Last Friday we received some great news that we had a total of six groups who got through to the Semi-Finals of the Eco- UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards Competition. ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) is an all-Ireland environmental awards programme that recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment. We look forward to attending the Semi-Finals taking place in the Lifetime Lab in Cork City on the 28th of March!

We have one TY group of students working on a project on the issue of biodiversity called ‘Boosting Biodiversity. They're planting a hedgerow of 130 native trees and a wild flower patch. They are also getting some areas of the school grounds rewilded. Our second group of TY’s are working on the issue of waste in our school, their project is called “Waste Watchers”, they have monitored school waste and check to ensure there are general waste and recycling bins in each classroom on a weekly basis. Our third TY group are working on reducing energy in our school, they have done surveys with teachers and students and they are in the process of organising a power down day in our school next week.

Ellie Sheedy, Skye Sheedy and Aoife Moloney (Year 3) are doing a project called “Not so Frank and Honest” on products that are not biodegradable and their impacts on our environment. Martha O’Sullivan and Elma Palone’s (Year 2) project called “The Carbon Footprint of Trawling” aims to raise awareness about how much Co2 had been released throughout all the stages of catching the fish until it reaches the local fish shop. Lastly, Edel Ryle and Jessica O’Keeffe (Year 2) explored the issue of waste, specifically recycling habits and people’s difficulties and compliance with the recycling guidelines among the general public. 

We would like to wish all six groups the very best of luck in the Semi-Finals, we are very proud of your achievements so far!