Stoke Design Co is a Ballarat based IT company that takes sustainability seriously. This comes from a genuine commitment to running a small carbon footprint business. Stoke Design Co aims to reduce excess consumption, recycle where they can and looks at the broader issues of responsible partnerships and supporting community projects.

It’s simple really, for this innovative, sustainable and creative team, the 3 pillars of business are:

• people,
• planet and
• profit.

2025 | Grenville, VIC | 65 trees

Emily and Jason Hutchins have spent the past decade quietly transforming their corner of Wadawurrung Country at ‘The Pines’ on the Yarrowee River in Grenville, VIC. What was once an old pine plantation is slowly returning to a thriving landscape of native bushland, thanks to countless weekends spent clearing invasive weeds, nurturing young seedlings, and restoring the riverbanks and creek lines. This year, their efforts gained an extra boost through support from local Ballarat business Stoke Design, allowing them to continue the steady revegetation of their property.

Over several months, the planting became a true family project. Emily and Jason were joined by their three children, Logan, Nell, and Ella, whose small hands helped plant native trees such as Blackwood, Yellow Gum, Blue Gum, White Ironbark and a variety of Bottlebrushes seedlings into the soil. Every tree is part of a bigger story – creating habitat, strengthening biodiversity, and forming natural wildlife corridors that connect the landscape back together.

Thank you for providing these trees for our family to plant at Grenville. We are deeply grateful for your support, which not only helps us restore our property but also strengthens local biodiversity and contributes to a greener, healthier community for generations to come.

Emily and Jason Hutchins | Grenville, VIC

Already, the property is showing life. Platypus slip through the cool bends of the Yarrowee, echidnas waddle through the undergrowth, and kangaroos and wallabies graze along the open edges. Overhead, magpies and kookaburras keep watch, while black cockatoos and bright parrots flash through the canopy. Even the river tells its own story, home to eels and spiny freshwater crayfish that thrive in its clean, shaded waters.

2023 | Scotmans Lead, VIC | 50 trees

This year on National Tree Day (Sunday July 30th), along with 65 local volunteers we planted out Stoke Design’s 50 native trees at Scotchmans Lead, VIC. The day was coordinated by the Napoleans Enfield Landcare Group.

It is our foremost aim to bring back biodiversity to the surrounds of the Yarrowee Creek, south of the city of Ballarat.

Jenny Ryle | Co-ordinator | Napoleans-Enfield Landcare Network

The trees were a mixture of species indigenous to the district. They were supplied by Matt Pywell and the Ballarat Wildplants Nursery. Tree species included a variety of wattles and gum, including Manna Gums and River Gums.

The aim of the planting is to bring back the biodiversity that once occupied this area. With past plantings, native grass is now flourishing and the presence of previously planted native vegetation is changing the depleted soil into a thriving ecosystem. These new trees and shrubs will grow tall helping to reduce carbon emissions into the future. The planting group will be linking this area to the nearby forests and along the river to give the environment a good chance to grow at its best, despite a changing climate.

2022 | Leigh Creek, VIC | 65 trees

This year, as an end of year thank you to customers, Leigh Ericksen and team posted out these beautiful cards (on recycled paper of course) and arranged through us the planting of 65 trees (plus tree guards). One tree per customer.

The trees were planted by Nick McKinley from Leigh Creek Landcare. The LCG is a network of eight Landcare groups in the Corangamite region of South West Victoria. For over 20 years this group have been bringing together members of the community to maintain, protect and repair the fragile environment in our landscape.

It’s perhaps not surprising that a company specialising in efficient systems should understand that it is, in itself, part of a system. A social, economic, and human system, one that ultimately needs to recognise its environmental stewardship role in order to prosper. We are glad that Stoke Design takes its responsibilities seriously and applies them to its own business practices, and more than happy to help it reduce its impact by planting trees.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>.

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa | Founding Director | Fifteen Trees

With a background in Environmental Science, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Landcare, schools and environmental networks.