Man collects old tyres to turn them into cosy beds for stray dogs and kittens

It’s always a good idea to recycle, but the artist known as Amarildo Silva has better things to do with old and overlooked items – turn them into works of art, of course.

In this case, it wasn’t only a work of art, it was something that would actually benefit the dozens of stray animals on the streets as well.

The artist, from Campina Grande, Brazil, is confronted with the stray animals on the streets every single day. It’s particularly bad in this town, as there are more than five times as many stray animals than there are homeless people. This man, who is only 23 years old, decided that he’d do anything to can to help.

One day, he had the brilliant idea to repurpose the old tyres into some practical and useful for the city that also looked good and would brighten the streets up. He came up with the idea after he noticed that the animals would curl up in the used tyres at night. The artist then started to collect dozens of tyres all around town and in landfills for his ambitious and warm-hearted project.

Silva is a self-employed artist, as he was tired of working a ‘regular’ supermarket job. He dreamed of being his own boss.

He took a leap of faith and trusted that his artistic vision and creativity would allow him to be self-employed one day, and it did.

In fact, the whole idea about the tires even substantially boosted his business.

The tyre project is special to Silva, not only because it helps the homeless dogs in his neighbourhood, but is also good for the environment as it reduces waste. Old tyres take decades to decompose if they’re not recycled.

To make sure that the tyre beds are safe, he scrubs them very thoroughly and then cuts the tyres in whatever shape he’d like.

Of course, Silva does his best to make every tyre bed look unique and beautiful. They’re absolutely colourful, filled with special touches, have a number of different shapes painted on them and sometimes he’ll even add the name of the pet. He tops it all of with a soft cushion and matching pillow to make sure these animals are comfortable.

Silva sold the first six of these tyres to co-workers at the supermarket he was working in. It inspired him to ditch his job and pursue his dream and passion to create art full-time.

After he also made beds for the homeless pets, his tyres started to gain local attention and everybody loved the concept.

It didn’t take long before Silva was asked to show off his works of art at community events and schools, and the man is now regularly invited to speak about the importance of sustainability.

As of right now, Silva has his own official business and owns Cãominhas Pets, which makes sustainable and durable tyre beds both for homeless animals as well as people who request one for use at home.

And it doesn’t stop there, because the entrepreneur has now made other works of art with decommissioned tires and it’s absolutely stunning.

Aside from making beds, he also started making furniture that looks colourful, is sustainable and good for the environment.

“Over the course of two years, I already removed 1,500 units of old tires from the environment making only the (pet beds). This certainly makes a very big positive impact on nature,” Silva said to Green Matters, an environmental blog.

(Story source: I Heart Dogs)