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Year 13 students Nina Pinkerton-Bennett, left, and Deanne Hornergold are part of a team marketing ottomans made of car tyres. The teens’ innovation is to include a storage space within the ottoman.
Turning tyres into an item you’d be happy to place in your home is a task that four business studies students from Albany Senior High have been focused on in recent months.
A team of Year 13 students – Nina Pinkerton-Bennett of Hatfields Beach, Deanne Hornergold, Ashleigh Hasemore-Slieker and Sarah Brill – wanted to make and market an environmentally friendly product for their Level 3 Business Studies project. They found inspiration online, seeing a number of recycling ideas for tyres that would otherwise be headed for landfill.
The students added their own twist and innovation to the design, creating a storage space in the centre of the tyre. The exterior of the tyre is transformed with woven rope into an ottoman. It can be used for sitting on, as a low table or footstool.
The group sourced tyres from businesses such as Bridgestone and Firestone, who Nina says were more than happy to have the worn and used tyres taken off their hands.
The product was made with a helping hand from Deanne’s father and Deanne adds the rope. The team have used as many environmentally friendly products as possible in the process, including non-toxic glue.
Once enough have been produced, the girls will sell the ottomans for $65 each online via Trade Me or Etsy (under DANS Tyre Ottomans) and also plan to take stalls at local markets.
For further information, or to purchase, email dansottomans@gmail.com
