Ditching Plastic!

Did you know that one million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute?

According to Sandra Laville and Matthew Taylor of the Guardian, 

"More than 480bn plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 across the world, up from about 300bn a decade ago. If placed end to end, they would extend more than halfway to the sun. By 2021 this will increase to 583.3bn, according to the most up-to-date estimates from Euromonitor International’s global packaging trends report."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change

You might say to yourself, "So what?" "How does that affect me?" Well, much of what we throw away in the form of plastic does not actually get recycled and ends up in landfill or in our lakes, rivers, seas and oceans.  The danger here is that as plastic breaks down over time into micro-plastics, it is ingested by sea animals and birds and is now ending up in our food chain (in fish and shellfish)! We have seen the impact they have caused on large sea mammals such as seals and whales but the impact on human health in the long term can only be imagined!

As part of a drive to reduce our dependence on and over -consumption of plastic bottles and plastic packaging, we are asking you as parents to consider approaching your local supermarkets to urge them to go plastic-free and to avoid buying bottled water for your household. You can invest in a reusable bottle instead. 
For more ideas on little things we can all do to end plastic pollution and calculate your own plastic usage, have a look at the following link:https://www.earthday.org/2018/06/08/what-you-can-do-to-end-plastic-pollution/ 

Lisa Cooper talking about bees and climate change during climate action week

Mountlucas Windfarm Visit Day 2

Senior pupils (3rd-6th class) from Ms Kilrane and Mr Larke's room along with Ms Grisewood went on a tour to Mount Lucas Wind Farm in Co Offaly and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The trip was educational AND fun and Catherine, our guide, was brilliantly entertaining throughout. First we had a talk about Climate change and the importance of renewable energy forms such as wind energy and then the pupils had the opportunity to try out some of the interactive games and quizzes in the Learning Hub and see a wind turbine up close (the average height is about 100 metres, just a little smaller than The Spire on O'Connell Street in Dublin)! The highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the chance to wear a virtual reality headset and experience for yourself what it's like to be inside a wind turbine and see the landscape from the very top of a turbine.... pretty cool and you'd need a head for heights!!! Check out some of our pictures from the day below....

Mountlucas Wind Farm Trip

Junior Infants to Second Class had a brilliant time yesterday at Mountlucas Wind Farm! Catherine met us off the bus and she taught the children loads about energy and Mountlucas. Have a look at some photos and videos from the trip. Thank you to Ms. Grisewood and the Green School Committee for organising the trip!

Catherine giving an energy talk to the children  

Testing different wind turbine blades

Interactive Quiz

The children got to see what it is like inside and at the top of a wind turbine using these Virtual Reality headsets!

Very excited children on the way to see a wind turbine up close!

Winner of the Energy quiz!

Green Schools Energy Workshop

Next year (2018), St Patrick's NS will be working towards getting their second Green Schools Flag and as one of the steps towards obtaining that second flag, the whole school participated in a workshop run by Gavin Harte on Wednesday the 13th of December on the theme of energy. The workshop was fantastic and consisted of 3 stations where the children learned about different types of energy and generated Watts of energy by riding a stationary bicycle.  They even helped to make smoothies by pedalling a stationary bike to generate more energy and best of all, everyone got to taste the smoothie! We also learned how many watts of energy were used by common household objects and appliances such as electric showers and kettles.