We live in a world where sustainability is spoken about in lofty ideals and grand campaigns. Social media tells us to “save the planet” while news headlines scream about extinction, climate crises, and urban heat. It can feel overwhelming.
As students, it’s easy to wonder if small actions matter, are they meaningful, or just performative gestures in a world too big to change?
Yet, on Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Campus, the planting of a single seedling can be the start of something larger shade for students, shelter for wildlife, or a ripple of biodiversity that extends far beyond the soil.
That belief will take root on Saturday 27 September 2025, when students and community members are invited to join a tree planting at the Secret Garden Community Hub, Hawkesbury Campus.
The event is part of the Creating Canopies project, a collaboration between Western Sydney University and Greater Sydney Landcare, which aims to plant 30,000 native trees and shrubs on the Richmond campus and 300,000 across Greater Sydney by 2025.
According to Melanie Wagner, Communications Manager at Creating Canopies, Greater Sydney Landcare, the day is designed to be hands-on, social, and meaningful.
‘This is a fantastic opportunity for students and the wider community to make a tangible difference to the environment while enjoying a fun and social day outdoors. By planting native trees and shrubs, we’re reducing the impacts of urban heat and creating vital habitat for wildlife. Western Sydney is hotter than the east, but by increasing canopy cover where it’s needed most, we can create a cooler, greener future in which we can all thrive together’.
(Green spaces at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Campus. Picture Credit: Jasmine Kaur, 2024)
What to Expect on the Day
Participants will help plant up to 3,000 trees and shrubs across the campus, with the program including:
9:00 am: Welcome, site induction and planting demonstration
Morning: Planting with guidance from professional bush regenerators
11:30 am: Free BBQ lunch, raffle and celebration of the Creating Canopies project
Afternoon: Final planting, watering, and tidy-up
The day will feature animal encounters, including dwarf goats, eco-friendly raffle prizes, and access to the Secret Garden café and nursery.
Register for free here.
Why Do Small Actions Matter?
For Rafael Resende Ottoni, executive member of the Environmental Collective, the impact of one tree should not be underestimated:
‘Every action towards biodiversity has at least some sort of impact on the environment’.
The ripple effect of each planting, cooler ground, improved air, habitat for wildlife, underscores that even modest efforts matter.
(Hawkesbury Campus garden, Western Sydney University. Picture Credit: Jasmine Kaur, 2024)
Utshaha Subedi, Student Representative Council (SRC) Welfare Officer and Environmental Collective member, believes planting connects us more deeply with the earth:
‘Planting a tree is more than a symbolic act; it is something we can touch, nurture, and watch grow over time. This hands-on experience deepens our sense of responsibility and makes our relationship with the environment feel real and personal’.
This sense of biophilia, our innate connection with nature reminds us that caring for trees often reflects caring for ourselves.
The Work Behind Change
SRC Environment Representative, Megan Shooter, notes environmental care isn’t effortless:
‘Every small step we can take to help care for our planet makes a difference. The satisfaction of knowing you have just contributed to future homes for many species and cleaner air for everyone is worth the backache! Get your hands dirty and plant a tree or two, or fifty, you won’t regret it’.
Her words capture the essence of the event: real change grows from real effort.
(Trees at Hawkesbury Campus, Western Sydney University. Picture Credit: Jasmine Kaur, 2024)
As Western Sydney University students, we have the privilege of learning and acting. We are called to challenge ideas, question processes, and critically examine the impact of our initiatives, but also to show up, to plant, to nurture, and to care. The seeds we plant today may indeed become the shade, shelter, and breath of tomorrow.
