Giving Back to the Community
Fire stations have played a role in Wunsch’s life for many years, she says, even if she wasn’t fully aware of it at the time. She grew up in a town in Wisconsin where the manufacturing of fire trucks was the primary industry. Later, in San Francisco, she worked in a building that used to be the city’s first firehouse. Five years ago, her sister lost her home in a fire and Wunsch’s friends had a fundraiser to help.
“I’ve had these interesting times of awareness about firefighting. Many of us do. It’s part of our communities, part of life,” Wunsch says.
In addition to helping protect communities, fire stations also give back to their communities through fundraising. Wunsch wanted Oxgut to give back to the community, too, so a portion of each of Oxgut’s sales goes to the Children’s Burn Foundation. She also hopes that in the future Oxgut can use some large-diameter fire hoses to directly assist the Children’s Burn Foundation, potentially by using them to make playground equipment.
“We feel that we’re providing this service to keep this material out of landfills, to help the fire department, to dispose of it, salvage it at no cost to them,” Wunsch says. “But we also completely recognize how privileged we are to be a part of that, and we absolutely want to give back and help use some of the material down the road.”
Ultimately, Oxgut Hose Company would like to become a design center as well — a place where the knowledge its employees have obtained about working with these unusual materials can be shared.
Want to see more products made from upcycled materials? Check out:
Flooring from old leather belts
Chairs from seat belts