Instead of going into a landfill, these old tires are being turned into something useful.
The Artist
Amarildo Silva is a young artist from Brazil. A couple years ago, he was looking for a way to make some extra money. He saw stray dogs in the streets using discarded tires as makeshift beds, and an idea was born.
RELATED STORIES
An Idea Is Born
Silva started gathering old tires and turning them into dog beds. He paints each one a unique color or design, cuts holes in the sides for handles, adds a bed inside, and writes the pet’s name on the outside.
Wide Variety
Here Silva shows off the wide variety of bed designs he’s created. These ones are all for sale.
Motivational
His Instagram feed is full of himself with his tires accompanied by motivational messages. This one says, “Do not wait for the future to be happy, make the gift your joy.”
Non-Violence
He is an advocate for less violence in Brazil. Here he says, “The Brazil that I want, is a Brazil with less violence and more work. I’m not making apology for crime, quite the contrary, do as I do instead of a weapon, put a tool in your hand and go yourself fix your life and who knows change the reality of our Brazil.”
For Cats, Too
His tire beds are not just for dogs. There are plenty of examples of cats using them as their sleeping quarters, as well.
Other Ideas
Silva is branching out into other uses for his tires. This succulent planter made to look like a tea cup is created from three different tires.
Christmas Tree
For the holidays, Silva created a Christmas tree out of nothing but used tires.
Snowmen
It wasn’t just tire Christmas trees that he made for the holiday season. He also made these awesome tire snowmen.
Recycling Bins
This is perhaps the best use of them all: Creating recycle bins out of tires. He’s recycling and reusing at the same dang time.
Wall Art
Here Silva shows off more of his flower pots along with some cool wall art he created.
Seats
He also transforms some of the tires in these cushioned seats and foot ottomans.
