Ideas to recycle used tyres to keep kids amused and help the environment
Old tyre projects to keep your kids amused
If you are changing your tyres here in Brisbane, why not ask our technicians if you can take the old tyres away? There are plenty of projects that your kids can get involved with using old tyres.
Repurposing an old tyre is a perfect opportunity to encourage your kids’ creative side to come out. It’s also a great way to do a bit of parent/child bonding. Here are just a few ways in which you can use old tyres to give your kids hours of fun.
Create a playground in your backyard
The only limit to how much of playground can be created in your backyard using old tyres is your imagination. Create an obstacle course, swings, climbers, seesaws… Let your kids get involved, helping with ideas, designs, and then the making of their own backyard playground.
Be prepared to spend a weekend putting it together, and be prepared for your children’s friends to spend most of their time in your garden. When it comes to birthday parties, you can forget about hiring entertainers or expensive bouncy castles – you’ve got a whole world of adventure for all the kids to enjoy.
Build a kids’ gym
A playground will provide plenty of exercise, but some kids may prefer an outside gym. Build one using used tyres painted in bright colours, and stacked in different shapes for climbing.
Create a climbing wall with used tyres
This is one of my favourites, partly because it’s so versatile a project to do. You can use whole tyres or parts of tyres, place them between a frame or on a solid wall, and create a range of walls for kids of different sizes: a six-foot wall is great for kids under the age of six, while 12 feet is a maximum height for kids up to 12 years old. Make sure you place some rubber mats on the ground to cushion any falls.
Give them a swinging time
Perhaps the simplest way to use a used tyre, all you need is a rope, a tyre and a tree. Put it up, and watch the kids get into the swing of being away from their iPads and mobile phones. Make this the last of your tyre projects, though, or else you will end up doing all the work building the playground while the kids are on and off the swing.
Adult projects for used tyres
Of course, used tyres can also have their worth for more adult uses. If you want a few ideas – from tyre lamps to tyre subwoofers, coffee tables, and planters, boredpanda has an absolute hatful.
Recycling used tyres on Australian roads
Tyres usually last between three and five years, depending upon mileage. With more than 19 million vehicles on Australia’s roads, this means upwards of 20 million tyres could be recycled every year. That’s an environmental challenge that is hard to ignore, which is why it’s great that Australia is catching up with other countries in the use of used tyres to create roads.
Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) is promoting the use of ‘rubber crumb’ to build Australian roads. This is mixed into the asphalt, providing longer-lasting roads with better drainage and greater traction.
With luck and good planning, most of Australia’s used tyres will be used to build roads needed to satisfy growing populations. This should help to reduce road maintenance costs, too. On the downside, if you want to create those kids’ projects with used tyres, you may have to get cracking – road builders may monopolise used tyres soon.
For the best tyre service in Brisbane, and advice on tyres and how to make them last longer, contact Darra Tyres today.
Keeping your family and fleet safely on the road,
Kevin Wood