Be “Nature Nice” this Tree Day!

The Tree Council of Ireland, supported by Tetra Pak, is inviting primary school children across the country to get involved in Tetra Pak Tree Day on Thursday 4^th October 2018. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Be nature nice! or Bí dóighiúil don dúlra!”

Tetra Pak Tree Day gives children, teachers and parents the opportunity to put down the school books, get outdoors and connect directly with nature. The campaign also encourages children to become more environmentally aware. The campaign’s mascot Sammy Squirrel will feature on Avonmore school milk cartons with seven simple messages on how to help the environment.

Free native trees for Primary Schools

As part of Tetra Pak Tree Day, up to 1,000 native tree saplings will be made available through the Tree Day website for primary school children to plant on their school grounds. There is also an opportunity for children and teachers to win an iPad for their class.

More details about the campaign including guided woodland walks, class lessons, videos, fun tree facts, activities and more can be found on www.treeday.ie.

Guelder Rose/Caor chon (Viburnum opulus)

Each year Tetra Pak Tree Day places a focus on a different native tree. This year the spotlight falls on the Guelder Rose, or Caor chon in Irish. The Guelder Rose is a small deciduous tree, sometimes reaching a height of 4 metres, that grows in dampish areas in hedges and small woods. It bears discs of creamy white flowers in early summer, making it excellent for pollinators, and produces bunches of translucent bright red berries in early autumn, which are loved by birds. The Guelder-rose is an important native tree that supports Ireland’s natural habitats and preserves biodiversity.

“For this year’s Tetra Pak Tree Day, we have up to 1,000 Guelder-rose tree saplings to give away to primary schools,” said Joseph McConville, President of the Tree Council of Ireland. “We are encouraging primary school teachers throughout the country to get outside with their students and explore the natural environment. Planting a sapling tree on the school grounds helps children to connect with nature and trees. It is also one of the requirements to achieve the Green-School’s Green Flag for Biodiversity.”

“The aim of Tetra Pak Tree Day is to teach children about the importance of minimising our impact on the environment and how we can all live more sustainably,” highlighted Deborah Ryan, Marketing Manager with Tetra Pak Ireland. It’s also about thinking twice about the things we do and use everyday and making better choices for the environment. These messages are very close to our heart at Tetra Pak.”

To find out more about this year’s campaign, watch the Tree Day Video below, and claim a FREE Guelder-rose tree sapling for your class via the Treeday.ie website.