Get more miles out of your tires.
Imagine piles and piles of tires clogging up rivers and sitting in landfills, becoming breeding grounds for mosquitos and polluting the land.
We need tires–there’s just no way around it. Unfortunately, what makes tires so useful for getting from place to place (their physical structure, durability and heat-retaining characteristics) are actually what make them really difficult to deal with once we’re done with them.
Theoretically, the first tire that was ever made is still out there somewhere… Tires take thousands of years to decompose, and until then, they sit in massive piles with the potential to cause harm to the environment and human health. Tires that catch fire–due to lightning storms, for example–can result in toxic smoke, heavy metals, and oil.
In the U.S. recycling and repurposing have helped to dramatically reduce the number of stockpiled tires. In 2011 alone about 197 million scrap tires were ground up for mulch, playground walkways, sports surfacing, rubber-enhanced asphalt, molded products and auto parts such as floor mats. Waste tires can also be made into fuel.
This has helped to chip away at the 2 to 3 billion tires once stockpiled in the country, but unlike the U.S., other parts of the world are not yet as concerned with finding creative ways to get rid of their waste tires.
In the surfer’s destination of Indonesia, for example, there are about 7 million motorbike sales and over 1 million car sales per year. That adds up to roughly 18 million tires from new auto sales each year to feed the demand of the population (250 million people and growing). Not to mention the sale of new tires to replace the ones that have reached the end of their journey from existing bikes and cars.
Considering the many challenges this developing nation faces, finding uses for discarded tires is not at the forefront of most people’s minds. Tires are just one small part of Indonesia’s mounting pollution problem, which includes air pollution, industrial pollution and improper disposal of trash, which wreaks havoc during the rainy season and results in floods and unsightly conditions all over the country, including on the tourist island of Bali.
The pollution problem stems from a combination of numerous factors including cultural habits, a lack of education and infrastructure, the challenge of keeping up with rapid development, and the demands of millions of tourists visiting annually. These problems have been discussed on various media outlets including the Huffington Post and commented on by numerous people such as Kelly Slater.
There is no quick fix to the pollution problem. However, every little bit of help does make a difference. Organizations have been working to educate community leaders about the importance of instilling better waste disposal habits, and children have even drawn up petitions and enlisted in the help of celebrities to ban plastic bags on Bali.
Indosole is helping to tackle the tire problem by repurposing discarded tires into the soles of fashionable footwear and taking a multi-level approach to the waste problem by preventing tires, plastics and more from reaching the landfills.
Every piece of Indosole footwear is responsibly made in Indonesia without off-gassing or the use of fuel-powered machines. We have saved over 31,000 tires to date by turning them into soles, and hope to one day save 1 million tires from polluting the land and rivers in Indonesia.
Though there is still much to be done, we hope that by doing our part it will inspire others to think about the pollution problem that Indonesia faces.
And if you’ve ever sat mesmerized by the landscape or the sight of barrel after barrel in this beautiful country, you know it’s worth it to spread the word, support the organizations and businesses doing their part to improve the pollution situation, and think hard about our own habits when visiting (time and time again) in search of the perfect wave.
