ENV 6

Dear Parent,

Over two months into the new school year, and we continue to work on “being Green!” The good news, of course, was our win in last year’s Tidy Schools competition. We are very proud of this achievement and Lorraine Murphy of Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co. Council was very complimentary when speaking about our recycling and waste management strategy. The other piece of good news this year was the acquisition of two Green Bins, one of which is for paper - making our lives a whole lot easier and the other solely for milk and juice cartons. These two bins are collected monthly. I applied for a battery bank during the summer and this arrived a few weeks ago. We’ve located it inside the main double doors of the school. So please spread the word among relations and friends! Our first battery bank collection has been arranged for this week.

Having lost six committee members from last year's Sixth, our first task was to replace them. The committee will be rotated more often this year to give as many pupils as possible an opportunity. Obviously, those children who make a greater effort and who show most interest are more likely to serve on the committee. We now have three pupils from Fourth, three from Fifth and four from Sixth on the committee and we meet as the need arises. They are responsible for collecting all recyclables around the school each Friday.

Last year the children (and most staff!) tried hard to avoid the use of cling film and tinfoil when making their lunches. These are now starting to reappear and we would therefore be grateful if you would encourage your children to use reusable containers (available in all sizes), plastic/zip lock bags or the paper alternatives (available from the Ecoshop at Sexton’s Garden Centre, Kilmacanogue). If we all pull together – children, staff and parents – we will go from strength to strength. In order to keep our flag flying we need to develop our ‘greenness’ to include our use of energy, while continuing to maintain good green waste management practices. We must go forward if we are to keep our green status. Shortly, a compost bin will be acquired for all organic waste, as we start considering the development of our school garden. We’ll also be getting back to composting leaves – these are a terrific source of carbon (one of life’s major building blocks) and over a couple of years make wonderful compost. Please think of us as you sweep the leaves from your gardens and driveways – we could provide a good home for them!

All in all it looks like an interesting year as we seek out new ways to enhance our green status. Thank you for your support and help over the past year. We look forward to an even better 2005!

Yours sincerely,

James Malseed
(Green Schools Coordinator)