On Friday 22 September we hung up the high-vis (well, sort of) and switched off our screens for the day to do our bit for a local revegetation project. 

With an online retail side to our business it would be tempting to join the bandwagon of American-style grab-happy sales in the lead up to Christmas – but that’s just not our thing. Instead of buying into the Black Friday madness, we decided to celebrate Green Friday (albeit a little early) by shutting up shop and heading out into nature for a team-building day that also benefits our local environment.

Despite the wild and woolly weather, the whole Topflite team joined rangers from the Department of Conservation on a planting day at a public reserve near Duntroon. The site sits within the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark which is an area international geological significance, New Zealand’s only UNESCO Global Geopark. Right on our doorstep, too!

Growing amongst the native limestone bush on the reserve are critically threatened plants that are on the verge of extinction. These are found nowhere else in the world other than in the Waitaki Valley limestone area. With the DoC team, we helped to plant out a zone with commonplace native shrubs to will improve ground stabilisation and create weed cover. As these plants become established, they will in turn help to protect the threatened species on the public reserve.​

 This kind of work sits alongside our Soar Initiative which we created as a way to give back to New Zealand’s unique and wonderful indigenous flora and fauna. The goal is to support conservation efforts at a national, local and individual level, with Project Island Song and the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony currently receiving funding for the important work they do with indigenous fauna. 

This spring planting day was a perfect opportunity to pool our individual efforts to benefit a local restoration project. Here’s to more Green Fridays!