Plastic Free Schools

Education for Sustainabilty was responsible for guiding the first school in Ireland to become plastic-free. We have created a tried and tested, step-by-step method for your school to achieve this too.

The workshops encourage students to take initiative, to educate their peers and to campaign to be plastic-free!

Enroll for one or both of our workshops and receive our comprehensive Plastic-free Schools Toolkit.

We offer 2 dynamic workshops that examine the causes and effects of single-use plastic and guide your students to becoming part of the solution to the problem.

Workshop One:
An Introduction

Introduction to the causes, effects and solutions to plastic pollution

Workshop Two:
Leadership

Students will be taught to run a plastic free workshop that they will then in turn teach to the other students in school so you school can turn into a plastic free school step by step.

Enroll today!

The workshops encourage students to take initiative, to educate their peers and to campaign to be plastic-free!
Enroll for one or both of our workshops and receive our comprehensive Plastic-free Schools Toolkit.

Case-study:

Ireland’s first Plastic Free School

Newpark is home to Ireland’s first single use plastic free school. This was a student led campaign that was an initiative from the Education for Sustainability 8-week transition year module.

The module offered the students a platform to take action on an environmental topic that was important to them. 14 students worked together to rid their school of single use plastic by designing a strategic campaign that worked with school stakeholders and that targeted every level of the school community and the outside businesses The students focus for the campaign was plastic bottles and packaging in the school canteen. They mapped out their campaign by identifying tasks and dividing them up in relation to each students’ strengths and skills. To assess the problem with plastic in school the students did a bin audit to measure the problem and as a baseline measure for improvement. A survey team surveyed parents’ staff and students.

A petitions team collected 800 signatures to support a plastic-free school. They also sent the petitions to the relevant Governmental Ministers.

The presentations team pitched to the teachers, Parent Teachers Association and to the Board of Management.The canteen team researched solutions to packaging for the canteen area and liaised with the canteen manager during the transition. The students also had a social media team for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and an artwork team that designed posters for the campaign. The students campaign was a momentous success which created a chain reaction from schools across Ireland transitioning to single use plastic free schools. Newparks step by step campaign model has been replicated in 44 schools to date.

Need support to transition your school to a single use plastic free campus?

Testimonials

Sue has an imaginative and interactive approach to teaching students about sustainability and she has achieved a lot in a short space of time. The students were engaged throughout the module and benefited hugely from it. Sue was always positive and enthusiastic and built a good rapport with students.

Off the success of Newparks Young Environmentalist Winners in 2017, Newpark decided to run the Susan Adams Education for Sustainability programme with our transition year students in the 2017/18 academic year. Sue worked with 6 groups throughout the year transitioning our school to become Ireland's first plastic free school. Throughout the year students were engaged with various environmental projects from rising sea levels to the plastic crisis that not only raised environmental awareness within the school community but that impacted on our local community also. The students benefited greatly from the classes as they were encouraged to learn and develop new skills such as community engagement and running campaigns.

Susan delivered a sustainability module to a mixed group of students from 4th-5th class in the 2016/17 academic year. The students involved with the Susan Adams Education for Sustainability programme were given the opportunity to peer educate their classmates, teachers and parents about the effects and solutions on the plastic crisis. Each student was personally stretched getting involved with the campaign through an awareness stall at the school sale, a play, a presentation to the Caithaoirleach in Dun Laoghaire County Hall and as overall winners of the Young Environmentalist Awards in 2017. I would have no hesitation recommending Susan to other schools and would very much like to see her efforts supported on an ongoing basis.

‘’The students loved this sustainability course. Every student should have access to this learning. The course is designed as an 10 -week TY module. However, the resources are excellent and can be used right across the curriculum in wellbeing, CSPE, SPHE, Home Economics, Economics, Geography, Science, all subject areas. Susan has effectively designed the course around a series of activities which really engage the students and consolidate what they are learning. The course is also action focused. Every week the students learn about what we can do to effect positive change. The training is excellent. As a teacher you will become more confident in your own knowledge and how to communicate these ideas to your students. You will also receive training on teaching and learning techniques. The games and activities used here can be adapted for use in other subject areas ‘’ Teacher feedback