Drew Stevenson interview
HUCK speaks to the former CEO of the TTR World Snowboard Tour about his new environmental documentary, Breathe.
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As one of the founding members of the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour, Drew Stevenson spent six years as their CEO until he decided to leave it all behind and try to save the world with his Breathe Foundation.
As part of the foundation's work to raise awareness of environmental issues, he teamed up with German filmmaker René Eckert to make the documentary, Breathe.
HUCK recently caught up with him to find out more.
HUCK: Could you tell us about Breathe?
Drew Stevenson: It's part of the coverage of the Breathe Costa Rica event that we organised last year. That involved looking at local issues and working with the local people to solve them. But it also takes a broader look at the way that we as a species are interacting with our planet. In essence, we wanted to demonstrate that issues range from the local to the global, but so do the solutions. The Breathe concept is based around encouraging people to stop for a second, get your head out of the normal consumption-based zone, breathe and become aware of the ecosystem that we are all a part of.
Who is involved in the project?
That's a little hard to say precisely. In terms of the event, we worked with local volunteers in Costa Rica and existing organisations. In terms of financing, it was done privately so we didn't have any restrictions or demands from sponsors. All the participants and presenters donated their time. The documentary was overseen by myself and René Eckert. We also had time and energy also donated by Mone Monsberger and Drop In, and footage donated from Travis Rice and Curt Morgan, Absinthe Films, Method TV and the TTR World Snowboard Tour. So it was definitely a group effort.
I understand that the idea came to you after a book you were working on was stolen. What were you working on?
I'd been fortunate enough to have been involved in snowboarding in various ways for close to 20 years. Helping to set up and run the Swatch TTR World Tour was a fairly incredible experience to say the least. Work hard, party hard, as they say. It was a chance to travel the world with friends and basically party for 10 months straight a year with telephone and credit card bills that stand as a testament to that. It was a fairly unique lifestyle to have and a long way from growing up on a sheep farm a couple of thousand kilometres from snow as a kid. It was sort of about that, a sort of sporting Mr Nice in a way. Some of the situations that you ended up in when you travel non-stop with young fired up people are interesting to say the least. I'd got about seven chapters into it before our house in Costa Rica was ripped off. Being stripped of everything electrical while living in a jungle definitely changes a lot of your perceptions about what is important. While I was devastated at first, in hindsight it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.
What do you hope to achieve with Breathe?
Phew! Short question, long answer! The Breathe Foundation is really set up to create a platform to increase general awareness of the really pressing issues that we're facing on this planet; the use of fossil fuels and the effects of Peak Oil, resource depletion, habitat and species destruction, pollution, water security, over-population, wealth distribution - the list goes on. But one of the biggest issues is understanding that we have a problem and starting the process of individual change. There is a certain inertia that people tend to feel: 'I can't change the world, therefore I won't try'. This is one of the most counter-productive habits we have grown accustomed to, or brainwashed into thinking by this consumption-based society we in the western world live in. The fact is there are small things that we can all do every day that can start to make a difference. We feel it's really important to openly discuss the issues, look at solutions and see there are other people out there who think the same.
What's next for the Breathe Foundation?
The next event is Breathe/Respira Brazil in Itacare in May, but we are always looking for ways to generate money for the different projects and initiatives that we are involved with, so work is ongoing.
Do you have any involvement in snowboarding these days?
No, I don't have direct involvement with snowboarding anymore. At least not in a formal, or should we say working, sense. But if you have been about something for close to 20 years, you are going to have a lot of friends that you want to catch up with so I turn up to a lot of places for the hell of it!
For more information on Breathe, check out the Breathe Foundation website.
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