Palestinian woman turns old tires into artworks

RAMALLAH, Palestinian territories－Rana al-Khatib, a 20-year-old Palestinian woman, recycles old vehicle tires and converts them into colorful art pieces at her home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

"I know it is a hard job to get secondhand car tires and turn them into colorful art pieces used for planting flowers," Khatib told Xinhua while sitting at the garden of her home and painting one of the tires.

The young woman gets the old tires from a store and converts them into various shapes so that they can be used to decorate home gardens.

"In the past, we used to throw away the tires… but now, I bring the tires from the store instead of burning them which produces heavy black smoke that pollutes the environment," she said.

Khatib, who receives the support of her family, has signed up on several social media platforms where she posts photos and short videos about her artworks, gaining hundreds of followers who like the idea so much.

"Recycling old tires is a work that needs the strong and tough hands of men," the woman said, adding that "sometimes, I get the help of my husband and my brothers at home".

The young woman also turned her art pieces into a source of income by turning her small projects into a business.

"It is so important to encourage and help young Palestinians who have creative ideas," she added.

The Palestinian territories generate an estimated 2,551 tons of waste each day, including 1,835 tons in the West Bank, and 716 tons in the Gaza Strip, according to the figures of the Household Environment Survey of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The figures also showed that the average Palestinian family produces 2.9kg of waste daily, the report said.

It added that the average household production of solid waste is about 3.2 kg per day in the West Bank and 2.4 kg per day in the Gaza Strip.

Xinhua