Young people care deeply about the future of the planet, judging by the enthusiasm with which secondary school pupils took part in a recent competition in which they were asked to consider the ethics of ecology.
Pupils from ten schools in south Dublin were invited to participate in the Creation Matters competition organised by the Three Rock Churches’ Environment Group, an Eco Congregation Ireland initiative. An evening to celebrate the entries and announce the winners was held at Dundrum Methodist Church on 24th April.
Kate Boyd Crotty, a 4th year pupil at St Columba’s College, took first prize in the essay section and was invited to read her winning entry. “The earth is not ours to destroy,” she said. “We are only loaned it for the time we are on it.”
Sylvia Thompson of The Irish Times, who judged the essay section, said Crotty’s essay was “an absolute winner” because it raised the questions of over-population and why we have become so dependent on fossil fuels.
Dean Eaton, assistant environmental officer of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, praised Ballinteer Community School pupils for their innovative recycling project. “The work that is being undertaken by first years at BCS is fantastic, with the support of third and fourth years and some teachers,” he said. “They have come up with a recycling project that will help protect the planet.”
The first year pupils designed boxes for collecting paper, plastic and cans, which they encourage other pupils to use. They have also made Reduce, Reuse, Recycle posters and displayed them in the canteen, encouraging others to consider the environment. James Finney, Jake Clifford and Robert McNulty explained how the cardboard boxes were prototypes and that they hoped to make metal boxes, which would last for years to come, in the school’s metalwork lab.
Rev Jeremy Nicoll of Dundrum Methodist Church concluded the evening by saying there was some “fantastic” work being doing by school pupils. “It is a wonderful thing to see young people inspired about the environment,” he said. “They’re the future and it is good to see them taking a lead. As Christians, that’s an essential part of our faith – taking into account that what we do has an effect on others.”
The Three Rock Churches’ Environment Group is an ecumenical committee, representing six churches working together to promote environmental awareness in the local community. It consists of lay representatives from Holy Cross, Dundrum, Dundrum Methodist Church, Society of Friends, Churchtown, Whitechurch and Kilternan Church of Ireland parishes and the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, Balally.
Last year the group held a poster exhibition, Cherishing Creation, in which 600 local national school children participated. The group is currently lobbying Dublin Bus to provide feeder buses to the Luas and hopes that the council will provide a piece of waste ground that can be developed into a garden.