Bicycle tyres and parts? Before you discard, discover their other uses.

What do you do when you have a problem? How about working on making a living out of it? That is what environmentally conscious, Eli Reich, who rode to work did, to clear the used bicycle-tire inner tubes that were lying around his house. He handmade messenger bag out of them to sell.



He did so well with the bags, that he quit his job and using the tag line, "Turning useless into useful", set up Alchemy Goods.

So, before your throw away those bicycle tires, read their recycling instruction to see how you can get their prepaid labels to have them delivered to Alchemy Goods in Seattle. Though you will not be paid for your efforts to reduce waste, you get a mention in their recycling program.

How else, can unwanted rubber tires be used to help solve a problem? Lindsay Smith used them to create Rubbersidewalks. These are rubber pavers for sidewalks that can be unlocked and removed. Her innovation saved mature trees in her neighborhood from being cut down by the city in their bid to reduce cost of repairing the broken concrete pavement damaged by their roots.

Though Rubbersidewalks will not take your unwanted tires, they do provide a very interesting write up with lots of useful links to explain why trees should be saved.

There is a company in Malaysia, Advance PyroTech Sdn Bhd, that takes rubber tyre from Japan to recycle. The facility through its pyrolisis techonology provides pollution-free process to recover almost 100% of the tyres treated. This process uses heat of between 500°C and 600°C to break shredded tyres into their original components of oil, steel, carbon black and gas, with little or no residue. Now that you know where you can recycle your tyres, don't go burning them and pollute the environment.

Other commercially viable ways, scrap rubber tires have been used, can be viewed on this link to Rubber Manufacturers Association.

Here are other stores selling creations out of unwanted tires:

Go Passchal for luxury hand-crafted handbags made from used truck and tractor tire inner tubes!

Hand-Crafted Tire Swings from Recycled Tires, anyone?

Has the information here started you wondering how other parts of the bicycle can be used? It got me.

See what they are selling at Resource Revival at the following link:
http://www.resourcerevival.com”

If this has not inspired you to start collecting bicycle parts to start a business, then consider donating them to Community Cycling Center in Portland. If you changed your mind, you can always consider writing to them to request for some spares. Here is the link to Community Cycling Center if you would like to know what they are up to with the bicycles and parts.

http://www.communitycyclingcenter.org/index.php/about-us/recycling/

Come to think of it going "green" to resolve my problems has always been one of my incentives to recycle. Don't take my word for it. Look out for my next posting about "grouses inspired" green solutions I have created.