Water explorers upcycle rubbish into flowers

THE transition year students of Castleisland Community College have been learning recently about the voluntary work of the tidy town’s committee.

Mary Walsh and Sheila Hannon gave a talk to the students about the different aspects of the tidy town competition and how marks are awarded.

The students have already completed work on the river as part of the ‘Water Explorer’ competition. They conducted a field trip to the river where they examined the wildlife and they tested the water to access how clean it was.

“It was a positive result as mayflies were found in the water which implies that the river is clean. The oxygen levels in the water also indicate that the water is clean,” said teacher Doreen Killington.

“The one area that was disappointing from the field trip was looking at the rubbish thrown in the river and around the river walk.

“Transition Year students then decided to become involved in the national spring clean-up! They armed themselves with rubbish bags and divided up into various groups along the river. It was disappointing to see that the majority of the rubbish was made up of aluminum drinks cans.

“The students did decided they were going to make ornaments using the cans they collected from the river. In engineer- ing class they created flower ornaments with the cans by cutting them up and bending them into shape. They attached each strip in the centre to a brass pipe which they used as a stem.

“They also used the old cans to make a base ... and the flowers turned out very well,” said Ms. Killington.

Castleisland Community College students during their clean-up along the River Maine.