Schools from across County Dublin claimed five of the ten national awards in this year’s Daily Swaps Challenge, a nationwide sustainability initiative from An Taisce’s Green-Schools Programme.
Among the winners was Sharavogue Junior School in Glenageary, which recorded the highest participation in the country with 5,976 daily swaps, focusing on actions such as turning off lights, turning off taps and skipping single-use bottles.
St. Kilian’s Deutsche Schule in Clonskeagh earned recognition for outstanding creativity, promoting the campaign through posters, classroom presentations and daily sustainability facts, with students also designing custom badges to reward participants.
In Swords, EVE Estuary Hub was praised for a highly collaborative campaign that involved multiple student groups and partnered with community organisations, including local ETB centres and Tidy Towns groups, to organise a swap shop and other activities.
Also in Swords, Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe received recognition for its wide-reaching campaign using posters, announcements, newsletters and social media, with many materials translated into Irish to involve the whole school community.
At second level, Castleknock Community College stood out for its impressive level of participation, recording 3,268 daily swaps and encouraging students to take part through presentations and a focus on energy-saving and sustainable clothing choices.
The strong showing from Dublin schools highlights the impact students can have when small, everyday sustainability actions are embraced across the whole school community.
The Daily Swaps Challenge invited students across Ireland to take simple everyday actions—such as taking shorter showers, boiling only the water needed, or donating unused clothes—to reduce water and energy use.
Taking place from 9–13 March, the challenge saw participation from schools in 18 counties, with students recording an impressive total of 22,923 daily swaps.
The initiative reveals the close connection between water and energy use in everyday life.
Heating water for showers, running washing machines, producing food and manufacturing clothing all require significant amounts of both resources.
For example, washing machines consume an average of 50 litres of water per cycle1, while producing a single cotton T-shirt can require around 2,700 litres of water.
By making small changes to everyday habits, we can help reduce pressure on ecosystems and lower environmental impacts.
The Daily Swaps Challenge forms part of the Green-Schools Water Theme, supported by Uisce Éireann, which works with schools across Ireland to raise awareness about protecting water resources and promoting sustainable water use.
Geoffrey Bourke, Head of Customer Operations at Uisce Éireann, a sponsor of the Green-Schools Water Programme, commented:
“Daily Swaps shows how small, practical actions can make a real difference. By empowering students to lead sustainability campaigns in their schools and communities, we’re helping young people understand the connections between water, energy and the everyday choices we make.”
Tori Rickman, Green-Schools Officer for the Water Theme, added:
“The Daily Swaps challenge is a fantastic example of how students can lead meaningful environmental action in a creative and engaging way.
“By running their own challenges, Green-Schools Committees build real skills in communication, teamwork and motivating others.
“It highlights that environmental action doesn’t have to be about giving things up—it can be about challenging ourselves and our peers to make small changes together in a way that’s fun and impactful.”
For more information about the Green-Schools programme, visit www.greenschoolsireland.org.