It's the final episode of Ours to Protect, KCLR's monthly environmental series, which has been led by the children and young people from across Carlow & Kilkenny.  

The pupils of Kilkenny-based Gaelscoil Osrai and School of the Holy Spirit, as well as Bunscoil McAuley Rice in Callan and St. Brigid’s National School in Bagenalstown, have been asking questions and sharing their thoughts on a range of topics from biodiversity & fast fashion to food waste and travel and transport and lots more, with experts answering and addressing what they've raised.

For our last outing, the focus is on policies to ensure our environment is protected, and we ask whether there's any hope for the future. 

We'll also hear from students at Kilkenny College, where we installed a device to capture the sounds of wildlife and nature as part of a collaboration with metaLAB Harvard Climate Institute for Climate and Sound, which aims to map climate change through sound.

In the penultimate episode of Ours To Protect, students from Gaelscoil Osraí, Kilkenny, Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, St. Brigid’s National School, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow and School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny have focused their attention on the subject of travel and transport along with energy.

The students have been asking questions such as where does our electricity come from, and is it good or bad for the planet? Is there a way to stop using too much fossil fuels? And should we have more buses and trains serving rural areas?

Alex Hamilton, Senior Engineer at South East Energy Agency, joins Edwina, to answer the children’s questions and provide insights into where our energy sources come from, where we are using it, and how we reduce our energy use. She also talks about the use of fossil fuels and where we use them most in our everyday lives and gives tips on how we can reduce their use. Alex talks to Edwina about generating electricity locally, how we can bring it to our towns and communities, and we learn about the resilience of the grid. 

Alex also discusses the cost of solar panels and electric vehicles as well as highlighting the importance of the small changes that each of us can make.

Pádraig O’Gorman, Director of Services with responsibility for Transportation, Environment and Climate Action with Carlow County Council spoke to Edwina about public transport for rural areas and the work that has been done over the last number of years to address the need for public transport. Pádraig also chats to Edwina about sustainable travel with the active travel programme, and with Carlow selected as a pilot site for a mobility hub under Government’s Climate Action Fund Pádraig tells us more about this.

For more on climate change – listen in to KCLR on the last Thursday of each month as we’ll be chatting all things climate action & change with the children within our communities.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

In our latest episode of Ours to Protect, students from Gaelscoil Osraí, Kilkenny, Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, St. Brigid’s National School, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow and School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny have turned their attention to the topic of Fast Fashion, questioning why is fast fashion bad for the planet, what happens clothes that are donated to clothes banks/charity shops and what can we do with clothes that we no longer use instead of throwing them out.

Jannette O’Brien, Climate Action Coordinator, Carlow County Council and Dee Sewell, Environmental Awareness Officer, Carlow County Council chat to Edwina about the impact of fast fashion on the planet both from an environmental aspect as well as how it can impact our local economies and jobs. We hear about ways in which we can help reduce fashion and textile waste through local initiatives and shopping in preloved shops.

Raymond O’Meara, Manager of Enable Ireland Charity Shop, Kilkenny City gives Edwina an insight into what happens to the clothes and items that are donated to their shops or clothes banks, we also hear more about their ‘Final Find’ initiative.

Arran Murphy, Textile Artist and Programme Manager of Rediscover Fashion, tells Edwina about ‘InFlow’ a textile upcycling project in Kilkenny which was inspired by the River Nore. Arran also talks about the fashion industry and its impact on the environment and how we can help reduce waste from looking at ways we can expand the life cycle of our clothing, to shopping preloved or swapping clothes.

For more on climate change – listen in to KCLR on the last Thursday of each month as we’ll be chatting all things climate action & change with the children within our communities.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website kclr96fm.com and via ourstoprotect.ie

In our third episode of Ours to Protect we turn our attention to Biodiversity, and opening this month’s programme we hear audio of wildlife and nature recorded from the grounds of Kilkenny College as part of a collaboration with metaLAB Havard Climate Institute for Climate and Sound,  which aims to map climate change through sound. 

This month, students from Gaelscoil Osraí, Kilkenny, Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, St. Brigid’s National School, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow and School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny shared their thoughts of what biodiversity is, why it’s important and what we need to do to protect our local environments.

As well as sharing their thoughts on the topic, the students also had lots of questions and to give us insights and answers to the questions Edwina Grace spoke with Bernadette Maloney, Biodiversity Officer Kilkenny County Council and Shane Casey, Biodiversity Officer, Carlow County Council.

What is the role of Bees when it comes to biodiversity and are there different species of bees that have different roles to play to help promote biodiversity? Paddy Holohan of Carlow Beekeepers spoke with Edwina about the importance of looking after bees and insects and what we can do to protect them.

Kilkenny farmer Bryan Daniels chats to Edwina about farming sustainably and answers the children’s questions on protecting waterways from pollution, how increased temperatures and changing weather patterns are impacting agriculture.

For more on climate change – listen in to KCLR on the last Thursday of each month as we’ll be chatting all things climate action & change with the children within our communities.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website kclr96fm.com and via ourstoprotect.ie

In this month’s episode of Ours to Protect we are joined by students from Gaelscoil Osraí, Kilkenny, Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, St. Brigid’s National School, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow and School of the Holy Spirit, Kilkenny who bring us into the world of plastics with their questions focusing on the Re-Turn scheme and wanting to understand how effective the scheme is and how it is helping the environment. Through the students’ questions we also learn more about landfills and our local civic amenity sites and how we can learn to segregate our waste.

To find the answers to these questions and more, Edwina Grace spoke with Mags Whelan, Environmental Awareness Officer with Kilkenny County Council and to Mary Walsh, Facility Manager at Powerstown Civic Amenity Site in Carlow who provide insights into the importance of recycling, what happens after plastic bottles are deposited in Re-Turn machines and how civic amenity sites can be used for all different types of waste.

Aevril Heslin of Carlow Rowing Club chatted to Edwina about how they have availed of the Re-Turn scheme and have placed a bin at the club to collect Re-Turn bottles in a bid to be proactive with recycling, and it also means the club will benefit when they return the bottles with the proceeds going to the club to purchase everyday items needed.

For more on climate change – listen in to KCLR on the last Thursday of each month as we’ll be chatting all things climate action & change with the children within our communities.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website kclr96fm.com and via ourstoprotect.ie

Ours to Protect returns for a second series and this time the children are asking the questions.

In our first episode we’re talking all things food waste. Questions from the children lead the discussions around food waste and its impact on the environment, what we can we do to reduce food waste and what happens our compost – listen back to find out the answers to these questions and pick up some tips and information on managing food waste.

The final episode of Ours To Protect shows a panel of experts look back on how the project has gone. They look back on some of the topics covered and discuss the positive impact the series has had.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website and via ourstoprotect.ie, where you’ll also find fact sheets each week to help you in your climate care journey.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

After almost a whole year, we’re bringing you the last episode of Ours to Protect. Series producer Ethna Quirke caught up with Maura Kiely from Leave No Trace Ireland to talk about their Love this Place campaign, which launched this week.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website and via ourstoprotect.ie, where you’ll also find fact sheets each week to help you in your climate care journey.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

Carlow Educate Together have won the 2024 Nature Hero Award.

In its largest scheme to date more than 79,000 children from 305 schools across 26 counties took part in supporting local biodiversity.

In this week’s Ours to Protect, we hear from teacher Mark O’Brien, students at the school and Nature Minister Malcolm Noonan, who presented the school with a Nature Hero Award plaque and €10,000 to makeover their school garden.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website and via ourstoprotect.ie, where you’ll also find fact sheets each week to help you in your climate care journey.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.

This week on Ours to Protect, series producer Ethna Quirke caught up with Pat Brett, Director of Kilkenny based company, EcoPower about his work in the wind energy industry, his passion for the climate and the future direction of his company.

Remember, you can listen back to this and all previous episodes on our website and via ourstoprotect.ie, where you’ll also find fact sheets each week to help you in your climate care journey.

Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and is a partnership between KCLR and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.