NATIONAL SCHOOL children across the State will be invited into factories, supermarkets and other businesses to see how energy is consumed in the workplace.
The initiative by An Taisce, involving the 3,000 schools which participate in the Green Schools programme, was announced yesterday by Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan.
It will see schoolchildren visiting businesses such as Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland and Wrigley's to see for themselves how much energy is consumed and why. It aims to have them thinking critically about how the community consumes energy.
Other businesses are being encouraged to get involved, according to Michael McNicholas, executive director of ESB Independent Energy, one of the sponsors of the programme.
"The idea is to bring business and the community closer together in understanding energy use.
"We're giving children the chance to go into businesses, and for these kids to see things like how food arrives at a supermarket and how it gets stacked on shelves, to make those linkages between everyday life and energy use."
He said schoolchildren were "very demanding and critical about industry following through and doing what it says it will".
Other companies involved in the initiative are Dell, Tesco Ireland, Superquinn and Silverhill Foods.
Mr Ryan said it was a way of getting beyond basic awareness about the need to reduce emissions and showing the practical ways it can be achieved. "Without question, educating children on the efficient use of scarce resources and its impact on our environment is where the solution lies."
He said children were already "way ahead of the rest of us" in terms of their respect for and practical knowledge about how better to protect the environment.
Any businesses that wish to get involved in the initiative can find information on www.esbie.ie.
