Do I recycle WHAT!!!!???

tom_and_barbara_good

My eldest phoned home from Uni yesterday, he had a project to do about making something for either cooking, storage or collecting water and had got a bit stuck, it was about recycling and design could I help? The design bit was more up his street but I was flattered to think that I was the family guru on recycling, NO PROBLEM, I thought - until he told me what the materials were :eek: -

Oil drums, plastic bottles, car tyres and general stuff that will be found lying around in a South African shanty town (like Soweto). The best I could come up with was the oil drum barbeque and the stack of tyres to grow stuff in, OK he said but not new and ground -breaking, never been seen before, cutting edge design.
So it looks like I've failed my son, I'm not the recycling whizz that he took me to be, any ideas to rescue my reputation?

Queenie

Make a chair? Hollow out part of the oil drum, pop a tyre or two inside to form the seat and seat height then ... cover the tyre with fabric stuffed with ... paper? (Use the inside of the seat/tyre to store stuff?)

Bless him!!!! I'll come back if I think of anything sensible

Eliza252

umm. why specifically South African Shanty Town? I used to live there (in south africa for a while near and worked in soweto) so I can tell you that paint cans get used as parts of car engines (the combustion bit you put the petrol in). Old metal oil drums get used as cookers and tyres never get replaced so they wouldnt be recycled - heehee!!
also, I've seen loads of stuff used as bits of art work....

Xbigman

Cut the sides off the tyres so you just have a circle. Cut into 8 to 10 inch long strips and you have - roof tiles. Totally waterproof, never degrade.
Regards




X

tom_and_barbara_good

I think that they specified a township scenario to make these design students really think about how re-using waste materials would mean the difference between having something useful to cook with or catch water or not having them at all.
In the affluent countries we CHOOSE to recycle for many reasons but we have the choice to either turn an oil drum into a barbeque or go to B&Q and buy one if we don't. The project is to show that some people don't have that choice, and make these kids THINK (or get their parents to!). I love the idea that there won't be any tyres in any case!...

eldbs

Plastic bottles: (preferably the blue tinged ones you get in africa) can be used to purify water. 8 hours left in the sun full of water will purify it as the plastic focuses the UV rays through the plastic to kill of any bacteria in the water.

old oil drums: can be used to collect rain water from the roof (and if you half fill it with charcoal and put a hole in the bottom with a pipe and a tap, then you can easily use it to filter other water as well. They can be used as wormeries or composting containers to provide highly fertile soil (humus) from other household waste which can be used to grow crops. they can be made into composting toilets (2 will be needed for this) but there are composting toilet designs on the internet and the cans could be addapted to suit these. Another idea I have seen is to invert the drum, and mount it on a pole, cut slits on the sides going 3/4 of the way up and bend them out. This then becomes a wind turbine which can be coupled to a generator to provide electricity or a pump or whatever you may need power for.

Tyres: can be used to make shoes. if you cut one side off they can be used at pots to grow vegetables, using the compost created in the drums.

OK inspiration drying up for the moment...

eldbs

Austin_Allegro

I'm in the architectural profession, and remember reading about a man in Africa who built an entire house from old car tyres - it was very robust but did smell a bit rubbery!

crana999

You can make shoes from car tyres!