[EnviroGuy]

I was driving the other day and saw a bunch of tires lying on the side of the highway. Looked totally disgusting :yucky:. I wrote this Squidoo lens on some ways we could start recycling those scrap tires. Any thoughts from anyone?

Tire Recycling Ideas

 

[Brat]

My Dad use to make swings out of them..They was really neat...

 

[EnviroGuy]

A swing would be a cool idea.

 

[larabelle]

I like the tire planters...I wonder if you could make a fence out of them....

 

[Spirit Deer]

Or you could just live in one.

 

[Chris4x4Gill2]

Other than chipping them up as fake mulch, tires dont have much recycle potential. They do have re-use potential though. Many a tractor and truck tire has been turned into a flower bed. They can be stacked and then back filled / covered to make a retaining wall. Swing as mentioned is a good one.

Good for many types of sports training. Hang one by a rope to throw a baseball / football though to practice. Mount one ot the side of a wall or fence for batting practice - batter swings at the tire making contact with both sides, key is to keep the bat parallel to the surface of the tire. Fill with concrete, with a pole in the middle for portable volleyball nets.

They can be used as "bumpers" to soften hard edges like loading docks.

My granddad would take a tire, put a target in the middle and then roll it across the field - great target practice.

I have several of different sizes filled with concrete to use as ballast and weights for the tractor and disc. I have another with a post mounted to the tire and rim for use as a vise stand.

 

[onencgirl]

My kids always had a tractor tire for a sandbox when they were small.

 

[citrine]

In the home decorating blog world, they are making ottomans out of the tires.

 

[guthee]

Stack them and grow potatoes, you can make more potato layers by adding more dirt and tires as they grow

 

[MichelleMD]

So many ways!!! All you need is a Pinterest account and search "repurposed tires" --- hundreds of ideas

 

[ermadunk]

Can' t remember where i read it or i might have seen on tv been several years back some one made a home and used tires as some part in building it.Maby some one else seen it and can remember more.

 

[NikoSan999]

Can' t remember where i read it or i might have seen on tv been several years back some one made a home and used tires as some part in building it.Maybe some one else seen it and can remember more.

Didn't they use them for insulation? I think I saw one show a few years ago that they actually built the house out of tires. Out west somewhere... Arizona maybe.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Rammed earth construction is one method used in building with old tires.

Old tires should never be used for planting vegetables, due to the deadly stuff that can leach out of the tires and poison the food that comes from the plants. Given the news about shredded tires used on playgrounds and sports fields lately, I'm not sure using them for kids' toys is a good idea either. But luckily with the internet, it's easy to research that kind of thing these days.

 

[NikoSan999]

They say tires are the best form of insulation... or close to it. I'd be very very leary of using them in building of a home in any sort of way. Every see a tire fire? One of the hottest fires known to man and very very hard to put out.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I guess the theory is they're packed with dirt and most are skim-coated with concrete or something, so they don't have air to feed a fire. I thought about that too. And whether or not they would leach bad chemicals into the living area.

I used to be really interested in alternative building materials. Not so much the rammed earth technique, but I did read up on it. At one point we wanted to build ourselves a cordwood masonry house but concluded the climate was too wet here for that to stand up. I'm still fascinated though.