For many, driving in the snow is a must. And, those environmentally conscious drivers have several options for safer, earth-friendlier snow tires.
In Tennessee, where I’m from, drivers avoid getting out in the snow at all costs. Luckily, Tennesseans don’t have to deal with winter driving much. But, for many northern-dwelling Americans, driving in the snow is a must. And, those drivers that are environmentally conscious have several options for safer, earth-friendlier snow tires.
Green Diamond Tire in Colorado remodels used tires and resells them. The manufacturing technology to overhaul used tires and have them snow ready comes from Iceland. Green Diamond offers online purchasing, and sells its tires in stores in Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania. Remodeling used tires saves them from landfills and uses less resources than producing tires from scratch.
Nokian Tires uses LA (low aromatic) oil instead of HA (high aromatic) toxic oils to produce its tires. HA oils contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carcinogenic. The LA oils comprise less than 3% of PAH compounds. The company’s winter weather selection features tires with purified oils, which are not harmful to the environment as your tires wear down. Nokian also claims its tires have “low rolling resistance,” which causes drivers to use less fuel than normal. Use the dealer locator to find a retailer near you.
Yokohama Tires makes a tire made from orange oil, reducing the need for petroleum-based products. The company’s environmentally friendly line also features low rolling resistance for better fuel efficiency. According to Yokohama, one tank of gas saved can save 20 gallons of carbon emissions.
If it’s time to trade in your old tires for eco-friendly ones, 1-800-RECYCLING can help you find a tire recycling location near you.
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Richard Gostenik
December 30th, 2009
Hello, all…
Thank you Jessica for your kind and insightful comments regarding our planet-friendly Green Diamond Tires (GDT).
Just a minor point of clarification… the technology of turning a serviceable tire casing (passenger or light truck-class) into a GDT is called ‘remolding’. It is in this process that a extensively QA’d casing has all of the non-structural rubber material removed via high-speed, computer numerically controlled (CNC) rasps and new, non-vulcanized tread rubber and sidewall material applied and then cured (vulcanized) in presses with segmented molds.
The GDT is a bead-to-bead ‘remold’ that is a hybrid between new tire manufacture and a highly advanced retread/recycle technology. Our recycled content is in the 70%+ range (tire size dependent) and we have identified technology that will allow us to push the content envelope into the mid-to-high 80% range in the next generation of GDT.
Jessica, thank you again for the attention that you brought to our product. We look forward to continuing service to our customers and planet in a responsible fashion with the most environmentally responsible tire that we know how to produce.
Kind regards,
Rich Gostenik
President / CEO
Green Diamond Tire – North America
866.380.0009 (toll-free)
Rich@GreenDiamondTire.com