Inspired from various innovative ways of upcycling  displayed in Abu Dhabi Exhibition ECOWASTE 2014 , I decided to make something useful from tyres which I see thrown around in Sharjah Industrial areas and even on the corners of road in public places.

I picked up few car tyres , bicycle tyres and rims from junkyards. First I started working on car tyres. I cleaned them with soap solution to make them clean and smooth(to get rid of sand etc). Then I painted one tyre with Napoli green colour and the other car tyre with silver grey colour (for contrast). Then I glued them together with permanent glue. Finally I bought a 32 inch round glass to put over these tyres. And I was amazed to see the beautiful end product in the form of round serving table or coffee table.

Then I started working on cycle tyres and rims. I derusted(removed the rust from ) rim by using Emery paper and cleaned the tyre using soap solution. Then I bent 2 of the  rims to have desired shape/design. Then I got them welded to form the frame/set. Then I applied the primer coating on rims to ensure that the final paint adheres to rim. I painted rim with silver colour.Finally I used 32 inch round glass over the set of tyres and rim to get  the finished product in the form of table.

These 2 tables costed me only 100 Dhs (around 30 USD) in total (I had to buy only the paint and glass). On the other hand if we go to market to buy  even a simple  table , it costs us minimum 800 Dhs(around 250 USD) . So this is an economical , self made  option while recycling /upcycling the tyres which , otherwise, would have been wasted and would have added to landfill deteriorating the environment.

I was glad that my efforts were worth it . These 2 tables from scrap tyres are inspiration for me and keep reminding me that "WASTE IS NOT A WASTE TILL IT IS WASTED". Actually everything on this earth can be reused or recycled, we need to think and work towards upcycling.

I have been using these 2 tables in my community lectures as display to prove my point and to convey my message of REDUCE , REUSE AND RECYCLE.

Let's all try to reduce(waste) , reuse and recycle the used items as much as possible.