Get Involved with Green Initiatives

Green Schools Programme:  This project aims to promote positive environmental action in schools, but also extends to the local area and involves the whole community. A green flag is awarded to schools that complete all elements of the programme. See if the schools in your area are involved and contact them about participating in their community work!

Green Campus Programme: This programme was started based on the success of the Green Schools Programme and focuses on promoting sustainable living in third level institutions. It emphasises the importance of the inclusion of all sectors of the institution in environmental promotion and enhancement of their campus community. Like the Green Schools Programme, there are Seven Steps involved in the Green Campus Programme. In order for the campus to become eligible for the Green Campus Award, the institution must be registered with the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce for at one academic year and have implemented the Seven Steps.

Cúl Green Initiative: Are you a GAA fan? Do you regularly go to matches at Croke Park? If so, the Cúl Green initiative is for you. This is a joint initiative between the ESB and the GAA, with the aim of making Croke Park an environmentally friendly, sustainable, carbon-neutral venue. The park's electricity, waste and water systems are being updated and improved by the ESB and the GAA, but help from fans is also needed for the project to be successful. You can do this by pledging to commit to energy saving activities e.g. taking public transport instead of your car to a match, turning off all lights when leaving a room etc. Cúl Green won the Green IT Project Award in October, 2008.

Green Business Initiative (GBI): The aim of this project is to promote energy and resource efficiency within the business sector, as well as waste prevention. Greenbusiness.ie is the website that has been designed to provide support and practical advice on how you can make your business more environmentally friendly and cut costs. It is free to use, and also contains waste and water auditing tools. These allow you to work out which areas you need to focus on, and you can also monitor your progress as you make changes.

Green Hospitality Award: This award is based on the previous Green Fáilte Award, and all hotels and similar hospitality businesses are encouraged to become involved in this green hospitality project. Gold, silver and bronze awards are available to those businesses that can demonstrate advances in sustainable, environmentally friendly practices. To date, 180 hospitality businesses are already involved with this project, and over 80 have received awards. If you work in the hospitality industry and would like to take steps to create a greener work environment, see the GHA website on how to become involved.

Green Homes Project: The Green Homes Project was launched in May 2008. The aim is to promote best environmental practices in the home. It focuses on waste reduction and waste prevention, water conservation, energy efficiency, as well as promoting sustainable travel. You can become a Green Home member by logging on to www.greenhome.ie and filling in your details where it says register now under ‘individual householder’. All details are entirely data protected. When you have filled in the membership form, click on ‘continue’ at the end of the page. Once you have entered your username and password, you will then be in the website and you can complete a Green Home householder survey (once completed a graph will be generated on screen to show your score). Many other online resources are also available on the site under the four Green Home themes of waste, energy, water and transport.