Education, Outreach and Local Reuse

The Rubber Impact Project has established a range of community partnerships to explore the reuse of inner tubes as a material resource. Establishing a reuse demand within San Francisco can mitigate the quantities of inner tubes landfilled each year.

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) will offer K-5 Curriculum focused on the bicycle inner tube lifecycle and reuse activities as available curriculum within SFUSDs Earth Day Every Day annual initiative. César Chávez Elementary School has piloted the use of inner tube sensory bands for fidgety kids to help improve focus by keeping their feet moving. (see ReBands)

Friends of the Urban Forest is testing the material integrity of used bike inner tubes for use as arbor ties and general landscaping needs. So far, their findings confirm the viability of this resource. Formal recommendations from them are expected. (see Tweet)

The Gardenista landscape design and garden maintenance company, home gardeners at Belgrave Test Garden and other local gardeners are utilizing bicycle inner tubes whole or cut into strips of various lengths and widths for use in plant and tree support.  (see ReTies)

The Urban Farmer in San Francisco has asked to pilot a quantity of cut tubes as a grab and go option for their clients

The Materials Library at California College of the Arts is including samples of reclaimed and cleaned bike tube rubber as the first self-sourced, self-processed, used raw material within a materials library sample collection.

Material ConneXion in NYC, the largest library of innovative, advanced, and sustainable materials, is evaluating waste bicycle inner tubes for possible inclusion within their extensive database.

The School of Fashion at the Academy of Art University is promoting the reuse of this material for use in their 2020 spring footwear and accessories class.

Special thanks to Gardenville Station for volunteering time and materials for our stamp making projects.