Make: Technology on Your Time Volume 10

HEIRLOOM TECHNOLOGY

TIRE SANDALS

By Tim Anderson

Solve multiple global problems at once when you make your own sandals from an old tire.

An accumulation of old tires is an increasing problem in the United States. Tires can’t be easily recycled, and mosquitoes breed in the water that collects in them. But you can solve multiple problems at once when you make your own sandals from an old tire.

Rubber tires make great shoe soles. The line “huarache sandals, too” in the Beach Boys song “Surfin’ U.S.A.” refers to the Mexican tire-soled sandals once worn by well-dressed surfers. The Viet Cong and other armies have been shod almost entirely with such ...