Over the next two school years (2018/2019-2019/2020), we are working towards obtaining a Green Flag for Litter and Waste. In order to achieve this flag, Scoil Naomh Treasa must complete seven steps.

Step 1: Form a Green Schools Committee (2020/2021)

Step 2: Environmental Review

September-November 2018

As part of the litter review, the green committee completed:·

• A litter checklist
• A waste checklist
• A litter survey
• A waste audit
• A review of the waste collected using www.aesonline.ie

The findings were as follows:

Reuse, Re-use & Recycle     

• Waste minimization is not mentioned in school Mission Statement.   

• There are two bins in operations in both classrooms and in the school hall; a recycling bin and a waste bin. Presently,
• classroom bins are not coloured coded or labelled. This has led to confusion among pupils and staff. As a result, cross contamination of all bins was evident during the waste audit. 

• The ‘Bin Weight Summary’ for 2018 on www.aesonline.ie for Scoil Naomh Treasa revealed that on the 16th of November 2018, 59.2% of the waste collected was general waste while 40.8% of the waste produced in the school was recycled.   

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• The school does not have compost bins. All organic waste goes into the waste bins. A phone call to AES on the 18th of October 2018 revealed that the organic brown waste bin is not available in the school’s area.

• The waste checklist indicated that the school could make a greater effort to reduce before the recycling option is taken. At the moment, extra one-sided photocopiable sheets are usually given into Junior classroom for creative area. Colour sheets/scrap paper which are not used during Senior class art are also left into Junior creative area. There is an area which could be improved. 

• The whole school community, including parents/guardians, need to informed/ educated about the benefits of reusing, reducing and recycling.

Litter          

• The litter survey conducted from the 25th September to the 8th of October revealed that the school has a litter problem. An average of 11 pieces were found in the school grounds every day. Although ‘outside of school litter’ was collected, more than
• half of the overall litter was generated within the school by the pupils. e.g. Bradbury’s lunch wrappers. This finding shows that the pupils of Scoil Naomh Treasa are not using the yard bin provided to dispose of litter. 
• Within the classrooms, pencil parings and small papers are usually found under children’s desks and around classroom bins. 
• The school does not have a formal Litter Control Policy.   

School Grounds    

• In the playing yard under the trees, the top soil is wearing away to reveal rubbish which we believe was buried many years prior to 2018. The visible rubbish includes sweet/crisp wrappers, plastic bags, plastic bottles etc. This is a significant issue.·        
• Our school grounds are also home to anti-social behaviour in the evenings and during the weekend. Cans/bottles of alcohol were discovered during the litter Survey.  

Step 3: Action Plan

Click on the link to view our Action Plans for reducing waste, litter and improving our school grounds: 

• Action-Plan Litter 2018 2019
• Action-Plan School Grounds 2018 2019
• Action-Plan Waste 2018 2019