Local firm has a ball helping eco activist get back on the road
A Blantyre company has helped a man who travelled all the way from Germany to Scotland in a giant hamster ball.
Activist Arnd Drossel, from Paderborn, wanted to make a statement to show those travelling to COP26 they can do so without leaving a carbon footprint.
The 53-year-old decided to build his huge structure out of metal rods before rolling more than 900 miles in it to the conference.
However, during his journey – which took around 90 days – the hamster ball took some bumps along the way and required some repairs.
That’s when Blantyre-based manufacturing business James Cowie Ltd were called upon to help out, alongside Clarke Fire in Coatbridge, who Arnd had been in touch with.
Arnd designed the hamster ball with his son in Germany, and he was more than capable of fixing the structure himself, so the local firms worked together to provide his workspace and tools to get him back on the road.
Kevin Hodges, manager at James Cowie admitted it was one of his stranger days at work, but he was more than happy to help Arnd continue spreading his message.
He told the Advertiser: “He made a big hamster ball out of stainless steel rod and put himself in it.
“He’s now walked all the way here in it from Germany, to highlight that you can move around the planet in other ways from cars and other travel.
“Arnd had bits broken from it so he got in touch with us as we work with steelwork. He needed to repair the ball so us and Clarke Fire set him up with a bit to work in and let him come in.
“He then carried out all the repairs to make it functional and he’s now walked into Glasgow with it.
“We’re a local company helping out someone that’s done something for the environment during COP26.”
Arnd’s work also caught the eye of Coatbridge MSP Fulton Macgregor who came along to see his hamster ball.
James Cowie usually manufacture anything from staircases and railings
Greencampaignerneeded tofixgiantorbafterrolling allthewayfromhishome ingermanytoscotlandinit
to benches and smaller items. But a giant hamster ball was certainly a first.
“Clarke Fire had been in touch and asked if we could help Arnd out”, Kevin explained.
“We had what he needed so he came in and wanted to repair the thing himself as he had a lot of pride in it.
“At one point he had welded his own knife from his cutlery he had with him in it to keep it going.”
Kevin added: “He decided he wanted to make a statement.
“So rather than glue himself to a road and create havoc, he thought he could travel all the way from Germany in a great big hamster cage without causing any environmental problems at all which is what he’s all about.
“It looked a great idea making it all the way over here without really creating a carbon footprint.
“It’s someone who has gone to a big effort to do something to make a statement that everyone is creating a lot of pollution by travelling in a manner that causes these issues and Arnd had made that effort and needed that help.
“So we thought as a local company why not give this guy the help so he can carry on making his message.
“We were more than happy to make that happen.”