Scoil Cholmcille Junior National School is located in Ballybrack, Dublin and has 13 teachers and over 210 students. At Scoil Cholmcille Junior National School the committee comprises 8 students from Second Class, 7 students from First Class, 6 students from Senior Infants, the principal, a teacher, the home school liaison officer, the school’s completion officer, two parents and a grandfather. The pupil committee members were selected by class teachers on the basis of their interest in recycling and aptitude for organising. The committee meet once a month during lunch time.
The school has three large recycling bins: one for milk/juice cartons, one for paper and one for cardboard. Each classroom has its own small bins labelled in the same way. Pupils from various class designed the labels for all these bins.
As regards reuse the school does the following:
Plant potatoes in old tyres, carrots, spring onions and radishes in large mineral bottles and plastic milk cartons, lettuce in old fish box, sunflower seeds in yogurt containers and nasturtium in old doll’s cot.
Encourage the students to use re-sealable bottles and re-usable airtight containers rather than disposable wrappings .
The school held an open day for parents in conjunction with the Senior School for harvesting and tasting of crops. Compost is used to aid the growth of vegetables and flowers.
Pupils implement activities highlighting healthy eating practices on a whole school basis on a designated week (i.e. Healthy Eating Week) each year. Parents are kept informed, through newsletter, of school healthy eating policy. Notices and banners were placed in Tesco Supermarket promoting Healthy Eating Week.