'So much fun': Carlow schools take part in 'Guardians of the Grasslands' competition
It is part of Carlow County Council's major biodiversity drive
Scarecrows designed by schoolchildren will act as ‘guardians of the grasslands’ across Carlow Town this summer.
It is part of Carlow County Council's major biodiversity drive, which has seen a selection of green spaces being allowed to grow in an effort to promote its "urban pollinator" network.
The council’s biodiversity office launched a competition to create the 6-foot-tall grassland protectors to remind the public that the green spaces have been intentionally grown.
This means they can act as a food source for pollinators, such as bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths and beetles.
Visitors to the town can look out for selected creations by Tyndall College, St Mary's CBS, Old Leighlin National School and Ballon National School, which will be on display until September.
The schools were tasked with designing scarecrows that tackle fast fashion in their themes.
"The students said it was so much fun to make the scarecrow and they loved seeing it in the grass scaring away the lawnmowers," Hannah Murphy, a teacher from the Resource Centre in Tyndall College Carlow, said.
They made a cheetah for their design – inspired by fast fashion because cheetahs are fast, and it is wearing clothes from Shein.
The scarecrows were required to be a maximum size of 6ft tall and 6ft wide and attached to a 4ft timber post.
They had to be able to stand up to Carlow's weather conditions, with a strong frame, and with no loose materials that could blow away.
Now that the winning designs have been selected, they will be installed in public green spaces across Carlow Town, where grass is managed through its Low Mow/No Mow regime.