| You may not think that a plastic tarpaulin can help | | | | recycling. However, plastics cannot be recycled |
| you with green living. However, these versatile | | | | into items that contain edibles, because of |
| items are excellent for a large number of | | | | contamination risk. This means that a lot of |
| environmentally sound uses. Recycling gets a lot | | | | recycled plastics see a new life as stuffing for |
| of attention as a way to save the Earth, but | | | | pillows and jackets, trash bags, and, of course, |
| people frequently forget that reducing our use of | | | | tarps. |
| resources in the first place is a better method. By | | | | You're probably used to seeing the standard blue |
| using tarps to protect your building, landscaping, | | | | tarp sold at hardware stores. These are good for |
| and other materials from damage and | | | | lightweight applications that don't expose them to |
| degradation, you can assure yourself that you'll | | | | the sun much. They're usually about 6 mils thick. |
| use the minimum possible. | | | | If you're looking for a heavy duty tarp to take |
| When left out to the weather, metal rusts, | | | | some punishment, like a carport cover, try getting |
| materials like concrete react and solidify before | | | | an 11 or 12 mil tarp, or even a super heavy duty |
| they are supposed to, paint can be contaminated, | | | | grade one - 23 mils thick. Unfortunately, like |
| and plastics degrade. To keep your materials safe, | | | | lumber, the specified size of the tarp isn't actually |
| place them on pallets above the ground and be | | | | the size. Most of these items will be 4-6 inches |
| sure to cover them with the appropriate tarp. | | | | smaller in every dimension. The size specified on |
| Choosing the right tarp for your use is an | | | | the package is the size prior to hemming. Be sure |
| important part of protecting the environment. The | | | | to take this into account when buying your tarp. |
| wrong tarp might not cover your materials | | | | For specialized applications, you can find tarps |
| adequately, or may degrade before its purpose is | | | | made to do a variety of jobs. Corner reinforced |
| served. Because of this, you should be certain to | | | | tarps resist tearing, and UV treated ones are |
| make the right choice the first time you buy a | | | | protected against the weakening that |
| tarp. | | | | polyethylene often suffers because of sunlight |
| Originally, tarps were made of oiled canvas. This | | | | exposure. Flame retardant tarps are available for |
| kind is still available, and is appropriate for some | | | | use in areas subject to a lot of heat. If you want |
| uses. However, canvas tarps are generally very | | | | a tarp that will keep sunlight off of your materials, |
| heavy and awkward, as well as being expensive. | | | | you can get specialty tarps that have an additional |
| A well-selected poly tarp is a better choice for | | | | layer to reflect or block the sun's rays. Silver sun |
| many applications. It's possible to find polyethylene | | | | blocking tarps reflect light away, keeping the |
| tarps made out of recycled materials. The item | | | | items underneath cool in the summer. This means |
| you use to protect your building materials may | | | | that covering your carport or temperature |
| once have made up drink and food containers. | | | | sensitive materials with this kind of tarp is an |
| Polyethylene accounts for the majority of plastics | | | | excellent idea. |