Local hair salon staff put the scissors down and get their hands dirty for a day of tree planting

The staff at Busselton hair salon Oscar & Ivy traded their scissors in for gardening gloves, as they held a community tree-planting and nature care event last weekend. Staff, friends, family and clients all got together and collectively planted more than 1000 seedlings at the Barnard East Conservation Area. This comes as the salon is on the road to reducing its carbon footprint in the hope of soon becoming carbon neutral. Director of Oscar and Ivy, Merinda Levitzke, said the salon got their inspiration for the planting day as it was something she used to do when she was younger. “I did planting days with my dad, when I was a really little kid that I still remember,” Mrs Levitzke said. “When I drive past now and see these big beautiful trees, it warms my soul knowing that I played a part in that. “We wanted to give back to the community and plant trees for the future, but also do it with our kids so they can experience it as well.” After the planting the Oscar and Ivy team learnt about the conservation area and had an information session about the endangered western ringtail possums and the team made huts and safe habitats for them. Barnard East Conservation Area is a future site of an outdoor classroom, nature playground, art space and cultural meeting place and the trees planted by the team will grow within those spaces.