School children in Limerick are getting into the festive spirit and helping to protect the environment by swapping their Christmas jumpers.
Thomond Primary School has recycled over 700 hundred jumpers since the campaign started at the school four years.
The pupils are hoping more schools across the country will follow their example this Christmas.
Christmas jumpers have become one of the worst examples of fast fashion and are now recognised as hugely damaging to the environment.
That is because they are worn once a year and children grow out of them by the time Christmas comes around the following year.
Teacher at Thomond Primary School, Sarah Mackey, said the festive garments are usually made of plastic fibres; some even have batteries, wires and lights in them, and many end up in landfill.
"Tonnes of waste is being recycled here just by the kids in Thomond Primary School. If we got this to the million children in primary and secondary school - how many jumpers would we save from landfill," she said.
"This is citizen-led, this is how we should be approaching climate where one small thing we do can have a really big impact."
Over 130 jumpers were brought to the school this week and each child was given a golden ticket allowing them into the school hall to pick a Christmas jumper that is new to them.
The swap campaign is a good example of the circular economy at work.
Sophie Buckley, 11, said if the jumpers are thrown in the bin "they won't get reused, and that's a waste".
She said her school's initiative is a good idea "so the environment can get better".
"We don't want to be throwing away stuff if it's still good".
