Liv for the Future
“Let’s water them now - give them a big drink,” she advises Isabelle, her six-year-old helper.
“I think it’s wonderful for kids to plant a tree and to watch it grow as they grow themselves.”
Children are a big part of Olivia’s crusade - she is actively involved in the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), a US-based group that researches environmental causes of cancer. Olivia, a breast cancer survivor herself, started working with CHEC after the child of a close friend died from cancer.
“To me, the copnne tion between the environment and our health is so clear,” she says. “We’ve seen more pollution in the last century and more young people with cancer. It must stop.”
“When I think about National Tree Day, I think of the children and the wildlife. It’s food and homes for animals.”
“It’s for our children and our shared future.”
Olivia is encouraging Australians to get involved in National Tree Day on Sunday, July 31. Nearly a million Australians have been volunteers since the event started, and they’ve planted over 7.5 million native seedlings.
And the Grease star practices what she preaches - driving an electric hybrid car and planting 10,000 trees on her property in northern NSW, which have created corridors for local wildlife.
“I now share my home with paddymelon wallabies,” says Olivia. “They hop around like they own the place, and so they should. I’m glad they visit me.”
Olivia has also come home to spend time with family and friends and open Gaia Retreat & Spa, her eco-friendly resort in the Byron Bay hinterland.
“I wanted the rtreat to be a place of relaxation and healing and where people can feel close to nature. To Hindus, Gaia means the spirit of mother earth. We’re losing touch with Gaia in our fast-paced and tightly packed cities and it worries me.”
“I hope people who visit Gaia Retreat will feel that they are reconnected with the earth.”
In the meantime, Olivia is enjoying reconnecting on a more basic level, with National Tree Day promising to be plenty of fun.
For information on how to get involved in National Tree Day, visit www.planetark.com/treeday or call 1300 885 000.