1. Thanks so much for joining me today
Thanks so much for joining me today! (TELL THE KIDS WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU WORK, AND WHAT YOU DO AT WORK.)
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES

2. What We Are Going to Learn?
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
What We Are Going to Learn?
• Why trees are good
• How paper and cartons are made
• Why recycling is important
Today we are going to learn all about trees, how paper and cartons are made, and why recycling is important!

3. How do we tell the age of a tree?
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
How do we tell the age of a tree?
Let’s start by talking about age. Who knows how you can tell how old a tree is? (LET KIDS ANSWER)
ANSWER: Each ring on a tree equals one year of age. The wider the distance between rings, the more healthy the tree was that year.
So who can tell me if A was a healthy year for this tree? How about B? (LET KIDS ANSWER—HELP BY POINTING OUT THE RING AND DESCRIBING IF IT IS WIDE RING (B) OR A THIN RING (A)
ANSWER: A was not a healthy year while B was a healthy year. (Healthy means that the tree received a lot of rain, sunlight, and nutrients from the ground)

4. The oldest tree in the world!
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The oldest tree in the world!
How old do you think some trees can live? (LET KIDS ANSWER)
ANSWER: The age of a tree depends on the type of tree, but most can live as long as a human. However, some can live as old as a few hundred years, such as a Redwood tree. And this Bristlecone Pine tree from California is the oldest tree in the world—it is 4,800 years old and is still growing! It was alive when the Egyptians built the Pyramids and when Alexander the Great was conquering much of the known world.
The oldest tree in the world!

5. • Trees are home to animals and insects
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
• Trees are home to animals and insects
• Decomposing leaves fertilise the soil
• Roots and leaves clean the air
• Trees give us fruit and nuts to eat
• And we make lots of things from trees!
Trees are important because they create a habitat for birds, squirrels, and insects; provide shade for smaller plants; and help keep soil from eroding. The leaves that drop in the Autumn decompose into new soil while both leaves and roots act as a natural filter to clean the air. Trees also remove carbon dioxide from the air and create the oxygen we need to breathe. Plus, we make a lot of things from trees!

6. How do Trees help us breathe?
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
How do Trees help us breathe?
Carbon Dioxide
CO2
photosynthesis
breathing
Photosynthesis is how plants turn sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food and oxygen. The sun (light energy), water, minerals, and carbon dioxide are all absorbed by the plant. The plant then uses them to make glucose/sugar, which is the energy/food for the plant. Oxygen is also produced by the plant in this cycle, which is then let off into the air! Have you noticed how clean and pure the air feels when there are plants around? They are filling the air with oxygen!
Oxygen O2

7. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Hard Wood & Soft Wood
Softwood trees are ones that hold onto their needles throughout the year (they are “evergreen”, meaning always green) such as spruce, pine and fir. These trees have long fibres that make cartonboard and paper strong.
Hardwood trees have broad leaves and lose their leaves in the Autumn (called “deciduous” trees), such as oak, maple, and birch. They have shorter fibres which makes a smoother printing surface.
Which tree on the screen do you think is made of hard wood? Which tree of soft wood? (LET KIDS ANSWER)
Does anyone know what type of trees these are? (LET KIDS ANSWER)

8. Hard Wood & Soft Wood Hardwood tree (Oak) Softwood tree (Fir)
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Hard Wood & Soft Wood
ANSWER: tree on LEFT is a hardwood oak tree; on RIGHT is a softwood fir tree.
Hardwood tree (Oak)
Softwood tree (Fir)

9. What is made from Trees? From branches From bark From pulp From roots
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
What is made from Trees?
From branches
From bark
From pulp
Here are a few things we make from trees. (REVIEW EACH ITEM WITH KIDS)
But other things are made from trees as well, such as: (PULL ITEMS FROM THE BELOW LIST)
From Pulpwood: Paperboard, cellophane,.
From Roots: Oil and tea.
From Sap: Glue, varnish, ink, paint, and fireworks.
From Leaves & Needles: Oils, especially pine and cedar.
From Stump: Charcoal, pitch, and wood tar.
From Bark: Dyes, aspirin, and fuel.
From roots
From roots
From sap
From stumps

10. For every tree that is used 3 more are planted.
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
For every tree that is used 3 more are planted.
Making sure our forests are growing.
Today, trees are grown and harvested like a crop such as cotton or corn. Because we now plant approximately 3 trees for every tree we use forests are growing bigger and bigger

11. Football Pitches every day
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
European Forests have
been growing by over
1,500
Football Pitches every day
Forest area
in Europe
is increasing
not decreasing… å
(Statistics gathered by the UN FAO most accurately tell the story of successful forest management and overall increase in forest area).
Our latest statistic is that ‘European forests are growing at the rate of 1500 football pitches every day’.

12. How Trees become cartonboard
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
How Trees become cartonboard
This is the story of how trees are turned into cartonboard and then into cartons or “cardboard boxes”

13. The process of making paper starts with logging
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The process of making paper starts with logging
Now let’s talk about how carton board and paper is made.
The process starts with logging. First the tree is harvested in the forest, its branches are cut off, and the trunk is cut into long lengths.

14. The Logs are then loaded onto a lorry
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The Logs are then loaded onto a lorry
The logs are then loaded onto a lorry, which hauls the logs to the mill.

15. The mill transforms the trees into Cardboard
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The mill transforms the trees into Cardboard
The mill transforms the trees into cartonboard
At the mill, the logs are unloaded from the trucks and then chipped into small pieces…

16. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Making pulp
…before being mixed into a large vat with water to create pulp.

17. The pulp is flattened into reels of cartonboard
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The pulp is flattened into reels of cartonboard
The pulp is flattened out on cartonboard machines like this that are very long.   
As the water drains away through wire meshs the fibres begin to 'set' to form a continuous sheet of Cartonboard. This is then pressed by large rollers to squeeze more water out and then passed over steam heated cylinders to evaporate more water.

18. The cartonboard is then dried and rolled onto huge reels
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The cartonboard is then dried and rolled onto huge reels
The cartonboard is then dried and rolled onto huge spools, like you see here. Each roll is the height of a grown man!

19. The board is then printed using a printing press that
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The board is then printed using a printing press that
can apply lots of different colours.
Next, the cartonboard is cut to size so that it can be fed through a printing press, like you see here,
(PACKAGING COMPANIES MAY WISH TO ADD A FEW SLIDES HERE ABOUT HOW PACKAGES ARE MADE AT THEIR PLANT)

20. A Die Cutting machine is used to cut the cartonboard to size and
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
A Die Cutting machine is used to cut the cartonboard to size and
shape to create cartons and boxes
A die cutting machine cuts the cardboard to size and shape to create cartons and boxes

21. Finally the cartons are glued into shape
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Finally the cartons are glued into shape
The gluing machines can operate at very high speed sometimes gluing the carton’s flaps together at over 100,000 cartons per hour! So fast you can’t see it happening!

22. Cartons are used to pack many types of different products
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Cartons are used to pack many types of different products
Here are some examples of cartons that you might see in the shops.  What products can the kids name that also come in cartons? 

23. Leftover cartonboard is collected…
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Leftover cartonboard is collected…
Once things are made from the cartonboard, such as cereal boxes, the extra card that is left over is compressed into what are called “bales.”

24. Paper/cartonboard producer
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Paper & cartonboard can be recycled many times!
Paper/cartonboard producer
Trees
Paper/cartonboard
produced
Recycled paper/cartonboard
reused in the process
Paper and card can actually be recycled up to 7 times before its fibres become too short to use. Even then, the material is still not thrown away by recyclers, but used in other ways, such as made into compost or burned as fuel. So very little paper or card actually ends up in the landfill.
Shops
Consumer
purchases
Products
manufactured

25. By recycling our rubbish we can avoid more of this…
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
By recycling our rubbish we can avoid more of this…
Now, can anyone tell me what this is? (ANSWER: landfill, Rubbish lorry).
When you throw your rubbish away, it ends up in a place like this, which is a bad thing because rubbish takes up a lot of space and can sometimes poison the water and the land. That is why it is so important that we all recycle as much of our waste as we can.

26. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
What can be recycled?
Raise your hand if you recycle at home (WAIT FOR KIDS TO RAISE HANDS)
Now raise your hand if you recycle at school! (WAIT FOR KIDS TO RAISE HANDS)
So tell me, what do you recycle at home? School? (PICK A FEW STUDENTS TO DESCRIBE WHAT THEY RECYCLE—paper plates, plastic bottles, etc.)
Do you think we could be doing better at recycling? (LET KIDS ANSWER)

27. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Can we recycle more?
Did you know that most people are doing a GREAT job recycling paper and card? We are now throwing away much less than we used to!
And recycling paper at school keeps your teacher’s desk from looking like this!
But yes, we could be doing better.
Across Europe more than 80% of paper based packaging is sent for recycling which is more than double the percentage for plastic, but we want you to recycle even more!

28. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Recycling plastics
For instance, plastic (unlike paper and card, which decomposes quickly) takes hundreds of years to decompose. In the meantime, the plastic floats around in the oceans, polluting the water and killing the fish.
What do you think this boy is doing? (ASK FOR KIDS TO RESPOND)
Do you think all the plastic floating in the water is healthy for the boy? (ASK FOR KIDS TO RESPOND)
ANSWER: This boy is actually picking out certain types of plastic from the garbage floating in the water. He then sells it to help feed his family. So he is actually RECYCLING the plastic garbage that others have thrown away! And no, this is NOT a healthy environment for the boy. Nor is it healthy for the water or the fish.

29. Cartonboard and paper are: Recyclable
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Cartonboard and paper are:
Recyclable
In Europe 82% of paper based
Packaging is sent for recycling
Compared to less than 40% for plastics*
Renewable
More new trees are planted every year
Unlike plastic, paper and card is recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable. And lots more people recycle paper and card than plastic. And remember that paper and card never need end up in a landfill, as it can be used for other purposes, even after it can no longer be remade into new paper.
Can anyone tell me what “renewable” means? (LET KIDS ANSWER)
ANSWER: Renewable means that when one tree is harvested, we “RENEW” it by planting a NEW tree in its place!
Also, paper and cartonboard, even if it is thrown away, does not harm the environment because it is biodegradable.
Can anyone tell me what “biodegradable” means? (GET ANSWERS FROM KIDS)
ANSWER: Biodegradable means that if you left paper outside for a few months, it would turn into dirt.
Now why is that good? (LET KIDS ANSWER)
ANSWER: because from dirt more trees and plants can grow.
Biodegradable
*source: Eurostat

30. TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
World Forest Coverage
As you can see from the dark green colour, forests have grown substantially in Europe and the United States , where forests are properly farmed for paper.
Net gain of forest
Current forest cover

31. The importance of Trees
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
The importance of Trees
Harvest trees
Make paper
and cartonboard
Plant trees
So we have learned today that trees are not only important to our planet because they create the oxygen that we breathe, help to make the soil healthy, and are home to many animals and insects, but trees are also very important to us because of all the things we can make from them, such as paper and packaging. What is MOST SPECIAL about trees is that any time we cut down a tree, we can plant a new one in its place. AND because the paper that is made from trees biodegrades, it is not harmful to the environment like plastic.
Use paper
and cartonboard
Recycle

32. Now let’s go and plant a tree!
TREES INTO CARTONS • CARTONS INTO TREES
Now let’s go and plant a tree!
So now we are going to plant some saplings in the cartons we brought in today. WHO WANTS TO HELP ME?