Officeworks partner with Greening Australia to launch Australian-first 2-for-1 planting initiative

Phil Bishop, Officeworks Head of Merchandise, Marketing & Supply Chain and Sebastian Burgess, GA Director of Conservation with Julian von Bibra, one of the landholders who will benefit from initiative

We have partnered with Officeworks to deliver a significant new initiative that will see two trees planted for every one, based on the weight of paper based products customers buy at Officeworks.

Restoring Australia will provide funding to support the planting of at least 200,000 native plants each year across the country in key locations.

Officeworks Managing Director Mark Ward said, “Given about 8000 products in our office supplies range are paper and wood based, we saw a huge opportunity to empower our customers to shop more sustainably and improve the quality of Australia’s landscapes.”

In the second half of 2017, more than 100,000 seeds and seedlings will be planted across the Tasmanian Midlands, New South Wales Highlands and the Victorian Volcanic Plains, where more than 85% of the natural habitat has been lost.

The impact of Restoring Australia will be felt immediately, with more than 20 species local to the areas being planted, increasing water quality and revegetating bushland so that local endangered wildlife such as the Eastern barred bandicoot, Eastern quoll and Eastern Bettong can flourish.

CEO of Officeworks, Mark Ward, with Gordon Davis, President of Greening Australia, and landholder Julian von Bibra.

“With over 35 years of experience conserving and restoring Australia’s landscapes, Greening Australia brings unparalleled expertise to the initiative. The organisation’s team of restoration experts, scientists and researchers have been working with Officeworks to identify priority landscapes and begin planting.”

Greening Australia Acting CEO, Pauline Rawling said, “We are delighted to be a part of Restoring Australia. Our vision is to create healthy and productive landscapes where people and nature thrive – this sits at the heart of this initiative with Officeworks.

“It’s refreshing to see an iconic Australian business such as Officeworks take a real leadership role in the environmental space and have a measurable impact on Australia’s native flora and fauna,” she said.

Ward concluded, “We are so proud of Restoring Australia, because it’ll be doing just that, restoring and conserving landscapes across the country. Officeworks has a duty to operate our business responsibly and this initiative is our long-term commitment to making a positive difference to the communities where we live and work.”