Green-Schools moved its annual Water Awards ceremony online this week, with a virtual ceremony shown on screens in 24 schools around the country.
Postponed in May due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ceremony celebrates the winners of the annual Water School of the Year Awards; Water poster competition and Water Ambassador Programme. The Green-Schools Water theme is supported by Irish Water.
Gaelscoil Uí Drisceoil in Glanmire, Cork and Dominican College, Galway City have been named Ireland’s Water Schools of the Year (primary and secondary ) today while a Mayo Primary School has also been awarded, as the regional winner of the School of the Year for the Northern and Western Region. St Joseph’s NS, Bonniconlon impressed with its great committee structure, which is inclusive of almost all class groups in the school.
At the school they also repaired taps, used timers, reduced flush capacity and did simple things like putting basins in sinks. Their ‘Tap Wardens’ ensured taps were fully turned off at break times and the school went on numerous educational trips associated with water. Their actions led to an impressive reduction in water use per person per day from 10.1 litres to 5.8 litres.
The Green-Schools programme has moved much of its interaction online for the current school year, having developed a suite of Green-Schools Stay Home resources since March, including 13 weeks of activities related to the Water theme.
This is the seventh year of the awards in partnership with Irish Water, which has seen over 2,000 schools attend interactive Water Workshops and Walk for Water Events since 2013.
Following the awards, Ger Greally of Irish Water, said: "A key part of Irish Water’s role in safeguarding Ireland’s water supplies is helping the next generation understand the importance of conserving water. I am delighted to say that in the past year alone, as a result of this programme, Green-Schools have saved almost 600 million litres of water.
"The success of the participating schools in reducing water usage and raising awareness about water issues really highlights how important it is to learn about the value of water and water conservation from a young age. That’s why this is such an important programme and one that Irish Water is proud to sponsor."
