’Keen to be Green’ has been this term’s topic for children aged eight to 11 at St John’s School.

The pupils have learned the principles of ’reduce, reuse and recycle’ and about the problem of plastic in the environment.

urial Garland from Zero Waste Mann talked to the children and Bill Dale gave the children a talk on Beach Buddies before taking them on a beach clean at Glen Wyllin.

Mike Rose gave the children a tour of the Western Civic Amenity Site and told them about the range of materials that can now be recycled in the Isle of Man.

Jeanette Edwards and Nick Barnes from Douglas Council continued the story by showing the children what happens to the materials collected from household collections and public recycle bins.

The children spent an afternoon at the Energy from Waste facility - known by many as the incinerator - taking a site tour and enjoying activities in their education suite.

They learned about what happens to waste that is not recycled and that the plant produces electricity.

A Beach Buddies afternoon inspired the children to do a litter pick in the St John’s area. They were split into groups to cover different areas of the village.

They found plastic wrappers, take-away food containers, bottles and more unusual items such as motorcycle batteries and dog poo in plastic bags.

They also found evidence of fly tipping on the old railway line to the west of St John’s.

Sean Connolly, the school caretaker, later filled his trailer with larger items such as an old fashioned 32-inch TV, motorcycle parts and the remains of a go-kart, and took them to the amenity site.

Shaun Gelling of the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture, gave the pupil a tour of its eco building and gardens at Garey Ny Cloie in St John’s and he talked to the children about forestry and how wood chip is used as an energy source to heat some government buildings. They also had a look at the departmnent’s electric car.