October is Ireland’s National Reuse Month and to mark the occasion Castleconnell’s Tidy Towns gifted a refurbished water fountain to the local national school much to the delight of students and staff.
The water fountain was purchased in an auction in Meath for €280 with a view to installing it in Castleconnell as part of a Tidy Towns project.
The fountain turned out to be just a shell as there was no internal plumbing. However due to the ingenuity and persistence the Tidy Towns team lead by former chairman Vincent Warfield built a new plumbing system including a very clever auto off feature, thus converting a cast iron shell into a functional water fountain for future generations.
The fountain has been installed outside the classrooms meaning students and pupils can avail of drinking water at any time.
John Hardiman from Castleconnell Tidy Towns said: “We are delighted to provide this refurbished water fountain to our local national school along with reusable water bottles. As a Tidy Towns group, it is very important to us to link with our community and our local green school is a continuous source of biodiversity and sustainability thought leadership. Led by Principal Richie Ryan and Vice Principal Grainne Greene, we really appreciate our on-going partnership.”
National Reuse Month is about shining a spotlight valuing our ‘stuff’, by repairing and reusing it for as long and as often as possible.
This means rethinking the way we use things and avoids the need to extract raw materials, manufacture and distribute new stuff, and avoids waste, all of which cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions.
The idea is to bring people beyond the idea of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ towards a focus on the prevention of waste in the first place.
Sinead McDonnell, Environment Awareness Officer with Limerick City and County Council said: “It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm for #Reuse in Castleconnell. I would like to congratulate the Tidy Towns volunteers for bringing the water fountain back to use and providing it to the local national school. It is a win for the school, a super project under the sustainability category for Castleconnell’s 2023 Tidy Towns application and a win for the environment.”