The winning schools of the An Taisce Green Schools Energy Project were announced today, with St Catherine’s Senior Girls’ School in Cabra scooping the ultimate award for its energy efficiency auditing project that it conducted on its catering company, Glanmore Foods.
Sponsored by ESB Electric Ireland, the An Taisce Green-Schools Energy Project is a schools initiative that educates young people about the benefits of energy efficiency, bringing local businesses and schools together to carry out practical energy efficiency projects.
St Catherine’s Senior Girls’ School in Cabra, which was awarded the top prize of €4,000, carried out a site visit at Glanmore Foods and proposed energy-efficient suggestions, including turning appliances off standby, changing to CFL light bulbs, turning machines off when not in use in the factory and encouraging staff to walk and cycle to work.
As well as this, the students calculated that their own school uses 15,170 plastic water bottles each year, so they looked at energy-efficient alternatives with Glanmore Foods and are now fitting water filters in each classroom.
Sustainability fund
Runners-up and winners of a €2,000 sustainability fund were St Thomas’ SNS in Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin 24, which partnered with Colgate-Palmolive; The Monastery School, in Tipperary Town, which partnered with Tipperary Co-Op; and CBS Primary School, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, which partnered with Nenagh Guardian.
Announcing the winners today, Minister of State for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Fergus O’Dowd said that giving young people an understanding of energy efficiency and conservation is an important aspect of their education.
“I would like to congratulate all of the schools who submitted projects and indeed the businesses that worked with them – in these times energy efficiency also means reduced cost for business and so it is something that is relevant to everyone,” he said.
The second annual Business & Leadership Green Economy briefing takes place from 8am on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 at theFourSeasonsHotel, Dublin. Visit the event’s website or contact Niamh Carwood for more information.
