Seven more schools fly flag for green future

Published on Wednesday 6 July 2005 12:16

THE number of Edinburgh schools with a prestigious Green Flag environmental award has rocketed during the last term.

Following a city-wide push to create more "Eco Schools", an extra seven primaries have gained the top award, taking the total number in Edinburgh up to ten and making the city's schools some of the greenest in Scotland.

The seven schools to be awarded a Green Flag this term are: Cowgate Under-Fives, Echline Primary, Kaimes School, Kirkliston Nursery, the Children's House Nursery, the Royal High Primary, and Towerbank Primary.

Councillor Robert Cairns, the city's environment leader, said: "This is a real achievement by all seven schools involved.

"Gaining a Green Flag can take around two years and involves a lot of hard work and dedication by the pupils who set up and lead the initiatives. Their success bodes well for Edinburgh's aim to create a sustainable environment for the city's future."

Three-quarters of Edinburgh's 153 local authority schools are registered with the Eco Schools programme. There are various levels of achievement and to date 31 schools have a bronze award and ten have achieved a silver award. To get a Green Flag award pupils need to build initiatives such as peer support groups or pupil-run litter police to ensure that their school and grounds are entirely litter-free.

They also need to have introduced a range of other initiatives, such as recycling stamps, ink cartridges, paper, cans and packaging for charity.