'Saving the Planet Together' presentation at Bridge Camphill

Kildare projects organised by the KWETB Community Education Service in the Aontas Adult Learners Festival 2020 were highlighted this morning at an event in Bridge Camphill's Artaban Hall, writes Brian Byrne.

The occasion was attended by Green School Committees from Scoil Bhride, CPC, and Jonathan Swift NS in Dunlavin as well as members of the Kilcullen and Grangebeg Camphill communities.

The theme of the local area projects this year was 'Saving the Planet Together', and the presentation included a video (top) outlining how the local Camphill groups are playing their part, notably in producing signs encouraging recycling and keeping litter at bay.

Bridge Community's Sarah Gillespie noted that the Camphill group had produced their signs using a variety of fabrics, natural colouring agents like avocado, and had worked on the project since September.

She said that recycling is taken very seriously in Camphill communities, with one of the highlights of each week being the trip to the Silliot Hill recycling centre to properly dispose of material which has been carefully sorted in the communities. "With this project, we're hoping to start a conversation on recycling and the environment," she said this morning.

Conor O'Leary of KWETB provided a background to the Adult Learners Festival, which continues through this week. "Our service hosts programmes which improve community life," he said, and showed videos of other participating groups from Athy, Newbridge, Maynooth and Celbridge.

The Athy Women's Group have produced a 'garden' from recycled materials to show their 'Make from Old' philosophy.

The Larine Hub in Maynooth have undertaken a 'Green Energy' project, while in the same town the Maynooth Women's Group has been working on a 'Food Sustainability' programme under the theme of 'let nature do its magic'.

In Newbridge, a local Women's Group has made cloth bags from old clothes and material, and provided them to shops so people can borrow them to bring home goods and then take the bags back for others to use. "The idea is that it gives people something to talk about when they borrow them, and make them more environmentally aware," one of the participants says.

A Celbridge initiative is called ShaRing Skills, and is designed around people with skills offering to teach them to others. One result is a sharing of film-making expertise, and the group has made TV shows and presented them through Youtube and other online video platforms.

Following the videos presentation, Dara Wyer from Kildare County Council's Environment Department gave a talk on how to sort for recycling, emphasising especially that clear glass must be kept separate from coloured glass, and that all recyclable materials must be clean. He commented that the recycling in Bridge Camphill is 'out of this world'.

Those attending afterwards took a tour of the Bridge Camphill Nature Trail.

Photographs use Policy — Privacy Policy