Eco-Schools Tackle the Perils of Plastic Pollution
Eco-Schools is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with the launch of a new marine topic which shines a spotlight on the issue of plastic in our oceans.
And Rachel Willson, a teacher at the Down High School has received a prestigious gong for her work in the school on addressing the scourge of plastics in our environment.
Teachers attending the Eco-Schools conference last week in W5 were inspired to take action to protect the environment from plastic after hearing moving speeches from Lizzie Daly, wildlife biologist and presenter and Geoff Brighty, from Plastic Oceans UK. The conference was supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
Over 180 teachers, pupils and guests learnt about the increasing concerns of plastic pollution and how the choices we all make daily can lead to micro-plastics from home, single use plastics and litter from the land ending up in the sea where it takes centuries to breakdown, choking and poisoning wildlife in the meantime. Over 80% of litter washed up on NI shores is plastic and the equivalent of a dump truck of plastic enters our oceans every minute globally.
However, it wasn’t all grim news. The speakers, including young people from Eco-Schools, had solutions to the problems too. Education and action are key to stopping this deadly flow – refuse single use plastics, choose and dispose of toiletries carefully, carry your own reusable water bottle/cup, clean up beaches and local areas of litter, lobby your local politicians and business leaders to change policy and product design.
Colin Breen of Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said: “Eco-Schools is an excellent way to heighten environmental awareness both in terms of educating the young people it is delivered to who will hopefully take action and the messages they will spread wider to their families.
“The conference was excellent with inspirational guest speakers and the equally inspirational team at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful who run all their activities with both passion and professionalism. Their multi-faceted approach to tackling litter and plastic pollution is constantly yielding results and helping to influence ever more of the people who live here to love here.”
The conference was also an opportunity to recognise excellence in Eco-Schools with Forge Integrated Primary School, Belfast; Kilronan School, Magherafelt; McClintock Primary School, Omagh; St Ita’s Primary School, Castlereagh and Waringstown Primary School, Craigavon, all collecting Ambassador Eco-Schools awards on the day.
Outstanding teachers nominated by their pupils also received Eco-Teacher of the Year awards with Karen McKee from St Oliver Plunkett’s Primary School, Loughgall and Rachel Wilson from Down High School, Downpatrick, collecting the primary and post-primary titles respectively.
Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “Plastic is unavoidable: it is in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. So I am delighted that, with the backing of DAERA, we are launching the new Marine topic to help schools focus on reducing plastic pollution, a problem so robustly highlighted by David Attenborough in Blue Planet II. With the support of dedicated teachers, young people are already pushing through bans on single use plastics in schools and inspiring us to all go further faster to help protect already fragile marine eco-systems before it is simply too late.”
Eco-Schools, run in NI by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, is the world’s leading environmental education programme. It is a pupil-led initiative with the aim to make environmental awareness and practical action an intrinsic part of school life.
Schools work through a simple seven-step process towards achieving the internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag. Over 25% of schools in NI hold the Green Flag award. Every school in NI is now registered with the programme which is delivered with a range partners including most Councils and is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
To learn more please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org. For more information on marine litter in Northern Ireland.
visit: www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org
and to organise a clean-up in your area visit:
