june-2012

These inspirational entrepreneurs show us why it’s good to be green
as World Environment Day rolls around in June
Words Kelly IrvIng and luKe WrIght
A good seed
“I have this amazing memory of
planting a tree with my dad as a
kid,” says Jon Dee, co-founder of
environmental organisation Planet
Ark. “It’s one of the most simple
and incredibly powerful things
we can do. Plant a tree with a child
and not only do they grow with it,
hopefully their want to help the
environment will grow too.”
For 20 years, Dee and Planet
Ark’s other founder, tennis legend
Pat Cash, have helped Aussies
reduce their impact on the
environment through campaigns
such as National Recycling Week.
But it’s Dee’s childhood memory
with his dad that inspired the duo
to team up with Olivia Newton-
John in 1998 to create National
Tree Day and Schools Tree Day.
With over 2.8 million kids and
big kids getting dirty every July,
it’s now the country’s biggest
community tree-planting event.
“Australians find themselves
through mateship and giving
back,” Dee says. But some people,
he adds, are not sure how to begin
helping out their community.
Dee and Cash have now created
a website called Do Something
Near You. Just type in your
postcode and the site will tell you
what’s on offer in your area.
local heroes //
City of green
Country-girl Emily Ballantyne-Brodie, the
founder of Urban Reforestation, a social
enterprise that designs community gardens,
markets and local dinners in cities, has
always cherished the environment.
The organisation’s first project in
2009 was to create a temporary garden
in Melbourne’s Docklands. Together
with landscape architects, residents and
volunteers they built what Ballantyne-
Brodie describes as “an oasis” in the heart
of the urban sprawl. It was such a success
that the local council gave it a permanent
location at the corner of Geographe Street
and Keera Way. This led to similar projects at
Brentwood Secondary School and in Noble
Park, with plans for New Zealand and Italy.
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