CONTENTS ECO-SCHOOLS What’s it all about? THE ECO COMMITTEE Meet the Team SCHOOLS ECO CODE COMPETITION Winners & Runners Up SCHOOLS ENVIRONMENTAL CALENDAR COMPETITION Winners RETHINK YOUR ATTITUDE TO WASTE 2 new websites
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ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH SPEAK 2011 Well Done Courtney!
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CASH FOR CLOBBER Your chance to Recycle
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WASTE AND ENERGY MONITORS Meet the workers!
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PUPIL & STAFF ECO SURVEY RESULTS Our Starting Point
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OUR COMMUNITY LINKS ReGen, OSM Ltd and Cookstown Textile Recyclers
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THE BROWN BIN & COMPOSTING Some handy hints
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WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!! Electricity Reduction since Eco Schools started
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WHERE TO RECYCLE? Some useful Addresses
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Eco-Schools is a recognised award scheme, rewarding and accrediting schools who have made a commitment to continuously improving their environmental performance. In St Mary's we engage with the Eco Schools Programme to raise awareness of environmental issues through activities that link to curriculum subjects. The aim of the Eco-Schools programme is to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of our school for both for our pupils and our staff.
In St Mary’s we are very concerned about the environment and our place within it. As a result of our efforts in energy and waste recycling, we have already achieved our bronze award. We are very proud of the efforts of the students and staff on the Eco Team as well as the efforts made by the staff as a whole.
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Top: Marie Pearse, Aoife Turner, Rachel Curtis, Lisa Mulligan, Mrs Kidd Middle: Sara Thompson, Chloe Magill, Paris Cregan, Courtney Ginesi, Orlaith O’Reilly, Rachel Kearney, Fiona McGahan Bottom: Ciara McClorey, Emily Lynch, Courtney Keenan, Aoife Magee
The Eco Committee currently meet twice a month during senior lunchtime in Geography 1 (Mrs Kidd’s Room). During this time we discuss the current projects and how they can be developed further.
Everyone is welcome to attend – See you there!!!
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Throughout October and November the Eco Committee held a competition which was open to everyone in the school. The task was to produce a code which everyone could follow in order to raise awareness of environmental issues. There were literally dozens of entries and we had a tough job whittling it down to one winner and two runners up. Here are just a few of the excellent entries.
Some runner ups!!!! Well done to everyone
Ella has become the official school mascot for Eco Schools – designed by Ruth Havern 1018.
Look out for the Eco School forum on the school website – here you can log your ideas for a St Mary’s Eco Code!!!!! Coming soon…….. 5
Out of the many eye-catching entries for the Annual Environmental Calendar Competition run by Newry & Mourne District Council, congratulations to Emma Morgan 921 for winning the January slot on the 2011 calendar. Emma chose to focus on energy to highlight the ways in which we can reduce our waste in this area. Well Done Emma!
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Looking for ideas on how to reduce the amount of waste you generate? Here’s two new Northern Ireland websites which are full of ideas to help you do just that!
The “Rethink Waste” website provides ideas on how to reduce, reuse and recycle your waste at home, at school and in your community.
Don’t forget to look at the Eco School area on the school website for more interesting information.
To find out how you can reduce food waste log onto the new Love Food Hate Waste web site for top tips, recipes, money saving advice and much more.
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Courtney Keenan (Year 8) did us proud when she was judged to be best speaker in the Newry and Mourne Council heats of Environmental Youth Speak 2011. The competition, run annually by all twenty six Councils and Northern Ireland’s three regional waste management groups, has proved a popular event for local pupils in recent years. It allows them to show case their speaking skills as well as their understanding of environmental issues and in particular waste management. Primary and secondary pupils from schools across Newry and Mourne took part in the local heats at the Boardroom, Council Offices in Newry. The pupils spoke passionately on the topics of “Rethink your rubbish – reduce, reuse, recycle” and “Love Food Hate Waste”. Councillor Mick Murphy, Mayor of Newry and Mourne District Council presented all twenty four participating pupils with a commemorative certificate and an environmental goodie bag. Mayor Murphy congratulated all participants on the wealth of the knowledge they displayed about the environment, especially waste and recycling, as well as their excellent presentation skills. “I would like to wish Courtney every success as she progresses through the competition. I am confident she will represent the area with distinction” he said. Courtney will now go forward to represent the Council in Craigavon at the regional heats. If successful, she will then participate in the Northern Ireland Final with the chance to be crowned overall Environmental Youth Speak Champion 2011. Pictured with Mayor Councillor Mick Murphy are junior winner Sean King St Joseph’s Primary School Meigh, and senior winner Courtney Keenan St Mary’s High School Newry.
Check out www.stmarysnewry.com to read the girls speeches. Just go to “Eco Schools” and “Projects” 8
Our campaign will run during “The Big Spring Clean Week” just before the Easter Holidays. Please send in your old clobber in a black plastic bag (or collect a bag from Mrs Kidd). Alternatively you can deposit your clobber into our on site clothing bank, just behind Science. You can send in: ● Old Shoes (pairs only please) ● Blankets and Sheets (no duvets or pillows) ● Clothes ● Handbags ● Curtains What happens to textiles collected? Clothes that cannot be re-worn are recycled into upholstery filling or cleaning wipes for the automotive industry. Good quality clothes are sold in markets in Africa creating thriving businesses and giving local people access to affordable clothing that they otherwise wouldn't own!
“It may be too small, torn, washed out or maybe you just think it is worthless, but to children over in Africa, it means the world” Lisa Mulligan 1009 SO GET SPRING CLEANING AND GET YOUR CLOBBER INTO SCHOOL!!! NOW!!!!
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Meet the Workers!!! Our Year 8 Monitors are doing a super job! They give up one lunchtime a week to monitor energy usage across the school AND to collect litter in the school grounds. It is not a pleasant job they do but they are very dedicated and would probably do it every day if asked!!
The girls have been monitoring the classrooms and general areas of the school for the past few months. Although they have witnessed some energy wastage, on the whole teachers are trying their best to keep energy wastage to a minimum by turning off lights, computers and data projectors when the room is not in use and recycling where possible. The following teachers and staff have been presented with certificates at a recent assembly in recognition of their hard work: Miss Bartlett (for recycling cardboard and working with the canteen) Mrs Morgan (for recycling cardboard and efforts in recycling paper) Mrs Grant (for recycling cartridges toners and collection of mobile phones) Mrs McClory (for recycling tonnes of books!!) Andrea in the canteen (for recycling huge amounts of cardboard) Miss Trainor (for hard work in creation of our battery and mobile phone banks) Mrs Williams (for making a conscious and deliberate effort to conserve energy in her ICT Suite) Mrs Magee ( for making efforts to conserve energy in her classroom) Mr Magee (for continually reminding the students to turn off their computers and making reference to Eco Schools regularly) Miss McConnell (for expressing an interest in Eco Schools and offering help) WILL YOU BE NEXT TO GET A CERTIFICATE? Well Done to: Rebecca McDonnell, Amy Redmond, Cliodhna McArdle, Megan McKenna (823), Cliona McArdle, Tara McAteer, Cliodhna Traynor, Hannah Stewart (827), Shauna Dillon, Megan Rocks, Niamh Doyle, Sinead O'Hare 824) and Lauren Hogg, Grainne Jennings, Courtney Keenan and Emily Shields (806). 10
In October 2010 the Eco Team sent a survey to the pupils and staff in St Mary’s in an effort to assess knowledge and awareness of environmental issues in our school. Here are some of the results….. STAFF SURVEY RESULTS ● 80% of our staff recycle as much as possible whilst only 20% said they only recycle if a bin is nearby ● 55% of staff admitted that no one in their department checks if computers and lights are switched off at the end of the day ● 5% of staff feel it is the cleaner’s responsibility to make sure equipment is switched off including lights ● 75% of staff said if they saw someone drop litter, they would ask them to pick it up ● 25% of staff, although admitting global warming is happening, said they were not concerned enough to do anything about it ● 85% of staff are willing to help out with the Eco Schools campaign, 15% are not ● 15% of staff admitted that they leave their equipment and lights on at lunchtime ● All staff were correct when answering the question on how much our electricity bill is monthly - £2500 ● 80% of staff were correct that we could save 6.4p each, EVERY DAY, if we turn off our lights at lunchtime ● 70% of staff would buy fair trade products but only if they are on offer ● 5% would not buy fair trade products at all as they feel they are too expensive ● 60% of staff said that saving energy is s high priority for them , 40% said they will do what they can ● 50% of staff feel we waste far too much energy and do not recycle enough
PUPIL SURVEY RESULTS ● 4% of pupils said that recycling was way too much hassle, 59% only if a bin is nearly and 37% recycle as much as possible ● 29% of pupils would throw litter on the ground, 11% would ask others to pick up their litter and 60% would lift litter if they saw it ● 68% of pupils think global warming is a major problem, 31% are not concerned and 1% feel the media has made it up ● 24% of pupils said they would do everything they can to avoid being involved in Eco Schools, 41% said they would sign up straight away and 35% said they would get involved but only if they got something out of it ● 19% of pupils say they leave electrical appliances in their room on standby, 68% turn them off and 13% said it was Mums responsibility to turn it off ● 38% of pupils think our electricity bill is £250,000 a month, 60% were correct at £2500 and 1% feel it is £150 a month ● 4% of pupils said that if their left their mobile phone downstairs at night, they would turn all the lights on as they go to get it and then leave all the lights on when they are on their way back to bed.
I’m sure you will agree we still have some way to go to raise awareness and change attitudes!! 11
St Mary's has recently teamed up with "ReGen" in Newry which helps many Councils throughout the UK manage their waste needs.
Strategically located to service the needs of public and private sector organisations throughout the UK and Ireland, Re-Gen is capable of processing in excess of 120,000 tonnes of commingled dry Recyclables. Combining a state-of-the-art automated sorting line overseen by a team of 40 operatives, Re-Gen can guarantee that all materials passing through the facility are separated to the highest of standards. Some of the staff from St Mary’s High School had the opportunity to visit ReGen Waste in Carnbane Industrial Estate, Newry on Friday 11th March.
As part of the school’s bid to become an Eco School and in an attempt to raise awareness of recycling issues within both school and the community, Colin Doherty very kindly agreed to show the staff around the recycling plant. Further visits are planned for both staff and pupils in the coming months and St Mary’s would like to extend our sincere thanks to ReGen for agreeing to become one of our Community Business Partners.
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OSM IRL is an engineering firm based in Newry Northern Ireland specialising in PLC programs, electrical control systems and electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic and mechanical maintenance. With over 50 years combined experience and their unique combination of services, their main aim to provide a fast, effective, professional, maintenance and repair service to the commercial and industrial sectors and ultimately save their customers money in the long run by providing the right engineering solutions! As well as our engineering services OSM also run a sister company established to promote the recycling of textiles for use in third world countries. THE AIM The Aim is to promote awareness and active participation in all recycling in the community and industry and provide a financial highlight and flashing incentive to those involved.
OSM currently collect and recycle all the cardboard that we have in school – as you can imagine this amounts to quite a lot, and OSM make collections once a week. The Eco Committee would like to extend our thanks to those teachers who have really come on board with this and we would particularly like to thank Andrea in the canteen who is extremely conscientious in gathering all her cardboard. The Eco Committee visit the canteen twice a week to collect and squash the cardboard in preparation for collection by the OSM Drivers. Well Done Andrea and thanks to Miss Bartlett for her support in this area too!!!!! 13
We throw away an extraordinary amount of food waste each year - 6.7 millions tonnes to be exact! Did you realise that wasting food costs the average family £420 a year. The majority of this waste ends up in a landfill site. We should work towards reducing food waste as much as possible (check out www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for some great recipe hints). But if we have to throw food away we should at least make sure that it is recycled. There are a number of options available to compost biodegradable waste from your kitchen and garden. The aim is to turn it into a usable compost and ensure that it does not end up disposed in a landfill site.
Use your brown bin provided by your local council to dispose of all kinds of waste named above. Perhaps you’re a keen gardener, in which case you want might to invest in a home composter. See next page for further details and a step by step guide to composting at home. St Mary’s do not suurently compost waste but this is something the Eco Team are keen to investigate for next year. 14
If you don't currently have access to the Council’s brown bin collection scheme did you know that your green garden waste can still be taken to one of the seven civic amenity sites located throughout the district? Alternatively, you can opt for a home compost bin to transform your kitchen and garden waste into compost. There are a wide range of compost bins to choose from but most bins available for purchase are a cone shape and made from a highly durable recycled plastic.
Step 1 - Find the right site Place in a reasonably sunny site on bare soil and in a position where you can have easy access to add the material and get the compost out. Step 2 - Add the right ingredients Use a kitchen caddy, or similar container, and fill it with everything from vegetable and fruit peelings to tea bags, toilet roll tubes, cereal boxes and egg shells. Do not compost any cooked food, meat or fish in your home compost bin. Step 3 - Fill up your compost bin Transfer your biodegradable kitchen waste, along with any garden waste you may have, from your caddy to your compost bin. A 50 / 50 mix of greens and browns is a perfect mix for good compost. Greens are items such as grass, fruit and vegetable peelings. Browns are items like leaves, branches, egg boxes. By keeping a good mix of green and brown materials you will provide the perfect conditions for a variety of mini beasts who can do all the hard work for you. If your bin has too many “greens” or too many “browns” it will just end up a sludgy, smelly mess!!! Step 4 - Wait a while It takes between nine and twelve months for your compost to be ready for use. Keep on adding greens and browns to top up your compost. If you generate a lot of kitchen and garden waste you may require a larger or extra bin. Step 5 - Ready for use Once your compost has turned into a crumbly dark material, resembling thick, moist soil and gives off an earthy, fresh aroma, you know it’s ready for use. 15
Energy savings = 50 Kwh
How have our efforts affected the amount of electricity used in the school? The graph above shows the energy usage patterns for electricity used in St. Mary’s during the month of September last year (2010). The presentation given to staff on energy saving took place on 28 September. There was a noticeable decrease in energy used on the following day equating to approximately 50 Kilowatt hours. Although this equated to only £6.55 saving for that one day in September the effect would equate to £131 for that month if the savings could be maintained. And would have a much greater effect in winter where the price of electricity can be nearly double the price.
Trends of Energy use in St. Mary’s As can be seen from the graphs on the next page the trend has been that energy consumption has been rising steadily each year as new electrical equipment such as interactive whiteboards are procured for more classrooms. As electricity bills are set to rise in line with the increasing price of world oil this is placing an ever increasing pressure on school budgets. At the moment the average monthly electricity bill is approximately £2000. At the moment the school energy bill would equate to approximately one member of staff. With current trends in our usage and forecasted rises in world oil prices this could double to be more than 2 members of staff in the near future.
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Trend of increasing electricity usage. Electricity usage in St. Mary’s rose by 31% in the period 2007 – 2010.
The chart of energy usage below shows that since the new Eco-schools project has been initiated in St. Mary’s that the school is ‘bucking the trend’ and showing lower electricity usage in the 2010 – 2011 academic year that in the year 2009 – 2010.
Electricity used since October 2010 has been lower than the previous year
Energy consumption Patterns in St. Mary's 25,000.00
2009/10
Kilowatt hours
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15,000.00
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Total Consumption 2010-2011 Total Consumption 2009 - 2010
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5,000.00
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Prior to October 2010 electricity usage had been considerably higher than the previous year. This is a product of the many energy saving initiatives undertaken by the school at the behest of the school’s Eco-committee. In the period between October 2010 to March this year the school has made savings of approximately £2385 over the same period the previous year. So a huge thanks to all those who have really come on board with the Project – your efforts are REALLY making a difference!!!!! 17
Newry and Mourne District Council has provided all householders in the district with a blue wheelie bin to recycle, from home, items such as cans, tins, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard. 10,300 houses have brown bins to recycle kitchen and garden waste. In addition to the household wheelie bins recycling facilities are also provided at seven Civic Amenity Sites and at over thirty bring banks located throughout the district. At St Mary’s we understand the importance of working with the local community and local people to raise awareness of recycling and that is why we have a clothing bank and a book bank on site. You are welcome to recycle your old books and textiles by using our on site facilities. Otherwise see below for the numerous places you can access recycling centres in your local area…. Newry CAS : Chapel Road, Newry (Tel 028 3083 3699). Hilltown CAS : Rostrevor Road, Hilltown (Tel. 028 4063 8408). Warrenpoint CAS : Upper Dromore Road, Warrenpoint (Tel. 028 4175 2952). Kilkeel CAS: Ballymageogh Road, Kilkeel (Tel. 028 4176 9485). Newtwonamlough CAS : Quarter Road, Camlough,(Tel 028 3083 7352). N’hamilton CAS : Newry Road, Newtownhamilton (Tel. 028 3087 8014) Aughnagun CAS : Chapel Hill Road, Mayobridge. (Tel 028 3085 1914).
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