The Rubbish Film Festival is an award-winning environmental media initiative for Transition Year students, managed and coordinated by Createschool. The festival invites students to explore vital environmental issues by creating impactful, one-minute films, combining education on sustainability with hands-on skills in media production.
Targeting Transition Year students in Tipperary and nationwide, the festival is designed to encourage young people to engage deeply with climate action, waste reduction, and responsible consumption.
This year 84 Transition Year students from across the County took part in the first ever Tipperary Rubbish Film Festival 2024/2025. Through creative collaboration, students learned to script, film, and edit digital stories that highlight solutions and inspire change.
From a Student impact survey, 87% felt their films communicated vital environmental topics. 85% intend to use media to promote environmental awareness in the future. 82% gained more confidence using media as a tool for change.
Commenting on the amazing talents of all the students involved, Sinéad Carr, Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council said " Engaging with students on environmental issues that matter to them is a key deliverable in our Climate Action Plan 2024-2029. These young people are using their voices, creativity and their cameras to show what real challenges they see to drive meaningful change for a greener future".
Teachers' comments included; “It gave them a reason to think beyond the classroom about global issues".
“The films helped highlight issues like fast fashion in a very relatable way".
“The workshops were fun and meaningful for both students and teachers".
What the students had to say; “I really liked the freedom we had to create something new".
“Acting and learning how to shoot scenes was my favourite part".
“The editing part was fun and now I feel I can do more with videos".
2025 Awards
Best Movie – Fastest Fashion Show - Presentation Secondary School, Clonmel (and went forward to the National Awards).
Runner-Up Movie – Behind Closed Doors – Presentation Secondary School, Ballingarry.
Best Poster - Online Whispers - Scoil Mhuire, Carrick-on-Suir.
A showcase of all the films entered in the competition is available to view HERE
