Second year student, Blaithín McElligott was recently successful in winning first prize of E300 in the images section of a competition, run by the Colombian Missionary Soiciety in Britain and in Ireland.
The Nationwide competition was based on the title ‘Anyone can make a difference’, where students were asked to consider how they make a difference in a world of inequality, injustice, exclusion and environmental degradation.
Blaithìn impressed judges with her art work and excellent power point presentation which highlighted the cost of fast fashion , the second largest consumer of water in the world, with textile dyeing being the world’s largest polluter.
‘We at Pres have made a difference by installing a clothes pod which collects recycles and sends clothes to developing countries.’ The clothes are weighed and proceeds of the collection have already been sent to WaterAid so that countries like Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia etc have access to clean water.
785m people do not have access to clean water and 200 children die every hour due to unsafe, contaminated water.
‘We should view clothes as an investment rather than a replacement and this is the key to stopping this harmful trend’, said Blaithín.
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