Every year, tons of waste ends up in the ocean or in various landfills around the world. 23-year-old Amarildo Silva, from Brazil, tries to breathe new life into old waste. He does this through a new hobby he has discovered.
During the day. he is a shop assistant, but in the evening, he’s a craftsman. Silva collects old tyres and transforms them into environmentally friendly and comfortable beds for animals. With the help of his family, he collects every old tire he can find on the street or in the dump.

First of all, he cleans the tyres so that they are free of dust, dirt or even dangerous objects such as nails or glass. Then he paints them one by one, so that there are beautiful designs and patterns on each tire. To make it comfortable for all animals, he puts a circular mattress in it. This allows all animals to lie inside, quietly and relaxed.
Because he was so proud of his designs, he started selling the straps on Instagram. This became more and more popular, so Silva sold more than 500 old tyres in two years.
At the moment, he only sells his beautiful tires to addresses in Brazil, because it is not possible for him to ship the tires. However, he already has several requests from Europe, North America and Asia. What started for him as a hobby, quickly became a small company of his own.
Meanwhile, he not only turns the old tyres into beds, but also does his best to turn them into flower pots and containers. All this in order to dispose of as little waste as possible.

Because he makes the beds from old tyres, he also has the opportunity to take care of the animals. He does this especially with abandoned animals. He also holds speeches at schools to make young people aware of the environment and the fact that they should throw away as little rubbish as possible, if it can still be used. Isn’t it wonderful to see that such a small company can have a big ecological impact?