Green-Schools is Ireland’s leading environmental management and education programme for schools, promoting long-term, whole school action for the environment. The programme is operated and co-ordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce.
In our school we have five green flags:
Litter and Waste
Energy
Water
Travel
Biodiversity
Each flag takes approximately two years to achieve, beginning with litter and waste and our last flag was Biodiversity.
Litter and Waste was the first flag we achieved as a school and it focused on litter and waste issues, encouraging a sense of responsibility towards our environment.
In our school we segregate our waste and have a compost heap.
The Energy flag looks at the steps which can be taken to reduce energy consumption and raise awareness of climate change. In our school we ensure to turn off lights and electrical appliances, when not in use.
The third flag was the Water flag, this flag develops awareness around water conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in schools. In our school we made trips to our local river and carried out a variety of investigations. We wrote poetry and song about ways to conserve water in our environment and raise awareness about water conservation.
The next flag was the Travel flag and this theme aims to increase the number of students walking or cycling to school and using public transport. In the school we held an awareness day and we had a walk/cycle/bus to school day. The school also wrote and sang a song about the travel theme.
The last flag we achieved was the Biodiversity flag, this flag looks at increasing awareness in schools of the importance of native plants, animals and habitats. The pupils of the school investigated many habitats in our local environment, rockpool, river and woodland investigations and exploring the plants and animals in our own school grounds. The whole school community wrote and sang a song about biodiversity.
