Newsletter Articles 

During these uncertain times our schools kept working on tackling litter issues in Northern Ireland successfully completing the Wrigley Litter Less Campaign on time and providing a great contribution to the international impact report the Foundation for Environmental Education present each year to the Mars Wrigley foundation.

Primary schools submitted their data and final reports on litter, waste and recycling system implementation within their schools, proving once again their commitment to promote positive behaviour changes and to protect the environment. Beside this success the Eco-Schools team registered a fantastic response to the campaign run by post-primary schools through the Young Reporters for the Environment competition. We had very high standard entries this year, and winners of the National Competition were announced in June through a video celebration on our social media channels. Winners of the International Competition will be announced in September, so stay tuned!

Registration for The Wrigley Litter Less Campaign and YRE 2021 will open soon.

It’s term time again! The start of the new school year is an important date; we start as we mean to continue.

These have been very challenging times for the education sector.

As an Eco-school, you had already been working so hard to take action against plastic pollution before COVID-19.

This is a reminder of all the good work your school has done to reduce your single use plastic footprint! It’s more important than ever to pick up where we left off. We can influence pupils and staff to make sustainable switches now.

‘What’s in your lunchbox’ is a great place to start; encourage children to use reusable lunchboxes and reusable drinks bottles.

Even better news - scientists have recently published evidence that reusables are perfectly safe to use during the pandemic so you can encourage your school to return to non-plastic alternatives. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways of reducing your use in-school.

However, we understand all schools are acting with the interests of keeping staff and pupils safe at all times, therefore using reusables may be outside of your control at present but there is still plenty to tackle at home.

A recent survey by Everyday Plastic Survey has found that domestic plastic waste increased under lockdown conditions, particularly fruit and veg packaging, snack wrappers, parcel bags and PPE. So if you feel that you cannot reduce your use at school, you can definitely encourage staff and pupils to start at home! Simple switches such as using disinfectant spray and a cloth instead of antibacterial plastic wipes is a small step that makes a big difference.

Get inspiration from other schools who have made their Plastic Promise and remember to reduce your use where you can.

#TacklingPlasticNI