Green Flag 2020 – Congratulations!
The 2019/2020 academic year marks the 23rd year of the Green-Schools programme in Ireland. Despite the temporary closure of schools in March, the dedication of schools to submit their Green Flag application after a two-year effort to create sustainable environments in their schools was both poignant and exceptional. The Green-Schools staff who have been recently processing applications have been overwhelmed by the high standard and inspired by the positive actions taking place all over the country.
During May, 750 schools were awarded the Green Flag for their work on the themes of Litter & Waste, Energy, Water, Travel, Biodiversity and Global Citizenship, with 61 schools receiving the Green Flag for the first time. Green-Schools wishes to congratulate all Green-Schools students, school staff and families who helped schools in achieving and renewing the Green Flag 2020! Join in on the celebrations virtually from today May 25-29th for a week of #GreenFlag2020 celebrations! We will have lots of video messages throughout the week from Green-Schools Officers, Environmental Awareness Officers and Sponsors who are all so proud of your wonderful achievements!
Green-Schools 2020 Savings
The collective efforts made by schools across Ireland culminated to impressive environmental savings across waste, energy, water and transport, and positive impacts were made towards biodiversity, global citizenship, and the marine environment. In 2020 schools diverted 2,500 tonnes of waste from landfill, and saved an impressive 592 million litres of water, 4.4 million litres of heating oil and over 29 million units of electricity. Throughout the year students contributed to lowering traffic related emissions at the school gate by walking, cycling and scooting to school. To promote active travel, a total of 4000 students received cycle training and 1100 spaces were created for bike and scooter parking. The installation of new vegetable gardens and bird feeders improved students’ knowledge of the importance of biodiversity, and 2799 native trees were planted by students. Schools around the country learnt of the hazardous effects of climate change and marine pollution on our Oceans, with over 86% of schools participating in #2MinuteBeachCleans. On completion of the Global Citizenship themes, schools tripled their knowledge about global issues such as food origin and FairTrade, and 79 % of schools increased their knowledge on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Green-Schools Global Citizenship School of the Year Awards 2020
Join us on this page and social media on Friday May 29th at 12.00pm noon for the celebration of the Green-Schools Global Citizenship School of the Year Awards 2020!
Drum roll please… we are very excited to announce the National Winners of The Global Citizenship School of the Year Award. This is the second year of the competition. We were blown away by the standard of applications this year and it was very difficult to choose a winner. They are all truly amazing examples of Global Citizenship Schools. In the video below you can check out the regional winners and the overall National winners , see some of their fantastic work and hear from our sponsors Irish Aid too. Enjoy and well done to all of our fantastic Global Citizenship schools!
Share your success
Have you seen our new social media banners? Download the below #GreenFlag2020 banner graphics to update your schools social media accounts as we celebrate Green Flag success, virtually, from May 25th to 29th.
GreenFlag2020 Tweet/Facebook post
GreenFlag2020 Instagram Tile 1
GreenFlag2020 Instagram Tile 2
