Ursuline Secondary School in Blackrock, Cork is hoping to go plastic-free in the coming months.

Sustainability has become a hot topic as of late, and for all of the right reasons – everybody (given that they have the resources to do so) should be doing their bit for the environment.

This Cork secondary school clearly shares this sentiment. Ursuline Secondary School in Blackrock has recently won a Unesco Young Environmental Award, and are now hoping to do even more for the environment by phasing out single-use plastics.

All students have been given reusable stainless-steel water bottles which the school hopes will reduce the use of an estimated 500 plastic water bottles per month.

Going forwards, Ursuline Secondary School plans on installing a water fountain as well as looking into using disposable straws, cups and solar power.

According to the Irish Examiner, science teacher Bernard Carr said the idea to go plastic-free first began in the classroom.

“It all came from science classes, we were looking at
science, the environment, and the influence we can have,” he said. “The
students made the decision that we could do something.”

We think this is an amazing step towards a greener school environment and it is fantastic to see a school take it upon themselves to make this change.

While we all still have much work to do in order to make an
impact on global warming, this initiative shows that our future is in safe
hands.