tires get sent to a facility in Delta where they are processed into crumb rubber or mulch rubber. This material is then turned into playground surfacing, bed liners for trucks, mats for horse stalls, or garden mulch.
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So, this is where my “perfectly good except for a nail puncture” Pirelli tires will end up — in a horse stall or under a rhododendron. All because some construction site was cavalier and slovenly in their waste management. Seems a shame, doesn’t it? And I haven’t even mentioned what it costs to replace those tires, let alone the inconvenience it represents.
Rosemary Sutton, executive-director of Tire Stewardship B.C., chuckles ruefully when I tell her my story. She recounts her own tale of two flats courtesy of nails. She tells me that Tire Stewardship B.C. is all about the first “R” — reduction. They would love to see fewer tires end up in the recycling hopper, especially tires that “died” before their time. To that end, she would love to see roadways cleared of construction debris.
Michelin recognizes the problem that punctures pose. They have launched the UPTIS — Unique Puncture-Proof Tire System, an “airless mobility solution for passenger vehicles”. A wonderful innovation, but a new set of costly tires isn’t exactly the answer. What we need — and we need it right now — is the Magnet Dragnet plying city streets.
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The Big O Tire corporation considers themselves the “guardians of everything round and rubber”. In response to nail punctures resulting in seven flat tires each second in the U.S., culminating in 220 million unnecessary flat tires, Big O decided to clean up the streets. They outfitted a vehicle with powerful rare earth magnets that “could suck the nails out of a 2×4”, then drove 50,000 miles in and around San Antonio, Tex., picking up 600 lbs. of metal off the streets as they went. They call this beast the Magnet Dragnet, and you can apply to have it come to your city.
It’s a long shot, but I’ve contacted Big O Tire and asked if they would consider sending the Magnet Dragnet to Vancouver. Premier David Eby just instituted legislation for flush toilets at construction sites with more than 25 workers. Maybe he should consider getting those same people to ensure that our roadways aren’t inflicting unnecessary expense, danger and environmental impact on an unsuspecting public?
In the meantime, fingers crossed we get a visit from the Dragnet Magnet.
Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She will be writing on The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane’s up to, check out her website, janemacdougall.com
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This week’s question for readers:
What are your tire tales of woe?
Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@gmail.com. We will print some next week in this space.
Last week’s question for readers:
What are you? A Halloween hero or a Halloween zero?
• We have been handing out treats to all the ghosts and goblins (and parents) in our neighbourhood in North Glenmore in Kelowna for 25 years now. The first year we lived here we had around 100 kids come to the door. Last year, we had over 500 kids, and for the last three years the whole neighbourhood has given out treats to the kids in the driveway since the pandemic. Everyone decorates their houses and has gas fire pits to keep warm. Our street turns into a Halloween circus with hundreds of kids and parents, along with our local firefighters parking their truck in our cul-de-sac and handing out safety colouring books to the kids. The kids seem to enjoy seeing our 12-foot giant spider on our front lawn every year. Halloween is alive and well in Kelowna.
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Rick and Liseanne Doiron
• I’m crazy about Halloween and wait for it all year-long. You could say that it’s my favourite day of the year. I love everything about it — the anticipation, the decorations, the trick-or-treaters, and especially the fireworks. This year, we’ve strung orange lights in the trees, we have four jack-o-lanterns on the steps, a life-sized skeleton in the window along with vulture skeletons, and a giant spider web. We even have a doormat that reads: “BOO!” We’ll visit several of the Halloween spectacles and sites, including trips to see houses that have gone all-out with their decor, not to mention a visit to the pumpkin patch. It all makes October into a very special month. Yes, call me a “Halloween Hero, not a Halloween Zero.” It’s the best day of the year.
G. Dhatt
• I’m pretty fed up with what’s happened to Halloween. It used to be just little kids from the neighbourhood knocking on my door to shout “Trick or Treat”. I now find teenagers, not even in costume, knocking on my door past 8 p.m. wanting candy. They’re not even from the neighbourhood. Have they no shame? What’s worse is that fireworks get let off even though there’s a prohibition on them. It scares all the animals and there’s litter everywhere on the streets. Nope, these days you can call me a Halloween Zero.
Name withheld
• We no longer get kids knocking on my door. None at all. We don’t have a long walkway and the front yard isn’t dark or scary, but there just aren’t any kids in the neighbourhood anymore, and our neighbours are all new and don’t seem to engage. We used to get lots of kids, but then the numbers trickled off and then the pandemic wiped out what activity we used to get. We miss seeing the little kids in their costumes and talking with the young parents — usually the dads, as the moms stayed home to dispense treats. Where have all the neighbourhoods gone?
Name withheld
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