This article is from page 25 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 25 JPG
COLAISTE MHUIRE, Ennis, has been short-listed for the ECO- UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) 2008.
Competition judges visited the school yesterday (Monday) for the final judging process. The school has been short-listed for the national awards scheme in the Senior Eco- Consumerism category, for project “Tree Wise and Waist Knot’.
Students decided to work on con- sumerism through two different projects in order to make people aware of their role in reducing global
waste in the production of consumer goods.
To carry out the “Tree-Wise’ project the group decided to pot holly plants and Christmas trees.
The trees were sold in the Ennis Market to encourage people to grow their own Christmas tree instead of buying a new one each year.
The group invested the profits in environmental initiatives in_ their school such as a new composter called the ‘Big Pig’.
For the second project, ‘Waist- Knot’, the group organised a fashion show with second-hand clothes to encourage both students and parents
to be consumer-aware and to pass on second-hand clothes to others who would benefit.
After the event, the students decid- ed to sell the clothes from the fash- ion show and once again the results exceeded their expectations, with the profits donated to the “The Butterfly Challenge’ organisation.
Students from Colaiste Mhuire along with other participating school will take part in the YEA Showcase and Ceremony on May 13, in the Round Room of the Mansion House, in Dublin.
“We are delighted to see such a ereat variety of local environmental
action projects being carried out by young people all over Ireland. The quality of their projects is making the judging process more challeng- ing each year,” said Elaine Nevin, Director of ECO-UNESCO.
Each year ECO-UNESCO, Irelands environmental education and youth organisation, awards and celebrates young people who take part in en- vironmental projects, which protect their local environment.
Since the creation of the Young En- vironmentalist Awards over 10,000 young people have taken part with awareness campaigns taking place in over 750 schools and communities.