Bandon transition year students' Carbon Concentration idea Tiks all the right boxes
Katie Hannon, Bandon, and Aisling O'Connor, Kilbrittain, both 16. Their Carbon Concentrations campaign provides people with simple ideas to change their behaviour for the benefit of the planet.
They say that the most effective campaigns have the simplest and clearest messaging - two students in Bandon are proving that adage with their burgeoning climate crisis awareness movement.
Aisling O'Connor and Katie Hannon, both 16-year-old Transition Year students from Coláiste na Toirbhirte in Bandon, set up a campaign called Carbon Concentrations, which is dedicated to providing people with simple ideas to change their behaviour for the better of the planet.
They have since found that they are connecting with the masses who like their passion and commitment to the cause.
Aisling, from Kilbrittain, and Katie, from Bandon, have seen their reach grow quickly on social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram and thousands of Tiktok views and likes.
One of the duo's Tiktok videos hit 15,600 views, Aisling said. The two students are taking part in the Eco-UNESCO or Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA), and carried out an online survey, which received responses from almost 200 people.
Eco-UNESCO’s YEA is an all-Ireland environmental awards programme that recognises and rewards young people who raise environmental awareness and improve the environment.
Since 1999, more than 49,000 young people have taken part in the YEA, bringing about lasting change to the environment, and reaching countless others with awareness-raising campaigns in schools and communities throughout Ireland. Aisling said: "We set up weekly challenges called Carbon Neutral Thursday @ Colaiste na Toirbhirte (CNT @ CNT). These are simply, easy challenges to make positive changes for the environment.
"We ask our followers to send us pictures of their participation each week and we have received brilliant responses. We also post factual information in small and fun ways to help educate people on some important environmental terms."
Their work has paid off, with the twosome advancing to the next stage of the competition, the semi-finals. "The YEA is a competition based on the youth of our country actively raising awareness in their communities to make everybody more aware with regard to the environment," Aisling said.
Semi-Final stages will take place this month and the finals are in late May.
"We continue to educate people far and near through our online social media platforms, school app and hopefully with the help of supportive local newspapers," Aisling added.
The climate emergency is not something that can be ignored, according to the two young women.
"Think Globally, Act Locally is our motto, we believe that small gradual changes from people in our locality all contributes to the wider global picture."
