Indian Couple Upcycles Tyres & Oil Drums Into Incredible Furniture

What do you get when you combine environment sustainability with innovation? Old tyres and oil drums that are upcycled to create cool furniture that stands out of course. Hyderabad-based couple, Aruna Kappagantula and Prashant Lingam have breathed new life into used tyres and other recyclable material and are incorporating them in making funky furniture including tables, chairs and ottomans.

The entrepreneurial couple founded an organization called Bamboo House India. Both of them bring different skills to the table- Prashant is a management graduate while Aruna is a science graduate and it the successful combination of both their expertise which has brought them this far. Their initiative promotes the use of bamboo in construction of home instead of conventional wood or cement. And Recycle India is one of the newer projects that they have undertaken which recycles old tyres to create something completely new and useful.

In a country like India with millions of cars, every year millions of tyres are discarded and take up space in landfills or pollute the environment when they are burnt. The couple also uses old oil and water drums to reinforce the furniture. Solutions like these are needed to answer these problems that have set our country back in terms of environment-friendliness.

Speaking to Homegrown, Prashant Lingam said that bringing the change is never easy. For instance, the Bamboo House project has been incredibly difficult to implement, Lingam tells us, “People are very set in their ways, they feel that cement and steel is the best way to construct a house. Moreover, bamboo is not exactly a cheap material as people tend to assume.”

But Lingam says that implementing the Recycle India project was far more easier for the organization, especially with the cooperation of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation who have commissioned them to build such furniture for several parks across the area.

Fortunately, the idea has quickly caught up through promotions through social media and regional media and the couple has been given the task of designing the complete interiors of a new, unnamed restaurant in Barkatpura area . Lingam says, “Every last bit of the interiors has been crafted from recycled tyres right down to the light holders, hand wash containers, chairs, tables and planters.”

Yet, their biggest support comes from the Municipal Corporation who provides them the tyres to create the furniture. This movement has taken off in other areas including Secunderabad, Warangal and Vijaywada where the Corporations have requested the couple to create seating arrangements for public parks and open areas.

Quoting the project’s humble beginnings, Lingam said “The development initially took over a year before we were able to build complete prototypes. Eventually we had 25 models which we started with.”

With their clientele quickly expanding, Lingam admits that the small team is working hard to keep up with the demands. He says, “We think that this idea has appealed to our target audience because it’s very hip, trendy and vibrant. Being eco-friendly is slowly becoming more and more ‘cool’ so I think that’s a good direction to move in.”

Being in the public realm such as parks and restaurants, we are convinced that these trendsetting pieces will catch the attention of a good chunk of people and encourage them to shift to using environmentally-sustainable furniture.

The obvious added advantage of promoting this line is the significant reduction in deforestation and overall pollution caused by waste including poisoning of water by the toxins in the drums and tyres. Furthermore, the probability of insects breeding inside stagnant water in tyres and drums are also significantly cut down if they are being employed for better uses and not being eyesores in public areas. Apart from this, both Bamboo House and Recycle India are initiatives that focus on training artisans in rural and tribal areas while also creating multiple job opportunities.

The impetus is not just on individuals but also on companies and other institutions to adopt a cleaner lifestyle and use such products instead of leaving a huge carbon footprint behind.

Feature image courtesy of Outlook India.