Starting young: litter picking with Kilbehenny NS
Primary school pupils in both Kilbehenny and Knocklong are taking a stand against litter, through the environmental Picker Pals programme. The students take turns bringing their ‘Picker Pals’ kit home, consisting of litter pickers and rubbish bags, and learn from a young age what it is to be a proactive activist picking up litter in their locality.
Limerick City and County Council has funded 20 schools on the programme this year, and more are sponsored by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, bringing the total number of schools participating in Limerick to 59.
Caoimhe Murphy from Kilbehenny National School is the leader of her classroom’s uptake of the scheme. The 1st and 2nd class students take turns taking home the kit, which has two litter pickers, two high-vis jackets, rubbish bags, gloves and sanitiser. Taking care of the rubbish at home, the students report back to their classmates. Ms Murphy highly recommends the scheme.
“They were very surprised to see how much rubbish was being dumped on their local roads and were very proud to make a difference in cleaning up the rubbish and helping the environment. We would recommend all schools to get involved as it has made us all more litter aware, starting from a young age!”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Picker Pals programme is run by environmental NGO VOICE (Voice
of Irish Concern for the Environment). Launched in 2020, Picker Pals has been deemed a huge success. Limerick City & County Council commend the programme, which sees over 150 tonnes of waste collected annually.
“This year 30,100 children from every county are taking part in the programme. With their families working alongside them, this will result in 75,000 people getting out litter-picking with huge benefits to themselves and their neighbourhoods. This will remove over 150 tonnes of waste from the environment, as well as raising awareness and showing people of all generations that they can actually do something to make a difference.”