Splore strives for sustainability

  • 08/02/2016
Dandy Lion raps on sustainability
Dandy Lion raps on sustainability

Ahead of Auckland's Splore music festival, organisers are striving to have as little impact on the environment as possible.

A "leave no trace" campaign has been launched to promote this and a section on the Splore website has been devoted to raising sustainability awareness.

Musician Alistair Wasywich was approached by organisers to produce a hip-hop video and track, as his parody alter-ego Dandy Lion, with this in mind.

"My good friend Sophie -- we play in a joke band together -- she became the sustainability director for Splore and she suggested that I make a video for it," Wasywich says.

He has been playing music since he was 18 years old but only recently began producing "hip-hoppy stuff".

He says the technique has been useful to him as he can produce music really quickly and effectively. But making these beats was more than just a bit of fun.

"A lot of the other tracks I've made have had no real meaning behind them, so it meant a lot. It's cool to be able to send a message in a funny way; you're still sending a message."

He says it's crucial for the world to be able to sustain itself and that we need to reassess what our values as a humanity are.

"There's this perception of consumption: people gain material wealth through possessions and I've never really believed in that. You don't want to keep taking stuff, you want to be giving back and look after your environment. We live in a really amazing environment in New Zealand and we need to take care of it."

Splore runs from February 19-21 in Auckland's Tapapakanga Park. Wasywich will be attending as Dandy Lion, making sure Splorers keep their camping areas free of non-biodegradable rubbish.

"I've been to a lot of festivals and it's easy to just want to let loose but you need to think about after, you need to be respectful."

Newshub.