You know how we love Mother Earth. We wanted to give back to Her in a different way. The S-kin team has been wanting to do a group volunteering activity that none of us have tried before, and we finally signed up to go tree planting, with Koala Clancy Foundation!

We took this excursion as a team-building trip to feel good and do good in the You Yangs!

Jed couldn't make it, but we had Max to stand in his place to make sure the ten of us could plant 500 trees!

8AM

The team met at the S-kin Studio studio to get picked up by the foundation's van. Don't worry, we picked a day where retail wasn't open (Monday) so that nobody in the team misses out!

After grabbing our coffees & snacks in the morning, we set off to the far west an hour away — the You Yangs!

9:30AM

We made a pitstop at a rest stop for the restrooms and to do what we had to do, because after this, it would just be vast bushlands.

10AM

We met up with Janine Duffy, the founder of the organisation, who met up with us to tell us her vision and mission of why she's doing this. We were inspired by her story, then their team gave us a helpful tutorial on how to plant the trees and then we set off to do exactly just that!

The weather was beautiful and comfortable. We were truly blessed. It was the middle of winter but it was so sunny cloudy with no big winds. We planted native shrubs like the River Red Gum Eucalyptus into the ground, then hammered down these guards to protect these baby plants from harsh winds so that they get a great chance to grow!

11:30AM

Tea time commences with coffees, teas, biccies, and fruits. Felt like a cute picnic!

1PM

We finished early! In their words, "You guys are actually the most efficient dream volunteer team we've ever had!"

After the whole physical feat, the dream team got on the picnic mats to some delicious handmade vego rolls, made with hummus, carrots, cucumbers and caramelised onions. Surprisingly super tasty!

2PM

Feeling accomplished is an understatement. We start making a move and say goodbye to the 500 trees we planted! 

2:30PM

We made another stop at another rest stop that eerily looked exact to the first one, and walked away with some hot snacks from the fast food joints. The van was silent as everyone was beat. A big contrast to the loud chatter we had on the way there!

3:45PM

A few naps were had, and we finally made it back to home base! We're feelin' all warm & fuzzy on the inside knowing that we spent the day doing good. Although we wouldn't have the chance to see these trees in person in the future as it was private land, we can't wait for our plants to become an ecosystem to future koalas in the area!

Watch BTS of our tree planting on our TikTok @skinstudioj_ to suss the shenanigans that happen outside of our aesthetic office.

A little bit more about Koala Clancy:

Their mission since 2016 was to plants trees for koalas on farms and private land to create new habitat and advocate for better protection of wild koalas. Koala Clancy Foundation is an independent registered charity and not for profit organisation.

Planting the trees is a way for us to build a whole new habitat for these koalas. It takes as little as 2 years for these shrubs to grow into trees that koalas can climb on! This tree planting initiative will help around 30-40 koalas in the You Yang, as well as other wildlife such as echidnas and kangaroos.

We also want to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land, namely Yawangi & Wathaurong Tribal Lands.