Clean Up Australia Day

This week The Social Deck took part in Clean Up Australia Day.  

For over 30 years, Clean Up Australia Day has had Aussies popping on their gloves, grabbing a rubbish bag, and coming together annually to create a cleaner, healthier environment.  

We are lucky to have our head office based in Noosa Heads on Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi Kabi lands. As one of only a few Biosphere Reserves in Australia, this is an area known for its pristine nature and biodiversity, and we want to keep it that way.  

So earlier this week 14 TSD team members based in Noosa headed to our local park to get our hands dirty (well, our gloves at least!)

So, why is participating in Clean Up Australia Day important to us?  

Australia is currently dealing with a waste crisis, particularly when it comes to single use plastics. As one of the world’s top consumers, up to 145,000 tonnes of plastic find their way into local natural environments each year. The 2023 Clean-up Australia annual litter reports highlight a concerning trend; this figure has been on a steady rise.  

So, as Australia’s waste and consumption continues to grow, there is a pressing need to move closer to a circular economy. This means reducing resource use, reusing, and repairing products, and correctly recycling materials.

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Businesses play a crucial role in shaping a sustainable future, both in terms of environmental impact and influence on societal norms. This is something we recognise and value at The Social Deck.  

By participating in Clean Up Australia Day, we’re practicing our commitment to social and environmental responsibility.  

As a B-Corp Certified Business, TSD maintains a high standard of corporate social responsibility. We take pride in leveraging our business influence to address social and environmental challenges. Every piece of rubbish we picked up contributed to our commitment to the triple bottom line – balancing planet and people with profit.    

We’re committed to the SDGs and our Clean Up Australia Day activity aligns with several of those, including responsible consumption, life in water and on land and partnership for the goals.

Like Clean Up Australia day, TSD also champions collaboration, bringing together people with a shared goal. In our networks alone, we’ve seen individuals, businesses and community groups make the effort and take action to work on this common goal—keeping our environment clean is just one.  

Wasting less at TSD  

While Clean Up Australia Day is a single day, what’s behind the event encourages us to reflect on our consumption and usage habits and look for areas of potential improvement.  

At The Social Deck we take proactive measures to mitigate our environmental impact all year round. Here are some ways we try and minimise our waste and carbon footprint on a day-to-day basis:  

• In line with our commitment to Net Zero By 2030, our head office is 100% powered by roof top solar (producing more electricity than we use).
• We offset personal emissions through our partnership with GreenFleet.
• Many of our staff members choose to ride to work. ‍
• We compost all food waste, paper, and any other natural materials.  
• By using the app Recycle mate, we ensure we are recycling correctly.
• We are all about supporting B-corp, natural, organic, or local companies for office supplies such as coffee beans, toilet paper and tissues.

Here are our resident composters, Sam and Eadie, who make sure all our food and organic waste are taken to their local properties for composting. This helps reduce waste in our office and is a great benefit to their land.