Carrick-on-Suir school's Plant a Planet project promotes tree planting

Caption: Greenschools Committee students and teachers at Edmund Rice Secondary School in Carrick-on-Suir with posters to raise awareness of their Plant a Planet project as they source and sell trees to plant to the school community. Pictured from left: Gillian Wheatley, teacher; Rahool Khokhar 1st year, Luke Dinan 1st year, Zach O’Keeffe 2nd year, Cian Sievewright 1st year and teacher Siobhan Moylan. Picture Anne Marie Magorrian

A Plant a Planet project is underway at Carrick-on-Suir’s Edmund Rice Secondary School with students from 1st, 2nd and 5th years working together to source and sell young trees for planting.
The Irish Schools Sustainability Network (ISSN), a group of schools working constructively to address climate change and environmental issues, founded the project.
Students from the four schools involved in this project meet online once a month.
Kyle Dowley, (5th year) and Zach O’Keeffe (2nd Year) represent Edmund Rice Secondary School.
The students are liaising with Orchardstown Nursery in Kilmeaden, which supplies different species of trees to suit most gardens at a cost of €2 - €5 euro each and will deliver batches of the saplings to the school on demand.
Parents can order trees online or students can buy them at designated times on Wednesday and Friday mornings in the school.
The trees can also be bought and donated to the school and will then be planted in the grounds.
Edmund Rice Secondary School’s Green Schools Committee students and teachers involved in the project are delighted with the response.
They report having already exceeded their target of selling the trees to at least 10% of the school community.
The students are united and driven to raise awareness of the precious and essential role of trees in the protection and sustainability of the global environment. Their benefits include oxygen production, carbon storing, reducing water run off preventing flash flooding and soil erosion, the provision of shade in hot climates, acting as windbreaks, providing shelter and food for many wildlife species.
In their efforts to promote the planting of trees locally the students printed out a list of trees for sale with photos. They include Amelanchier, Spindle, Hazel, Birch, Alder, Crab Apple and Rowan/Mountain Ash.
They also detail the height the trees will grow to, the size of gardens they are suited to and details of their value for wildlife.
Transition Year students have made a video available on the school website on how to plant and sustain the trees. Posters have been designed and painted by several students in art classes and they have been put up around the school and in local retail outlets promoting the sale of the trees and raising awareness of what they contribute to the environment.
Students Zach and Kyle have also been interviewed on WLRFM about the project
The group plans to submit the Plant a Planet project to the Young Environmentalist Award. They will organise a Green Day and a bake sale in the school soon with all funds raised going towards the green school project.