You may not know this but traditional brake pads are comprised of some really nasty materials including copper. Every time you step on the brakes when you’re driving, materials are worn off the pads in the form of brake dust. This eventually winds up in the environment, contaminating our precious water resources.
Copper, even in small quantities, harm salmon and other fish. Copper interferes with the ability of salmon to smell. They need their sense of smell to avoid being eaten by predators and navigate back home to spawn. The consequence has been a massive decrease in the salmon population.
California and Washington have already passed legislation that will eventually remove all copper in brake pads. Rhode Island and New York have introduced similar bills that have not yet been passed.
The team at Earthgarage has created the “Give Water a Brake!” environmental petition. Our goal is to get the rest of the U.S. and our neighbors in Canada to pass legislation that will begin phasing out copper and other hazardous materials in brake pads.
Please sign our petition using the form to the right of this blog. Let your friends know by posting on Facebook and Twitter. If you publish a blog, please grab our petition embed code located directly below the petition form. Details on the subject can be found here.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be blogging about this subject in more detail. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at bob@earthgarage.com.
When you’re in the market for a new set of brake pads, ask for copper-free brake pads.
Give Water a Brake! is sponsored by our friends at FDP Friction Science, manufacturer of EcoStop brake pads. EcoStop is the only copper-free ceramic brake pad currently on the market.
