Buy used to keep cars out of vehicle graveyards

It’s no secret that even cars eventually go somewhere to die. The environmental footprint of each vehicle on this planet lasts much longer than just the time it is in your posession. Buying used cars keeps vehicles circulating, keeps the used market up and hopefully slows down the market for building more new cars which will eventually need a resting place too.

Vehicle resting places

Probably everyone can remember seeing old, rusted cars rotting away on the side of roads, on the side of houses, even in boneyards where big machines mash them into cubes to make the best use of space.

Where to put vehicles once they are broken beyond repair is a big problem in our world today, especially if you consider overpopulation and the continuous destruction of our jungles and forests for development and farm land. We hardly have enough space for all of the people on the planet much less room for each of them to have several cars in their life.

They have to go somewhere and here we will show you a couple of the places we put things that don’t work anymore…not just cars, but vehicles of all sorts. None of it seems like a good solution, and while some of the below boneyards may seem outrageous, think about how many cars travel the 405 every day during rush hour. One day every one of them will have to be disposed of somewhere.

If you really think about that, it is mindblowing to consider.

The dead Bay of Nouadhibou, Mauritania

A boat graveyard brought about by nothing more than a corrupt Harbor Authority willing to take bribes in return for allowing boat owners save a few bucks disposing of their useless ships. This is an aerial view courtesy of Deputy Dog that shows you the scope of the garbage left in this area.

Over 300 boats rot not just in the water but on the beach and all around the seaside in that area. Not only is it sad to see the hulking boats grounded and rusting, it is quite eerie indeed.

Plane boneyard in Tucson, Arizona

It makes sense that we’d put things we don’t need anymore in the one landscape that sustains the fewest natural life forms. The desert seems like that landscape, however our deserts are home to a lot more life than meets the eye. Not to mention that the desecration and littering of any ecosystem is bound to have an effect on everyone in some form or another.

This boneyard is the resting place of over 4000 aircraft, thanks to Deputy Dog for the image. This particular disposal facility is run by the US Airforce material command who make claims to be involved in preservation of the surrounding enviromnent through their practices.

How anyone could say that they were preserving the environment where these planes rest is a joke.

Train cemetary in Uyuni, Bolivia

Trains have become a giant of the past in many places but were used to build many a country. Now a great deal of sit empty, useless and alone. In Bolivia just outside of Uyuni there is a length of unused track that is home to dozens of dead trains, all of which have fallen so far out of condition they will never run again.

This cemetary has actually become a tourist attraction, mainly due to it’s proximity to the largest salt flats in the world. But in small part because of the spectral image of rusted trains marching along the track to nowhere. Image from Deputy Dog.

The moral

Bottom line, we can each to our part to help. Beyond recycling and keeping our local landscapes clean of debris, we can also watch our own consumption of the resources we should hold so dear. Buying used cars is not only economical, but it is also a step in the right direction for our environment. Keeping the vehicles we already have in motion for as long as possible is something we should all be proud to do.