Picker Pals is Ireland’s fastest growing primary school program for 6-9 years old’s focused on environmental stewardship and fun.

Picker Pals have been a member of Leave No Trace since October 2023, and we are delighted to feature on their primary school programme, sharing their goal of creating environmental stewards invested in responsible outdoor recreation!

It all started in 2019 when childrens’ author Patrick Jackson was out for a walk in Howth with his dog Frostie and found a seagull stuck in some discarded fishing line. He said: “I rescued it – it pecked me, quite badly. The next day I went back and found a litter-picker in the same spot.”  The idea of Picker Pals was born!

Now in its fifth year, more than 70,000 children nationally have taken to the streets with their litter-pickers and it is estimated that in excess of 450 tonnes have been removed from the environment in Ireland since the programme began in 2019.

The programme runs for the whole school year each class receives a classroom pack – delivered free to schools, that gives kids the tools to get active, and get noticing the world around them.  It contains everything needed to go out and safely remove trash for the environment.

Each week a new student takes the pack home and goes on a micro adventure to clean up their local environment, and then they report back to their peers about their mini adventure!

This process in reinforced throughout the school year with various other complimenting activities and resources available online including quizzes, live meet ups, games and a full set of environmentally friendly modules, one of which is called Love your Place and is all about the 7 principles of Leave No Trace.  All programme material is delivered in upcycled and fully reusable packaging.

They even have a picker pals TV channel on YouTube where Gavin Beetlestone from Leave No Trace Ireland was privileged enough to be interviewed recently. See the full video here Pickerpals interview with Gavin Beetlestone

You can get all the information you need via their website