Choosing a title for this blog post was difficult since there has been so much wonderful work undertaken by staff and students at Abbeystrewy National School in the academic year 2023-24 to support the ethos of the Tidy Towns movement across multiple competition categories. These include Community, Green Spaces and Landscaping, Nature and Biodiversity in your locality, Sustainability – Doing more with less, and not forgetting Tidiness and Litter Control. Each category maps to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are also central to the themes of the Green Schools flags.
On 17 November 2023, armed with a food waste caddy we spent the morning at Abbeystrewry National School talking with students about a variety of topics. Their contributions to the Young Chefs Recipe Booklet the previous year have been helpful for many people to learn more about avoiding food waste. During our time together the students were all able to advise what household bin the items in the caddy should go into. Sometimes it is difficult to know so a website called mywaste.ie is a useful reference. In the caddy that day were the items listed in the left hand column of the table below with the current disposal guidance from mywaste.ie in the right hand column. Needless to say, the students were correct with all their answers!
| Paper napkins | Clean and dry paper napkins or towels can be placed in the recycle bin. If they have been used for wiping your hands or contain any food residue they can be placed in the food waste compost bin. |
| Kitchen foil roll and foil tray | Tinfoil is a metal like tins and cans, but lighter. If clean and free from food residue it can be placed in the recycle bin. |
| Cling film roll | Cling film is also known as clear wrap and is categorised as a soft plastic. If clean and dry it can be placed in the recycle bin. If not, then place in the general waste bin. |
| Box of teabags | The cardboard box can be placed in the recycle bin. Many tea bags currently contain small amounts of plastic so tear them apart, place the empty bag in the general waste bin, and the tea leaves in the food waste compost bin. |
| Packet of crisps | Soft plastic that you can scrunch in your hand can be placed in the recycle bin. |
Next, we were treated to an original song created by the students and accompanied by a few of the teachers playing a variety of musical instruments. We thought our visit could not get any better until we met with the Green Schools committee to tell us about their work and give us a tour of their ‘Junk Art’ project supporting efforts towards a Green Schools Litter and Waste flag. The creativity was wonderful to see and rather than keep it to ourselves we include a photo gallery of the students’ creations.
The Green Schools committee also shared details of the litter picking that they do not only in the school grounds but also at home and in their communities. We shared this with the local Litter Warden who kindly supplied us with pickers and bags for the school. We are reliably informed that these are put to very good use and students who take the pickers home and use them at the weekend in their area are rewarded with a homework pass. This sounds like a good tradeoff to us!
Christmas came and went and in the spring the students embarked on a new campaign, an artwork project with the title ‘Keep Clean, Go Green’. Well, the submissions from Junior Infants right up to Sixth Class were remarkable, displaying a combination of creativity and care for the environment. There are far too many to show in a photo gallery so we created a flipbook for readers to peruse. Do take a look, these students are an inspiration to their school and their families.
‘Keep Clean, Go Green’ campaign flipbook
We love working with all the schools in our community and consider it an opportunity to share our goals, whether progression in the national Tidy Towns competition in our case, or supporting the efforts towards a Green Schools flag. Working together is so much better than working alone.
Thank you all and we look forward to continuing this journey with you in the years ahead.
The Skibbereen Tidy Towns committee
Skibbereen Tidy Towns 