Galway firefighters fend off stiff competition in upcycling challenge!

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Galway firefighters and a collective of cycling enthusiasts have fended off stiff competition to win awards in a national upcycling competition that celebrates reusing waste material.

The Blue Watch unit of the Galway Fire Brigade saved three ladders destined for the scrap yard and transformed them for use in an outdoor seating area in the station yard.

And An Mheitheal Rothar drafted in 20 volunteers and a collection of old pallets and plastic sheets to create their popular pop up shop in the Galway Shopping Centre which became a hive of activity during the lockdown for bike repairs.

The two projects were among nine picked from 259 entries to win separate categories of The Upcycle Challenge, an initiative of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The ladders made of timber and aluminium used by the fire service dated back to 1979 and had come to the end of their working life. But the crew of the Blue Watch were not content to see them head for the scrap yard.

“Call us sentimental, but we wanted to come up with a way to preserve a part of our local Fire Brigade heritage. The ladders are quite large, heavy and bulky items, so we wanted it to be something we could use, as opposed to just hanging it up on a wall,” explained Paul Moran.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.