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Re: Rubber Mulch

Message from Jim Wilmington DE 7a

I don't say that rubber mulch is 100% issue free. But I would counter with the fact that rubber is broken down at a much greater higher rate on our roadways where friction with road surfaces erodes away the rubber. Anyone who drives a vehicle with rubber tires is part of the problem. Additionally, it would stand to reason that roadside vegetation would either be non-existent or of far poorer quality & quantity being subjected as it must be to all the elements in the rubber runoff from the roads. I'm not seeing that here, and I'm surrounded by some very heavily used roads. Another issue NO ONE talks about is when we drive, and the rubber comes off our tires (microscopically), much of it, I'm sure, becomes airborne. We breathe that in! I would be more concerned with that than a mound or two of relatively static rubber mulch sitting still on someone's palms.

Little in the modern world is completely safe. High tension wires cause cancer. (Everything causes cancer, so we're told.) Cleaning agents are harmful. The very water we drink has some awful stuff in it. When we as a species decided we wanted to move out of caves, or the open savanna, and separate ourselves out from the rest of the animals by harnessing electricity, heating and cooling our homes, using motor vehicles, eating processed foods, etc., etc., it was a never ending story of tradeoffs. In most cases, tradeoffs we were (most of us anyway) willing to make.

Overall, my philosophy is much closer to the environmentalists than to the "Drill, Baby, Drill" crowd. Wherever there's a viable green choice, I believe in taking it. And I try to do my part. I have very fuel efficient car that I've put 42,000 miles on IN TEN YEARS OF DRIVING. I use reusable bags at the grocery store.

For all of this, I humbly ask a little patience with me with regard to my choice of garden mulch.


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