Upcycling and recycling the focus at St Mary's NS in Athlone

For this year's Arcadia Creative Climate Awards, pupils from St Mary's NS in Athlone decided to dedicate their project to raising awareness of sustainability efforts.

These annual awards, sponsored by Arcadia Retail Park, aim to get local primary and secondary schools thinking about how to help our environment.

The competition is run in conjunction with Cllr Frankie Keena's 'Junior Mayor' initiative, and concluded this year with an exhibition at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) in Athlone in April.

The St Mary's NS entry to the competition this year was centred on a theme of environmental responsibility.

The project set out to help the school become "more environmentally responsible" while also raising awareness and encouraging "biodiversity and sustainability" in the school community.

'Upcycle, Recycle, Reimagine – a brighter future for St Mary's' was the title of the project, which was brought to life by the Student Council, the Green Schools team, and sixth class pupils.

Their project began with an exciting initiative: A 'break up with plastic' day for Valentine’s Day!

Every class in the school, from junior infants to sixth class got involved, and so did the teachers! The school community engaged in a range of activities centred around reducing single-use plastic usage within their school.

The student council wrote a letter to the Board of Management, "asking to purchase reusable bottles that pupils could use daily".

The board readily agreed, and since then St Mary's has drastically reduced their single-use plastic usage.

The pupils were also determined to instill good recycling habits in their school community. The Green School Committee decided that a more streamlined approach to recycling was needed.

Sixth class pupils and committee members undertook a huge awareness campaign across the whole school, educating pupils and teachers on good recycling practices, while a new colour-coded bin system was also implemented.

Many classes completed lots of mini projects and presented their findings to other classes. There was a large range of different project ideas, such as: fast fashion, micro plastics, deposit return scheme, upcycling jam jars and sewing old jeans into handbags.

In an effort to encourage biodiversity, sixth class pupils also helped to create a bug hotel on the school grounds.

First class pupils in St Mary's upcycled a wooden pallet to an eye-catching sensory music board, which won a prize in the Bord na Móna upcycling competition.

The St Mary's pupils made a huge effort and did a fantastic job showcasing all the great projects that took place. The school said it was much more environmentally aware and responsible since partaking in the project.

This year, the Arcadia Creative Climate Awards attracted contributions from 10 primary schools and three secondary schools from across the Midlands.

Students proudly displayed their favourite climate-focused and environmental projects, showcasing the green initiatives undertaken by their schools.

This annual event serves as a platform for schools to highlight their efforts towards sustainability and environmental stewardship. It not only recognises the dedication of young minds to making a positive impact but also inspires others to join in the movement towards a greener future.

The founder of the Junior Mayor Initiative, Cllr Frankie Keena sincerely thanked the schools who participated in the Arcadia Climate event this year.

"It was fantastic to see the level of confidence and depth of knowledge of the students on the subject matter as they explained their respective projects to members of the public. The student voice was just exceptional on the day,” he said.