Gorey school into the Eco-UNESCO national final

STUDENTS from schools in County Wexford have made it through to the final of a prestigious national competition.

The students, from Ballindaggin National School, FCJ Secondary School, Bunclody, and Gorey Central School have been announced as finalists in this year’s Eco-UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation) sponsored Young Environmentalist Awards.

Six youth projects from across the county have been selected for the final out of almost 500 applicants nationwide.

A spokesperson for the competition said it was a record-breaking number of entries despite the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Eco-UNESCO will announce the overall winner through social media channels and YouTube Live on May 21.

The Wexford finalists include: Rubbish Recyclers and the Electric Girls (St Colman’s National School, Ballindaggin); the Cool Climate Plan (Gorey Central School); and Future of Farming, Thrive to Drive and Future Fashion (FCJ, Bunclody).

The Cool Climate Clan is a class-based project focusing on climate change and raising awareness within Gorey Central School and the community about the dangers of climate change.

A spokesperson for the group said: ‘We did multiple experiments and projects on this topic. Our class did the greenhouse in a bottle experiment – which was an eye opener – and we wanted to encourage people to recycle and to cut down on their use of single-use plastics.’

The group used facts to help raise awareness and they also utilised visuals in their entry.

‘We took all of our ideas and formulated them into easy tips and tricks to cut down on single-use plastics,’ said the spokesperson.

‘We wanted to demonstrate and present frightening statistics that might make people change their habits around recycling and single-use plastics,’ added the spokesperson.

‘We wanted to try to make a difference by contacting restaurants and organising park clean-ups as well as promoting keep cups.’