As the pupils and staff of Ballymena Nursery School work towards its Eco Flag later this month, the school was more than delighted to have a special visit from Northern Ireland’s largest and most innovative waste management company, RiverRidge.
Renowned for providing sustainable alternatives to landfill, the waste management company, now based across four sites in Coleraine, Derry-Londonderry, Belfast and Portadown, is dedicated to changing perceptions of waste amongst our communities. The visit from RiverRidge was used to help further encourage the children to think about recycling in their school and homes.
Pamela Jordan, Business Development Manager of RiverRidge comments, “We were delighted to visit Ballymena Nursery School. It is very obvious the nursery is incredibly passionate about recycling and preserving their environment and we were only too happy to come along and let the children delve into some fun facts about recycling and how RiverRidge fits into the process.
“While we wanted to keep the visit educational, it was also important to keep it fun for the children. After a brief interactive chat, we brought the children outside to see one of our bin lorries in action. The kids learnt about how the vehicle collects their materials and from other schools to segregate these high value products for recycling and reuse.”
Mrs McGall, a teacher at Ballymena Primary School, commented, “This was a wonderful and very informative experience for the children. We have been teaching the pupils about reducing, reusing and recycling in the classroom and so to have RiverRidge at our school helps to put everything into context for them.”
The Eco-Schools programme is the largest sustainable school’s initiative in the world and it is designed to encourage whole-schools action on sustainable development education issues. The programme inspires pupils to be leaders of change in their community, helping them learn about sustainable living.
Mrs McGall continues, “Most importantly, from the RiverRidge visit our pupils gained a real appreciation for their role and how they can make a difference in the simplest of ways. This visit meant a lot to us, especially when we are extremely dedicated to achieving our Eco Flag which will help further emphasis our genuine enthusiasm and commitment to recycling.
I would also like to say a very special thank you to my colleague Mrs McMullan, who is our Eco Coordinator. Mrs McMullan has worked tirelessly towards our Eco award, and everyone at Ballymena Nursery School really appreciates her continued hard work and determination.”
Pamela continued, “RiverRidge is a company which believes in changing the environment by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill through recycling and education plays a key role in achieving that goal, as we can all play our part.
“It is wonderful to visit Ballymena Nursery School, a school which is clearly devoted to recycling and on behalf of everyone at RiverRidge, I would like to wish the school every success with achieving their Eco Flag, it will be very much deserved.”
