Scoil Fhionáin are working towards their second Green Flag. We are hoping to receive our Water flag in the coming months.
Our school has already earned the first flag for ‘Litter and Waste’. The Green Team worked very hard promoting recycling and reusing of materials and waste. We have recycling bins and a compost bin in all the classrooms. We encourage the use of lunch boxes with tightly closing lids instead of wrapping sandwiches in tinfoil or cling film and to re-use bottles.
We have ‘Power Rangers’ in our school. They are responsible for turning off the lights every time we leave the classrooms. They also ensure the computers are switched off when we are finished with them. We close the doors in the classrooms as we leave to keep the heat in, and save on energy and radiator usage.
For the past number of months we have been working towards our second Green Flag. The theme of this flag is water and how to conserve it.
We are working through our action plan, which is a list of a number of improvements we can make in the school and community to conserve water.
The new theme of Water will be incorporated with the previous themes.
Initially we did a recheck on all the bins in each classroom. We elected two ‘Power Rangers’ for each classroom and reminded them of their duties.
All classes have been briefed on the water theme and why we need to conserve it. Our ‘Water Wardens’ are working hard in each classroom checking for leaks and running taps. We have sent home water survey and conservation tips to all families. All classrooms have a list of tips to conserve water in the classroom.
They are as follows:
Turn off the taps fully- after use.
Check for any leaking taps.
Don’t leave the tap running.
Use a basin when washing up art materials.
Use timer when washing your hands.
Be a leak detective- always on the look out for dripping water.
Our work towards the water flag includes setting up the Green team, an audit of the schools taps, sinks and toilets, using food colouring to check for leaks in the cistern and toilet bowl, displacing water in the cisterns using an old water bottle in order to use less water. Our Green Schools Committee have read the water meter in and we aim to reduce our water consumption figures.
Top Tips For At Home:
Water Plants with pre-used water, eg water used for washing veg
Use a water butt outside to collect rainwater for cisterns and plants
Don’t run the tap while brushing your teeth
Check leaky taps and cisterns
Insert a low flow shower head and ‘restrictors’ on your tap
Don’t fill up the kettle for one cup of tea/coffee
Don’t use the dish water or washing machine unless they are full
Cool drinking water in a fridge jug, to avoid running the tap to get a ‘cool’ drink
Use a displacement device in your cistern- a filled plastic water bottle, to use less water when flushing
Take shorter showers
When washing dishes by hand , don’t let the water run. Fill a basin.
