Two schools which highlighted the negative effects of litter and detergents on their environment were named supreme winners of the Ballygowan/ECO young environmentalists' competition by the President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday.
Rebecca Lee and Ann O'Neill, students of Colaiste Bhride, Carnew, Co Wicklow, found discharges of phosphate-based detergents into the River Slaney seriously reduced the water quality.
They urged local householders to switch to phosphate-free detergents. They found these products available in shops. The other supreme winner was a project from Summerhill College, Co Sligo, which reduced litter at the school by 40 per cent. Rowen Rossiter, Michael McDermott, Daniel Somers, Warren Langan and Paul O'Shea raised awareness of litter by producing a radio advertisement and playing it over the intercom. St Paul's Secondary School, Green hills, Dublin, won two national awards for projects on waste and biodiversity, while Scoil Chriost Ri, Portlaoise, Co Laois, won one for a waste project.
Presenting the awards in Dublin, President McAleese said: "we are in the company of energetic doers, young people who care about their environment and who are ready to play their part in helping all of us to live in a clean and healthy atmosphere."