One of Australia’s favourite entertainers, Tim Minchin is on a mission to support sustainability and minimise environmental impact while on his 2021 Australian and New Zealand ‘BACK’ tour.
Dubbed the ‘Greening Project,’ Tim is partnering with entertainment giant Live Nation’s Green Nation initiative and other organisations, including Ticketmaster, producing a video and some recommendations based on key learnings.
The ‘BACK’ touring party and crew have upcycled merchandise, developed a green rider, and are encouraging fans to engage with local communities to create sustainable, environmental change from a grass roots level. Another initiative included a day planting indigenous trees at Lot 50-Kanyanyapilla, a bi-cultural biodiversity regeneration project near McLaren Vale in South Australia.
“Being kinder to the environment requires a whole spectrum of responses, from adjustments in government policy right down to personal actions. Our goal was three-pronged: we wanted to try to reduce our carbon footprint, we wanted to learn more about carbon-neutral practices, and we wanted to share our learning with our audience and the broader industry. The BACK Greening project has actually been really good fun, and goes some way to relieving my carbon guilt, which is in my top ten guilts,” said Minchin.
The team worked with a number of environmental organisations, including EcoCaddy, Bio-R and Common Ground. QR codes printed on plantable seed cards made of recycled paper connected audiences with local environmental campaigns and initiatives. These links provided opportunities to engage in direct action tackling challenges ranging from food waste to clean energy and to learn more about climate change and be part of the solutions.
Roger Field, President of Live Nation Asia Pacific said: “Live Nation is committed to evolving low-carbon and regenerative practices across our tours, venues, and festivals. It is a pleasure to see the practices adopted and the learnings from Tim and his team. We recognise too that this is an ongoing process and the more we can learn and see similar initiatives across the industry, the greater the lasting impact on sustainability and the environment.”
To find out more visit timminchin.com/greening/
Photo: Nick Bellotti Photography: Nick Bellotti.com | @nick.bellotti
