sammylogo2015The Tree Council of Ireland supported by Tetra Pak is calling people nationwide to go outside with their children to celebrate all that nature has to offer on Tetra Pak Tree Day 2015 on Thursday 8th October. As part of this year’s campaign, themed “Be a True Friend of the Environment”, over 1,000 Birch trees will be made available for primary schools through the website, www.treeday.ie, to help teach children about the importance of planting trees and to go towards achieving their 5th Green School flag.

Through this year’s campaign, children will learn about how to be a true friend of the environment with lots of recycling tips and advice to help achieve and maintain the 1st Green School flag. To coincide with the campaign, the Tetra Pak® cartons of Avonmore School Milk will feature seven bespoke, fun recycling messages, illustrations and puzzles.

tree_day_2015

Kauthar, Senior infants, Stanhope Street primary school at the Phoenix Park to launch Tree Day 2014

This year, over 1,000 free alder trees will be made available for primary schools through the Tree Day website, www.treeday.ie, to help teach children about the importance of planting trees. Tree Day is the only day in the primary school curriculum when school children are encouraged to put down their books and go outside to learn about nature.

The official Tetra Pak Tree Day website and primary school resource www.treeday.ie, guided by its mascot Sammy Squirrel, includes Tree Day projects, poster downloads, word games, colouring pages and provides a host of other information for schools and families on recycling, woodland walks, tips for helping the environment, a guide to Our Native Trees, simple instructions for growing a tree in a school milk carton, and much more.

Schools and families are also encouraged to take the opportunity on Tree Day on October 8th to participate in guided woodland walks at various locations throughout the country, enabling children to connect directly with the environment. Each year a different native tree is highlighted on Tree Day and this year the spotlight is on the Hazel. The guided woodland walks are organised in association with the National Parks & Wildlife Service, Coillte, the Heritage Service of the OPW, the Dublin local authorities and private owners.

Images © and are published with permission of Tree Council of Ireland