Earth Day 2024

WHAT IS EARTH DAY?

Earth Day is a global movement dedicated to celebrating our planet, raising environmental awareness and promoting the commitment of organisations around the world in creating a change towards a greener, healthier planet.

This year, Grand Central Shopping Centre invites you to be part of this global movement by supporting the recycling, reusing and sustainability initiatives by many of our great stores.

Find recycling programs in centre including recycling your old clothing, where you can go to refill your products or which stores are creating more sustainable initiatives and make a positive impact to our planet!

RECYCLING PROGRAMS IN CENTRE

Lion's Organisation's Recycle for Sight Program

Looking to recycle your old glasses? Visit Bailey Nelson, OPSM or Specsavers where old single vision prescription glasses are recycled for the Lions Organisation’s Recycle for Sight program which sends some 450,000 pairs of glasses to developing countries every year. For all the finer details and more information visit Optometry Australia's website here.

Mobile Muster

Through recycling, MobileMuster transforms the components from mobile phone waste into valuable materials for reuse. It means that fewer raw materials need to be extracted and processed to make new products. By recycling your mobile phone today you will be helping reduce the impact on the environment of tomorrow. Visit Optus, Telstra, Mobile Experts, Casphone IT Shop and Vodafone to place your old mobile phones in the provided MobileMuster box.

Toys For Joy

Toys for Joy is a recycling program for toys and is the first of its kind in Australia. The program’s goal is to reduce landfill by recycling eligible preloved toys. A Toys for Joy collection bin can be found in Big W. To get involved, simply drop your eligible preloved toys into the Toys for Joy bin. Your donation/s then get passed on to Terracycle to help reduce landfill and help make fun new things for kids.

Tread Lightly

Give your old kicks new life! You can now recycle your pre-loved kicks at Platypus Shoes. This program is part of the Tread Lightly initiative by ASGA & Save our Sole. Drop your old sneakers in and they’ll be picked up and sent to a recycling plant with reusable components extracted including rubber, leather and fibres. The reclaimed materials are used to manufacture new products such as gym floors.

Terracycle

With many stores in centre now have partnerships with Terracycle, a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle products helping to reduce landfill. Amongst these is L'Occitane where you can now retire your beauty packaging to be transformed into new products. Simply drop into L'Occitane with your old packaging from any brand and you'll receive 10% off on a L'Occitane like-for-like product no matter which brand's packaging you give us. Beauty packaging from lip balm tubes, to deodorant sticks. Skin care packaging such as face mask packaging, refill pouches, through to body lotions. Hair care packaging such as pumps and caps from shampoo and conditioner bottles and refill pouches. L'Occitane have committed to a focus on protecting our precious planet and treating people with respect, find out more here.

RECYCLED CLOTHING IN CENTRE

Tarocash

Tarocash has teamed up with UPPAREL to help keep textiles out of the bin. If you have a bulk amount (10kg) of unwanted clothing you can trade it in for just $25. UPPAREL will collect your bundle and as a thanks Tarocash will offer you $35 off all orders over $100. For every 1kg of textiles you divert from landfill, you’ll be preventing 3-4kg of greenhouse gases from polluting the atmosphere. UPPAREL and Tarocash make it easy and take the hassle out of determining whether to reuse, upcycle or recycle your textiles. Let’s help minimise the impact our unwanted clothing has on landfill and create a more sustainable future.

H&M

One of the first brands to launch a garment collecting programme in 2013 with over 155,000 tonnes of textiles collected so far. Drop off your unwanted items at H&M and they will be sorted based on reusing, repurposing and recycling.

Country Road

As part of Fashion Trade, customers are rewarded with a $10 gift voucher with a donation of pre-loved Country Road items. Help support the community and keep wearable garments in use. Donate your pre-loved Country Road clothes and accessories today.

Target & Kmart

Visit their stores to find a great range of clothing from recycled materials or purchase new clothing with the BCI logo to help support better cotton initiatives. As part of the BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) Target & Kmart are helping to bring together farmers, ginners, manufacturers, retailers, brands, civil society and grassroots organisations in a unique global community committed to developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.

Betts

Betts have searched high and low, and found only the best quality recycled materials such as BLOOM™ to form their Zeroe Footwear collection. Where they can use less, and focus more on fostering a better world and environment for us to live in. Zeroe is 100% committed to stepping up for you and our planet. 

REFILL OR REUSE

EB Games

Trade in your old consoles, games and accessories at EB Games to help save money and the environment. Plus when you trade in you can spend money on new games that you really want!

L'Occitane

L'Occitane's Refill Fountain continues the commitment of reducing waste and supports the circular economy, by providing our much-loved product with zero packaging via 'forever bottles' across their core bath & body ranges. The in-store Refill Fountain experience is quick and easy, find it in store today. 

The Body Shop

The Body Shop was the original refills pioneer back in the 70's and today they are back with a refill revolution. Get your Body Shop fragrances refilled for the for the same cost as a normal bottle but 500ml more in size! With more refilling options becoming available soon. 

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS

Many retailers have made the move to more sustainable and reusable shopping bags. You can help reduce landfill by grabbing a Cotton On Foundation tote bag to use again and again. They’re made from organic cotton and do good in every way with 100% of proceeds supporting projects that empower youth to thrive. Stores like Betts have also introduced an alternative reusable carry bag. Each bag is made of eight recycled plastic bottles, which has further reduced the amount of packaging and plastic bottles reaching landfill.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

With sustainability becoming a many stores in Grand Central have started the move towards more sustainable products and practices within their stores and manufacturing processes. Below are a just a few of the many stores in our centre helping to reduce impact to the environment and a greener, healthier planet.  

Woolworths

Reducing Food Waste: Woolworths successful and ongoing expansion of their food rescue partnerships is critical to the goal of ensuring that no edible food goes into landfill. They have developed a significant array of partnerships to give every store the ability to donate surplus edible food, free of charge, to people in the local community who may be experiencing food insecurity.   

Reducing plastic: Woolworths have committed to making their Own Brand packaging as sustainable as possible by reducing the use of virgin plastic and increasing the amount of recycled content.
In May 2023, Wooloworths launched a new sustainable packaging trial in QLD across a select number of products in the Macro Nut range. This packaging solution is paper based, with 75% less 
plastic and kerbside recyclable at home. The aim is for this range to be available across all stores by the end of 2024.

To find out more about Woolworths sustainability planning and action click here.

The Body Shop

When The Body Shop first opened in 1976, its approach to beauty was radically different to the rest of the beauty industry. It was simple – ethically sourced and naturally-based ingredients from around the world, in no-nonsense packaging you could easily refill. With every product designed to make you feel amazing. Today, The Body Shop have started using Community Fair Trade recycled plastic in their 250ml shampoo and conditioner bottles, and are introducing it across all of their packaging. Find out more about The Body Shop their sustainability commitment and history click here.

Universal Store

In 2021, Thrills Co. and Universal Store worked together to create an exclusive range of products made from more environmentally friendly hemp and organic cotton. Through this collection, they were able to learn and share the many eco benefits of choosing hemp. Now they are dedicated to transitioning more products into preferred fibres. Working together on reducing plastic packaging also, with Thrills Co. on board with removing unnecessary packaging on items exclusive to Universal Store. Universal Store firmly believes animals must not suffer for fashion and are committed to investigating the raw materials used in products they stock and take steps to procure responsibly harvested and certified animal products. Animal products are rarely used in their range, when they do they will only stock products that meet the principles of their animal welfare policy.