Pupils collect 5,500 batteries for recycling

THE children of Ennis Educate Together are leading the charge against waste by putting their energy into ensuring batteries are disposed of correctly. Thousands of batteries have been collected by the children with their mobile battery recycling unit and they show no signs of stopping.
The unit came about when as part of its Green Schools initiative, the national school’s Green Schools committee organised a day of action to use the school as a battery recycling depot.
The Green Schools committee spoke to the children about the dangers of disposing of batteries incorrectly. The children took this on board so much that they started bringing recycling boxes home and collecting the batteries from their neighbours and local businesses.
The children then turned the recycling depot into a mobile recycling unit, bringing the recycling unit to the community. 
As a result, the children of Ennis Educate Together National School collected in the region of 5,500 batteries to recycle. They did this over a period of only two weeks.
Educate Together teacher Michelle O’Halloran, Green Schools’ co-ordinator with Gemma King, said, “It was a phenomenal result for such a short length of time. We intend to do this on a continuous basis and want people  to be aware that the children of Ennis Educate Together National School are providing such a wonderful service. They are willing to collect batteries from the local community and bring them to the school to recycle. We bring the service to you. However, people are more than welcome to pop in and drop in their used household batteries,” she said.