Tire wear and tear revealed as a major contributor to waterway pollution

I've always wondered about this. Similar to microplastics - everyone's tires wear, meaning small vulcanized rubber bits are being shed everywhere people drive. There must be some level of environmental impact of this

In Germany half of the microplastic on land comes from tire wear.
- Do you have a source?
Micropetroleum in all sorts of forms is everywhere thanks to humans.
- Even in raindrops!
https://www.arctictoday.com/tons-of-tire-rubber-is-making-its-way-to-the-arctic-each-year-study-suggests/
Rubber bits are killing salmon
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951

Yeah, when I worked retail in a strip mall 15 years ago the outside windowsills got covered in this nasty black dust every day. Spent an hour of each shift cleaning it. One day the district manager mentioned that the company had it tested and it turns out that it was from tires wearing and giving off dust.
I've always thought about that. If one tiny shop in a strip mall got so gunked up with this stuff, what's it doing to the rest of the planet?
- What's possibly equally frustrating is why did no one else think of this before?
  Like we know everything wears down, but nobody seems to think "where does the worn material end up?" I imagine it's mostly because it's a product and so "had sale, don't care."
- Hm I live next to a busy street, and my window slits keep filling up with a black powder that turns to sludge when a cleaner is added, I'm tempted to get it tested now.
Right? Rubber not lining highways says that we're breathing that shit. How come everything we do turns to shit
- Because everything we do revolves around burning toxic material

Can we move away from cars already?? People act like this movement against cars is just some aesthetic aversion based on personal preference. But cars literally ruin everything they touch, from commute times, housing supply, local economic activity, household debt, air pollution, water pollution, ground pollution, and just plain being the number one killer of children in the developed world. It’s mind boggling that cars are so normalized that many can’t see how obviously harmful they are.

Ok so I move away from my car, and get a bike. Bike tires are still made of rubber. What do you say to that hmm? You got answer for that? If I just walk to work I'll still be putting wear and tear on my shoes which are made of rubber as well.
- There is a difference between cargo/kg of rubber tire. On your bike youre not carrying an external metal framework, liquid resirvoirs filled with liquids, air conditioning units, filters, fans, belts, double inaulated doors etc.
  You can make the logical leap that the amount of rubber waste generated per person is likely different in different vehicle types. Cars vs busses, vs personal bikes. And a smart bet would be less per person on a bike vs car, considering both the weight and physical differences - e.g. speed, momentum and required force against the tires to accelerate and stop.
- I shouldn’t have to say this: biking and walking do not pollute as much as driving a car.
No most ppl can't, obviously. What we can stop doing is proposing no alternative when we tell ppl to stop doing something...you know. Like you just did.
There is no viable alternative to a car when it is 20 below and you have to drive 30 min to get to work.
- You might notice I said we should “move away from cars” which obviously includes building alternatives not just abandoning cars.
  If you’re responding in good faith and genuinely wanting to learn about this topic, you might try looking into how other countries (I presume you’re American or Canadian?) manage with fewer cars. For example, other cold countries like Finland and northern Japan walk, bike, and use public transportation all year round, even in -20 weather. Check out this video. Totally possible. Obviously, the US and Canada had big cities before the invention of cars, so I’m not sure why you think there are no possible alternatives to cars.
- Have you ever heard of buses and trains? Almost every town over here with 10.000 inhabitants has trains running every 15 minutes in either direction.
- "There is no viable alternative to a car when it is 20 below and you have to drive 30 min to get to work."
  Perhaps theres a solution buried in there. Organize society so were not burning our lifespan and the planet unecessarily commuting.
  "There is no viable alternative to a car when it is 20 below and you have to drive 30 min to get to work.
  Bus, train.
  "What we can stop doing is proposing no alternative"
  Bus, train, walkable cities, remote work, increased automation and reduced labour reducing commute requirements, production near consumption to reduce freight, tackling international economic inequities so it isnt cheaper to make a widget accross the world at poverty wages and ship it to those who live on the other side to buy within the means of their poverty wages - purchasing low quality quickly broken widgets that need consistent replacement and therefore further freight for that consistent supply.
- In the US, moving away from cars is a decade+ project. The alternatives are bicycles, trams, ebikes, walking, trains, busses, and subways.
  All of them require substantial zoning changes and a change in focus from transportation departments from car capacity to people capacity and safety.
  Most people in the US can't feasibly not drive. A good start are things like my neighborhood. I live 1.5 from a shopping center with grocery store and other essentials, but have to drive there. It would be a minimal change and cost to connect a few neighborhood streets to the back of the shopping center or finish the sidewalk/bike trail that abruptly ends half way there.
  Another good start is giving tax breaks for employers that do 32 hour work weeks or even 4 10 hour days to reduce driving.
  Another idea is allow for small general stores in residential areas.
  Another idea is HSR on easy routes like LA to Las Vegas.
  Another idea is trams along long strips with lots of foot traffic like public beaches and Las Vegas boulevard.
  Another is to add bollards in cities with bike lanes that are just painted lines on the road so people feel safer using them.
- Idk, maybe public transportation? We're not getting rid of cars, but one bus full of people is better than if every individual had their own cars. It's not about elimination, it's about reduction.
- There is no viable alternative to a car when it is 20 below and you have to drive 30 min to get to work.
  Funny you bring that up... bicycling in extreme cold is very similar to skiing, I've done it... no skin exposed, breathable layers, you have to worry more about getting too warm than too cold
You gonna force everyone into dense cities and make them walk or do you know of some new transportation techniques that will allow people outside of city center to ditch all their cars?
- Go look at small towns in Europe and the fucking trains they have. Then weep when your city 100 times the size has worse public transportation than them.
  You don't need to live in a big fucking city for public transportation, you just need a government that fucking cares.
- No, the idea that this is only possible in dense cities is a myth. Look at the town planning of small rural communities in the US established before the dominance of cars. They are way more walkable and bikable than most modern developments. People living in small towns probably still need to own a car, but they don’t need to use one nearly as much.
  This artificial division between super high density cities where public transportation is possible and super low density suburbs where you must have a car is also a very North American mindset. There are small towns and villages throughout Europe and Asia serviced by buses and trains, and with plenty of biking and pedestrian infrastructure. Cars aren’t inevitable, we just seem to be unable or unwilling to imagine anything else.
- You gonna force everyone into dense cities and make them walk
  I don't advocate completely getting rid of cars, but they aren't always a good way to get around.
  Why should large portions of the US be all but forced to drive a car? It requires registration, licensing, insurance, and sometimes inspections or emissions testing?
  Bicycles, pre-ww2 style small towns, mixed used zoning, and rail would all reduce car usage.
  For example, allow building small general stores in residential areas like mine so people don't have to drive to the store for every little thing. Lots of minor improvements add up.
  I'd be happy to answer any questions about reducing car usage.
- I feel like we shouldn't be arguing with each other about this stuff? It's like class conflict, wrong enemy.

FYI the EU has regulations on this very topic and are about to get stricter.

The EU really seems to be leading the charge on 'shit that makes sense and improves the world a bit' these days
- Because it's not in the hands of donors and lobbyists

This is going to get a lot worse with electric vehicles because they weigh so much more in order to accommodate batteries (source)

No matter what, automobiles are going to wreak havoc on the environment.

The problem isn't that electric cars weigh more than ICE cars, it's that people buy absolutely enormous vehicles that are way bigger than they need. The top selling vehicles in the US right now are the Chevy Silverado, the Ford F-series, the Toyota Rav-4. These aren't even cars - they're trucks. Yes, people should drive lighter vehicles. But this was a problem way before EV's. People act like conventional cars don't have tires or something. The fact that this is suddenly considered a pressing issue seems to be more FUD from people who really hate the idea of electric vehicles.
- BOTH are problems. Yes people buy vehicles that are too big. But electric vehicles, whether it be trucks or sedans, weigh significantly more than their ICE counterparts. I’m in favor of EVs over ICEs, but the bigger solution is not just “more of another type of car”. We also need a world with fewer cars.
I wonder if there's any data on how much bus tires pollute in this way on a per-passenger mile basis. I'm sure it's better than cars, but if it's still a major problem, I wonder if there's another way to manufacture less problematic tires. Maybe biodegradable?
- We had the solution for that 100 years ago. Streetcars were once the primary mode of public transit in hundreds of North American cities and towns.
  Fully electric
  No batteries
  No tire emissions
- I do not want my tires to degrade by themselves - the solution is walkable/bikeable neighborhoods and public transport
Guess we're all going back to horse drawn carriages with wood wheels.
- Have you heard about trains? More than a hundred years ago people could go from one village to another using a network of railways. My rural region had multiple stations and it was possible to go in cities that now require a car to do so.
  And now I'm cycling on some of that old disused railway network. In rural regions too!
  It's obvious that it's not everyone that can do with a cocktail of transport and take trains or bike everywhere, but reducing the number of cars by offering options that were existing a century ago could be a good place to start, instead of trying to save the polluting and inefficient car industry.

I have microplastics in my blood!

It's almost a human superpower by now! Only without any benefits! And killing you slowly!

Why not just use automobiles with steel wheels? Then change the road to rails, make really long cars that hold a lot of people and... wait a sec...

You can only optimize something so much before it turns into either a train or a crab
- Pioneers used to ride those babies for miles.
- You got an audible laugh from me for what it’s worth 😂

I now wonder what impact cycling has. Obviously, the tires are much smaller and supporting far less weight, but I’m sure I’m still spewing rubber when I brake.

How often do you change tires on your bike vs your car? 200lbs vs 2000lbs to stop is a pretty significant amount.
- And the relationship between weight and tire/road wear is non-linear. I.e. 2000 lbs is not 10x worse, but worse to the fourth power!
  This is why electric cars are not just a straightforward win. They are so much heavier that they will cause significantly more tire pollution and road damage, not to mention pedestrian deaths.
- Yea this is a good point. I’ve had my road bike for four years and haven’t changed the tires yet, but I’ve had to replace my tires two or three times on my car (long work commute on sketchy mountain roads, and a pair of flats).
How often do you change your breaks? I've probably only had to do it a couple times in the last decade.
- I haven’t changed them on my road or mountain bike yet, and I’ve had them for 4 and 6 years respectively

The goal really should've been flying cars from day one

Or you know... trains or mass transit.
Looking forward to the day when cars will also crash from the sky instead of just crashing from the roads.

whatever happened to the mushroom based tires from 20 years ago?

O. O the what? This sounds interesting.
- one of the big American car mfg like GM was bragging that they developed a mushroom-based automotive tire that used no petroleum and was non-toxic/organic but then never produced any for sale and i cant find any press releases now for it.

Finally, they'll stop suppressing the development of human teleportation systems and they'll flood the market!

Literally everything shit the world environment: Fuck cars Humans: we need more roadways

Roadways would be okay, what about for buses and what not? Obviously it’s not perfect but it substantially beats out personal vehicles no?