Planting Day 2022
On 22.02.2022, we held our inaugural Community Planting Day in Doonaha, Co. Clare. This was an opportunity for our first CoolPartners to create their own Miniature Cloudforest in Cloudforest Three on the wonderful Loop Head Peninsula.
A massive thank you to all of our CoolPartners who made the trip down to Cloudforest Three. It was great to bring the community together and we hope everyone had a great day.
For those who missed it, planning for our next community Planting Day in 2023 has already begun. This will be another incredible opportunity for our next batch of CoolPartners to plant their very own Minature Cloudforest, along Irelands Wild Atlantic Way.
Below you will find all the photos, videos & memories of the day. If you have any other content you’d like us to share, contact us directly at Community@cloudforests.ie
We are a community of businesses who truly care about climate action and #MakingPlanetEarthCool!
Eye in The Sky
20, 5x5 Meter Squares, all prepared for our CoolPartners, by our incredible Forestry Partners.
Safe to say, they didn’t look this dry on the day of Planting…
The Night Before
Twas the night before Planting Day….
Plenty of networking and even more laughs were shared on the Monday Night, as we all looked forward to an exciting day ahead…
Waiting For The Bus
A few tired heads and glasses of Coca Cola on the morning of the 22nd after a night in Johnny Burke’s the night before.
Nothing a bit of fresh air couldn’t solve…
A Dip In The Sea
Adam from BR3 & Cloudforests own Alan O’Donovan, went for a quick swim in the Atlantic Ocean to shake off the Cobwebs, and prepare for the day ahead..
Lining Up The Spades For Planting
There’s only three things you need for planting Trees:
Spades
Trees
Appropriate Footwear (More on this later…)
Vit Hits In The Frunk
The Tesla Model 3 has some incredible features; Autopilot, Super Charging, Touchscreen interface etc.
However, it was the Tesla’s frunk which saved the day @ Planting Day as it delivered some bottles of Vit Hits to Clare. Planting is thirsty work after all…
A Mucky Walk Up To CloudForest 3
The path up to Cloudforest Three had become something of a lake after 3 days of heavy rain
Luckily enough, everyone had their wellies packed and were prepared to get mucky…Well almost everyone…
Someone Didn’t Get The Memo
Unfortunately, some of our CoolPartners must’ve missed the countless emails about the need for wellies
This issue was quickly solved through a few backup pairs, and in the case of Rob from Secure Logiq, some ingenuity (and two black bin bags)…
Quick Pep Talk From Éamonn
Once we got up the path & finally reached Cloudforest Three, we got a quick educational talk from Éamonn Ó Curraoin
Éamonn is a founding Director of The Forestry Company, our official Forestry partner. He told us all about the trees we were planting, and the Miyawaki Method - The planting method we were going to be using
Showing Them How It’s Done
Before our CoolPartners could be trusted to get to work and start planting their own trees…
They first had to be shown how to plant properly, by the pros…
The Planting Got Under Way
Once the talking was done, we got started with our Planting
Everyone had their own strategy of planting, with varying degrees of success…
Teamwork Makes The Dream Work
We soon saw some of our CoolPartners competitive side come to the fore, like Enda & MJ from Carlow Concrete
They powered ahead, working as a team, to ensure they were the first ones back on the bus (before the next shower of rain hit)…
One-Man-Band
Some others like Jeff from Best4Travel didn’t need a team and were solo-planters
But this didn’t hold him back as he flew through his trees at record pace…
Supervisors Everywhere
Some teams decided to assign roles to get the Planting done quicker.
These jobs ranged from bag holder to supervisor. The supervisor role is wonderfully illustrated here by Colleen & Christelle from Mac Group…
Stuck In The Mud
There was only one winner for the most stylish CoolPartner on the day, Wendy from Northwood Technologies, and her stunning Red Wellies really brightened up the day
However, they weren’t bright red for very long, as Wendy was soon stuck in the mud, trying to wiggle her way out…
Work Smart, Not Hard
Another role which was popular on the day was the role of the ‘Tree Holder’
In this role, you hold the trees (very carefully) while the other person plants them. This system was implemented to perfection by Creena & Sean from Seakel.
We’re Making Shovels Cool Again
It’s one thing to use a shovel and get down & dirty, but to look cool while doing it, is another story all together
We think Adam from BR3 almost got the hang of it…
Up, Up & Away!
Sometimes as much as you plan every little minute detail & ensure that nothing will go wrong…Invarabily something will still going wrong
This was certainly the case when Peter from Axis Communications had enough of the planting and decided to have a quick lie down. Luckily, Conor from The Forestry Company (SuperMan) was quick to scene and had him up on his feet in no time…
Rolll Up, Roll Up, Get Your Pictures
Once the planting was done, it was time for everyone to get their pictures taken.
Everyone was keen to be seen on site, just in case no one believed them when they said they spent the day planting trees. Here’s Denny from IMS getting his proof…
More Happy Faces
It was great to see so many smiling faces (when the camera was pointed at them at least) on the day
You can tell this photo of the three lads from Avigilon Michael, Damien & Mark is on the way back to the bus, as they certainly weren’t this happy on the way up to the field…
All Together Now
Once everyone got their individual photos, we got one all together & ran back to the bus - before the heavens opened again…
P.S. Shout out to Mac Group for bringing the umbrellas, they were priceless on the day…
The Main Man
Once we got back to the Armada Hotel (and after a well needed freshen-up) we reconvened in Johnny Burkes Bar in the Hotel.
Our Founder & CEO Bernard kicked off proceedings with a few thank yous and a short speech…
Everybody Gets A Cert
Before we wrapped up the event & the day itself, we handed out everyone’s well deserved certs. Here’s Ross from Power Right collecting his.
It was an incredible day overall and the presentation was a lovely way of finishing it off!