Launched by Cathaoirleach of Carlow Council, Cllr Ken Murnane, the event was attended by CE Coilín O’Reilly, DoS Padraig O’Gorman, members of Carlow Fire Station, HQ Staff, the Council’s Environment Section and members from the Delta Sensory Gardens Carlow Town were also in attendance.
Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service are keen to progress work and initiatives in relation to supporting Carlow County Council’s climate action plan and to be proactive and innovative in our approach to sustainability, biodiversity and the supporting the circular economy. Fire station biodiversity gardens are a sustainable use of public space because they deliver environmental, social, and operational benefits with minimal resource demand. By planting native trees, wildflowers, and shrubs, these gardens support local ecosystems, providing food and shelter for pollinators, birds, and insects while helping to counter biodiversity loss. Native species are naturally adapted to local conditions, meaning they require less water, fertiliser, and maintenance than ornamental planting, reducing long-term environmental impact.
These gardens also contribute to climate resilience. Vegetation improves air quality, absorbs carbon dioxide, and reduces surface runoff by allowing rainwater to infiltrate the soil, helping to manage flooding during intense rainfall events. Green spaces around fire stations can lower local temperatures through shading and evapotranspiration, mitigating the urban heat island effect.
Acting CFO Ben Woodhouse:
We have developed small urban spaces within our Fire Stations into Biodiversity Gardens supporting sustainability and the circular economy. We are also composting compostable waste from the fire stations into a composter in the gardens which feed the beds, one bed in each fire station grows salad vegetables and fruit for consumption by firefighters and HQ staff. These Biodiversity Gardens also provide a relaxing space for our firefighters to decompress post attendance to traumatic incidents, provide a space for staff to take welfare beaks and a feature to show fire station visitors our commitment to improving our local urban environments. The gardens have innovatively upcycled old fire service equipment and other materials destined for waste and landfill into various features. We’ve even stripped down 3 old fire appliances rather than sending to scrap and given various parts a new role in the gardens. Also from a social perspective, biodiversity gardens strengthen community engagement and have a long term impact for fire station communities. They demonstrate environmental leadership by emergency services providing autonomy to local firefighters to lead out on this project, local schools visit and provide items such as bug hotels and local community groups such as the Elderflower Club assist in planting and upkeep, fostering environmental awareness and shared responsibility between Carlow Fire Stations and their communities. This also provides us with an opportunity to engage with community fire safety education as well.’
Items upcycled and part of the circular economy:
- 1800lt water tank which contained and provided water for firefighting operations in the UK & Ireland, for 21 yr, now harvests water from a roof for use watering the gardens
- Old fire appliance fire pump, now mounted as a water feature using a solar pump
- Water contents tube which indicates the amount of water in a water tank on a fire engine, again from a 21 yr old fire engine, now a bird feeder
- A 20 year old Breathing Apparatus cylinder which held and provided breathable air for firefighters in fires, now a bird house
- An old fire hydrant standpipe now a water feature via solar
- Old fire hoses, now a feature fence protecting plants from wind
- Seats from the 21 year old fire engine incorporated into new seating areas in the gardens
- Old chimney firefighting rods now upcycled into a bug hotel
- Old pallets destined for burning at the training centre, now planter boxes and feature fences
- Old ladders and hose, end of life, now upcycled into benches
- Old fire helmet now having been nested in by a bird