Nordson, PPC Teach Kids How to be Green

Published: June 15, 2012

WESTLAKE, OH | On April 12, 2012, first graders from Norcross Elementary School, Norcross, GA, and volunteers from Nordson Corp. celebrated Earth Day 2012 by learning how trees are used to make packaging and how packaging can be eco-friendly. As part of the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) Trees into Cartons, Cartons into Trees (TICCIT) program, students learned what’s involved in creating paperboard cartons and boxes and how that packaging can be recycled or reused.

Five Nordson locations in all (California, Rhode Island, Ohio, Georgia, New Jersey) worked with schools and/or children’s programs for the event.

Nordson’s Rick Pallante, PPC industry specialist, educated nearly 200 NES first graders about how trees are harvested and processed into paperboard containers. He offered an explanation about efficient use of the trees and other natural resources, as well as how the packaging they produce can be repurposed.

Every child got to decorate a paperboard package and then plant a tree to take home and put out in the yard. Additionally, they named their trees and wrote little notes of encouragement to read to their trees to inspire them to thrive and mature. The paperboard facial tissue box serves to protect the young sapling and then as the plant grows, the paperboard breaks down into the soil. This completes the Trees into Cartons, Cartons into Trees cycle. At the end of the day, each student got to take home their planted tree and a paperboard box of macaroni & cheese as a fun, tasty reminder of the renewability and sustainability of paperboard packaging.

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