Recycling
and waste managemant.
We
have been trying to reduce the waste generated in our school this year.
Disposing of waste is not only very costly
but is also
unfriendly to the environment.
We already have some recycling facilities set up in our school and in
November our environmental officer visited the school and gave us lots of ideas
to help us with our waste management.
|
FACT:
2
wheelie bins a month for the school costs €70 which comes to €840 in
the year! |
ENVIRONMENTAL
OFFICER VISIT
Our
Environmental Officer from Kilkenny Co. Council visited the school
in November and spoke to us and showed us a video on the problems of
waste disposal and litter.
The main points of her talk were that individuals can make a difference
in reducing the amount of waste produced.
She encouraged us to:
Dispose of litter
responsibly. To use bins
provided and to make an effort to reduce and recycle.
This ties in with the Town Development’s anti litter awareness
programme, which our school is supporting.
The school was presented with a compost bin, a battery-recycling box
and a few practical tips to begin with:
Say no to plastic bags. Take your shopping bag with you on every
shopping expedition.
This does not apply to just grocery shopping.
Recycle your old
batteries.
Compost organic waste.
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COMPOST
BIN
Following
the Environmental Officer's visit we got a compost bin. One of our teachers dug a hole at the
edge of the grass in our playground and placed the compost bin on it while one
of the girls said the following prayer:
|
Thank
you god, for life, for the gifts you have given us and for giving us
everything we need. Now we want to give you something back, which in
time will give new life to flowers and plants. |
In
the bin we put apple cores, orange peels, nutshells, banana skins, kiwi skins
and pear skins. This helps to reduce the amount of rubbish our school sends to
landfills.
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BATTERY
BOX
Our
Environmental Officer
told us that batteries can be very dangerous especially in landfills. She left a
battery box in our school. This box is kept in the entrance hall. All our used
batteries from home and school are put in the box.
When the battery box is full someone will come and collect the batteries.
They will take them to Kildare where they will be recycled. To reduce the number
of batteries used it is recommended that we use rechargeable batteries or
electricity mains.
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RECYCLING
CANS
Our
school was first introduced to recycling cans in 1991. Once a month, Wexford
recycling men come and pick up the cans we have collected. We collect cans from
the people who live in Castlecomer, and from the eight public houses in the
town. Some people leave their cans at our school. Every Friday, we go up to the
public houses and collect their cans, which we then change into clear plastic
bags.
Our
school has won prizes for collecting the highest number of cans in Co. Kilkenny.
In September 2000 – August 2001, we took approximately 2000 bags of cans out
of the environment.
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RECYCLING
PAPER
Our
school is a pilot school with Kilkenny Co. Council for paper recycling. We were
provided with a green bin and there is a collection every two weeks. We are now
very conscious of keeping paper waste separate and binding it carefully for
collection. This facility is of enormous help to us and has cut our waste
disposal in half. It is important that we continue recycling paper and help save
our trees. In School
we also recycle paper by shredding it into strips. We bought the shredders from
Viking Direct and have one in each
of the senior
classes. We give the shredded paper
to people that have pets like horses and dogs. We recycle the paper so it
doesn’t go into landfills and take up the space.
In
School we also recycle paper by shredding it into strips. We bought the
shredders from Viking Direct and have one in each of
the senior classes. We give the
shredded paper to people that have pets like horses and dogs. We recycle the
paper so it doesn’t go into landfills and take up the space.
This
year our school has decided to register for the Green-Schools project with
Kilkenny Co. Council. This is a project, which endeavours to make children more
aware of their immediate environment and take steps to protect and conserve it.
We set up a Green School Committee, which consisting of a volunteer from
each class, two teachers, the Principal and the caretaker which meets regularly
to discuss how we can stop the flow of rubbish in our school. We concentrated on
litter – its creation, consequences, problem of disposal and ways to solve the
problem in our school. We collected data on the amount of unnecessary packaging
e.g. tinfoil, juice cartons, clingfilm etc. that is brought to school in lunch
boxes each day.Our
next step was to find practical ways to reduce and hopefully to eliminate excess
packaging on school lunches.
We produced a Green School Code, which
is:
-
We use
lunchboxes and re-usable bottles to eliminate litter.
-
We
bring extra rubbish home.
-
We
shred and collect paper for recycling.
-
We
plant and take care of shrubs and plants in our school.
We have got the support and co-operation
of parents in this project and have reduced litter significantly.
Facts:
Last year 2 wheelie bins a month for the school costs €70 which came to
€840 in the year! This year
we only have one.
Our
future depends on a respectful and caring attitude to our environment.
In the next school year we hope to fly the Green
Flag!
|
GREEN
SCHOOL
What
happens to the cartons?
They
don’t just disappear,
They
fill the land with rubbish,
More
and more each year.
Instead
they can be recycled,
And
keep the country clean,
Instead
of seeing rubbish,
We
will see a lot more green.
Bring
bottles not cartons,
And
of course not tin foil,
Please
use our compost-bin,
To
create some more new soil.
I
hope you will co-operate,
With
our green school plan,
For
cartons and the tin foil,
I
think we’ll call it a Ban.
|
DON’T
SIT, DO YOUR BIT
Get
up off your seat
There’s
litter on the street
Polluting
the air
There’s
litter everywhere
Don’t
be bitter
Don’t
just sit
Stop
the litter
Do
your bit
Now,
don’t you feel better?
You
did your bit,
Don’t
you feel better?
You
didn’t just sit.
|
TREE
DAY
Our
school decided to have a Tree Day on the 16th of October. On that day some
classes decided to plant acorns and conkers in containers in our classrooms, in
the hope that some of them would grow into trees. We are now watching carefully
for shoots to peep out. The 4th and 5th classes dug beds outside for all classes
and then each child planted their own daffodil bulb. Everyone is anticipating
dancing with the daffodils come springtime! Finally each class planted bulbs in
large containers for outside while some children planted shrubs and creepers.
When all the physical work was done we headed inside to do our curriculum work
related to Tree Day. It was an enjoyable day with teachers and children alike
heading home with aching backs!
LEAF
MOULD
Due
to the fact that one of our basketball courts has trees beside it we are
constantly sweeping up leaves from it in the autumntime. This year we decided to
make a leaf mould to put all those dead leaves. We made the leaf mould by
firstly making a square with four round stakes in the ground, each stake
approximately one meter away from the next. We then put garden fencing around
the stakes. Now each day we collect leaves in our wheelbarrow and tip them into
the leaf mould. Hopefully in about two years we will be able to use our compost
from the leaf mould for our gardening.
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