Global Citizenship Litter and Waste

What is a Global Citizen? Global Citizenship means that as citizens of the world, we have responsibilities to each other and to the Earth itself. Whether through sharing knowledge, volunteerism or advocacy, everyone, including young people, can make a difference.

Being a Global Citizen Means You ……

Spend time learning about the wider world and understand the way you fit in as a global citizen. -You can read newspapers, watch the news on TV, or look at news websites to find out what is going on in the world. -Talk to your parents, teachers and friends about issues affecting your school, community or country, or another country. -By sharing ideas, we can help come up with ways to make the world a better place.

Learn about and respect the many different peoples and cultures in the world. -Start by getting to know the people at school and in your community and asking them about their families and backgrounds. -Share what you learn with others. Remember, you can improve the world through small, everyday actions.

Become active in your own community - help to make your home a better place to live. What ways can we be active in our school and home to make the Global community a better place?

Participate in the global community - take steps to make the world a better place for everyone. What can we do to make the world a better place for everyone? - Organise/participate in fundraising activities to help those in need around the world. - Think about how our actions, such as polluting the environment, are impacting on people in other countries and do something about it.

Global Citizenship – Litter and Waste What have we been doing as Global Citizens already in our school?

The Blue Star Programme Participated in the Blue Star programme and learned about all the different EU countries and how the European Union works. Had visit from two MEPs who spoke about their work and the European Parliament. Visited the European Parliament Offices and Leinster House.

Held an Intercultural Day

Planted a Native Tree Gay Mitchel MEP planted a native Hazel Tree on our grounds given to us by The Native Woodland Trust

Researched different nationalities in our school. In May 2013 we counted the number of children from different countries in our school and pined them on a map on our Greenschools notice board. In November 2013 we created and interactive map that displays all the nationalities in our school with some information about those countries. We posted to our school website.

Learned about Fair Trade

Visited Irish Aid 3 rd, 5 th and 6 th Class visited Irish Aid and learned about different countries in Africa and what life is like for children in those countries. We also learned some African songs and traditional dances.

Reduced our waste by weighing our bins regularly Room16/01/1323/01/1230/01/1306/02/1320/02/1227/02/1206/02/ g50g 0g125g0g75g 2 150g0g100g0g50g200g125g 3 150g25g125g25g125g50g0g 4 75g125g0g 50g75g 5 200g75g15g100g500g150g425g 6 150g75g25g75g 50g15g 7 100g15g75g10g25g0g75g 8 100g25g100g0g25g 9 150g100g75g0g50g0g g25g50g25g100g0g25g 11 25g15g75g0g25g0g75g g25g100g0g75g10g75g

Think about and discuss….

In 2009 Ireland was ranked 2 nd in Europe for greenhouse gas emission per head. Greenhouse gasses contribute to climate change. Climate change leads to an increase in floods hurricanes and drought. The developed world is mainly responsible for climate change Climate change hits the poorer countries hardest. Did you know ?

What happens to your Recycling ?

Wood ……………………91% Aluminium ……………32% Textiles …………………45% Plastics …………………13% Glass ……………………..4% Paper/Cardboard ….less than 1% Electrical Waste….…less than 1% Waste recycled here in Ireland

Why do we ship so much of our recyclables abroad ?

Is this a good enough excuse considering how much waste we generate ? Why not take action and write to a politician about this!..because we haven’t developed the facilities to deal with it here.

A heavily polluted stream in Guiyu. Along side domestic rubbish the water is badly polluted with toxic waste from the e-waste recycling yards in the town. (© Greenpeace, Natalie Behring)

Recycling Electronic Waste By 2008, Irish people were ranked 4th in Europe for recycling household electrical waste..

Electronic waste can pollute soil and drinking water. It accounts for 70% of the overall toxic waste found in landfills. Virtually every household electrical item can be recycled. In Ireland you can no longer dispose of IT equipment in a bin, skip or waste tip.

Since 2008 all shops that sell batteries must take back your waste batteries for recycling. Car Batteries can be brought back to your local garage.

Lots of electronic waste is exported to other countries. Some of this is done illegally. Poor people in these countries put their health at risk, during the dismantling process. Once dismantled the unrecyclable parts often end up thrown in toxic piles in these countries. New EU directives will force us to take more responsibility for what becomes of the waste we ship abroad. What Happens to Electronic Waste?

A child sits on top of a pile of unrecyclable waste in China

Recycling is good but it is better not to create electrical waste in the first place Before you upgrade your phone or TV ask yourself if you really need to. Can you give it to someone else who would use it? Reduce Reuse Recycle

The average Irish family consumes around 500 glass bottles a year Glass is very easy to recycle. Recycling 1 tonne of glass saves over 300kgs of Carbon Dioxide emissions. Glass Recycling

Plastic packaging from food often ends up in dumped in landfill. This pollutes and is harmful to wild life. Plastic and glass can take up to 1000 years to break down. Next time you go shopping see if you can buy unpackaged fruit and veg. By 2010 in Ireland 74% of our packaging waste was being recycled. Packaging Waste