By Mike in Art & Design, Home & Garden, Transit & Auto

(Image via: maxblack)

Tire recycling is on a roll. Only a few decades ago, the world had little or no idea what to do with the hundreds of millions of scrap tires littering the planet – hogging landfill space, collecting stagnant water for disease-carrying moquitos to breed in, and causing epic flagrations that can burn for years. Now we live in eco-friendlier times. Recycled tires are (somewhat fittingly) being used to line roads, to make playgrounds safe, to prop up houses…and as these six examples show, to add quirky style to our homes.

(Image via: igreenspot)

Not only is tire furniture hard-wearing (having already been rolled for thousands of miles) – it looks and feels like nothing else. Could it be the next designer super-material? Sturdy enough to keep in shape, flexible enough to cushion impacts – and able to withstand any extreme of weather. Pictured above is a coffee table set, but surely this material is born to make garden furniture.

(Images via: recycoool)

But if you want comfort over durability – add a little air. Recycoool’s inflatable furniture is the work of Israeli designer Nir Ohayon, and consists of inflated inner tubes crossed with industrial strength rubber bands. The result looks deliciously comfortable, if rather startling.

(Images via: englishretreads)

Stretchy but unbreakable, waterproof and available in staggering quantities – why have bag-makers been using plastic and leather when recycled tire rubber fits the bill so exactly? These examples from English Retreads show how it should be done.

(Images via: le souk and Apartment Therapy)

Or maybe you want a durable alternative to ceramic? Tire rubber containers won’t chip or fracture, will flex as they get filled and will take any punishment you throw at them. Perfect for pots to throw your kichen utensils in, as with le souk’s Recycled Tire Bucket (left) – or these Eastern-style tubs and planters (right), fit for any use, any environment.

(Image via: BadAss Paddles)

And lastly…um. Well. What can we say? Apart from offering our congratulations to BadAss Paddles (sadly no longer in business) for their lateral thinking and their creativity…and also for taking the phrase “brand spanking new” so very literally.