School’s £5000 to aid green dream
Pupils at a West Lothian school are celebrating after being awarded £ 5000 in funding to help turn their big green dream into a reality.
Bathgate Academy’s dream is to convert waste food from the school’s canteen and bins so that they can be turned into biomass pellets which can then, in turn, be used to fuel a biomass boiler.
The funding was awarded by the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust, an independent charity which helps community renewable energy projects get off the ground. The pupils at Bathgate Academy competed against schools across the UK to win the £5,000 runner up prize by sharing their big green dream.
Science teacher Mark Roberts said: “Our learners are educated about the impact technology has on the environment and how it can be used to solve today’s global problems.
“S2 pupils Andreea Dobre, Eva Rooney, Lily Hopper- Clelland, Abbie Heaney and Eve Holgate wanted to enter this competition in an effort to make a difference to their school and to show that young people can have the enthusiasm to apply their learning of real world issues to the issues of their school community.
“Their idea is a creative way of solving a problem that can face all schools and turn it into an advantage. It shows clever application of their knowledge and a desire to improve their school life.
“The five girls are also a positive sign for a much greater global problem – how do we get more girls engaged and interested in STEM subjects? The fact that they have chosen to do this fills me with hope in their generation this will no longer be an issue. I am literally lost for words to hear that we have won £5000. The whole school is over the moon that we have done so well.
Lily Hopper-Clelland said: “The Big Green Dream competition has been so much fun to take part in and I can’t believe our project was chosen to win £5000 to help the school. We are all looking forward to introducing the composting bins and improve our recycling so we can cut waste.”
Alison McKean, Social and Environmental policy manager at ScottishPower and a Trustee of the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust, said: “Everybody at the Green Energy Trust is thrilled to help pupils at Bathgate Academy make their big green dream become a reality. It is always a pleasure to see inspired pupils motivated to find ways to make their school more environmentally friendly and reduce their own carbon footprints.
“Judges applauded Bathgate Academy for ambition and enthusiasm of their vision and we can’t wait to see what the pupils achieve with the prize money.”
Funded entirely by donations from ScottishPower’s Green Energy Fund customers, the Green Energy Trust has awarded over £1.6 million to more than 154 projects since it was first established in 2000.