GreenSchoolsinEnniscorthyCommunityCollege

On the 24th January 2023, Jack Redmond, Miacha Connolly, Eva Luchian(3Holly)andCodyWilliams(1Holly)wereaccompaniedby Ms Áine Sheeran and Ms Sarah Walsh to the 12th Annual "Neat Streets" conference in the Aviva Stadium today Neat Streets is an anti-litterprogrammeforsecondaryschools EnniscorthyCommunity College are one of only 31 schools nationwide participating in the programme

To start the day, triple Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy recounted her experiences with litter pollution in our oceans She identified findings fromanexperimentsheconductedwhilecompletinga9monthrace aroundtheworldonthe"TurnTheTideonPlastic";microplasticswere identified in waters from every part of the globe, including waters off Antarctica.

Next, the students had an interactive session where they met with students from other schools They discussed waste and litter issues, had a walking debate, and played a kahoot quiz Enniscorthy Community College won the Kahoot quiz and won 'Neat Streets' logo hoodiesfortheirschool!

Thenextguestspeaker,KevinMurphy,entrepreneur,founderandCEO of '2GoCup' talked about Circular Economy, which was the theme of the conference this year His innovative use and return cup is cost effectiveandsustainable.

Finally the students had to develop a business idea from a repurposeditemtheyuseeveryday Theypitchedideastoreuseand repurpose old tyres, schoolbags, headphones, books to name a few The Enniscorthy Community College students repurposed old bikes forhomeownersorbusinessownerstorenovatetheirlivingandwork spaces They proposed that the frames of old bikes could be melted down and used to make furniture, embracing the idea of the circular economy! The school is very proud of the Green Schools representativeswhoattendedtheconference!

InNovember2022-membersfromtheGreenSchoolscommittee metwithStephenO'ReillyfromNeatStreets,ananti-litterprogramme forsecondaryschools Theschoolisoneofonly31schoolsworking withNeatStreets ThankstoStephenforcomingtoEnniscorthy CommunityCollegetomeetwiththemandgivingthemlotsofideas topromoteclimateaction,sustainabilityandthegreenschoolsethos intheschoolandthecommunity

In November 2022, Transition Year students Keeva Fitzgerald, Stephen Boland and Andrea Doyle along with Principal Dr Iain Wickham received their certificate for their involvement in the Climate Literacy Project The event took place in the Ferrycarrig Hotel and was part of Wexford County Council EnvironmentAwards.