Unlike plastic water bottles and containers, there are very few organized efforts for the public to recycle or reclaim inner tube rubber, which is also a kind of petroleum based plastic. Rubber creates a heavy impact on our planet both through its manufacture and its eventual waste.
San Francisco alone currently landfills well over 100,000 inner tubes annually. For a material that doesn’t break down, this is not a sustainable practice. In most cases, the material itself is minimally damaged by a small hole and could be reused for a variety of purposes.
Design schools produce tomorrow's design leaders. Experimentation and adoption of reuse practices within this setting can evolve into industry norms. As a community, designers contribute largely to the way our world looks and functions.
Establishing the practice of reuse as a first step in material sourcing is critical as we face the challenges of climate change.
TAKE A TUBE / LEAVE A TUBE
Material Exchange Station
California College of the Arts, San Francisco
Take A Tube / Leave A Tube is an action and awareness campaign on campus at California College of the Arts (CCA) supporting the work of the Rubber Impact Project. The intention of this Take A Tube / Leave A Tube material exchange station at CCA is to help normalize the practice of upcycling materials at art and design schools by promoting inner tube rubber reuse opportunities for artists and designers. The recent inclusion by CCA’s Materials Library of this self-sourced, used raw material is an important and connected step in this process.
Inner tubes are modern industrial skins offering unlimited potential for art and design through their flexibility, surface quality, and distinctive shape. With volumes of waste bicycle inner tubes destined for landfills estimated well over 100,000 annually in San Francisco alone, it is incumbent upon makers and designers to find creative reuse solutions for this material.
Reusing materials conserves global resources and reduces air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. So ‘Take A Tube’ and support material reuse or, if your bike tube is no longer roadworthy and you don’t plan to reuse it, ‘Leave A Tube’ for another CCA maker.