The Rubbish Trip (FUNDED!)

Hannah and Liam are the couple behind The Rubbish Trip, originally a 6-month tour offering free zero waste workshops around Aotearoa New Zealand, which, somewhat by accident, turned into three years of life on the road, couch-surfing, educating, living on $10 a day, and becoming experts on the why’s and how’s of reducing waste. 

Hannah and Liam are our personal zero waste heroes! We’re so excited to share their story with our audience.

The topic of ‘waste’ can range from the now-familiar subject of the hazards of single-use plastics to the less discussed subject of, say, the waste we wash down the drain with our makeup or dish water. It relates to our choices about every little or large thing we buy in a day, to how we shop for those things, and even to how we travel. The subject is broad and all-encompassing, it’s relevant to every one of us, and it’s connected to all of our social issues, justice issues, and climate issues globally. It’s a big subject and while our society-wide understanding of the issues is improving, our response to them remains poor overall. 

Hannah and Liam’s story offers another opportunity for Happen Films to contribute to the global conversation about waste. It is topical and it needs urgent action. We see it as a critical subject to be discussing in our households, communities, businesses, and with our governments: how can each and every one of us assume responsibility for our impact on the planet and on each other and work towards the necessary system change?

We sat down with Hannah and Liam in late 2022 and had a wonderfully insightful chat, on camera, about their perspective on what it means to be zero waste, what it’s taken for them to make suitable lifestyle changes toward that goal, and their work in advocacy and activism. And we spent a couple of days following them around their home base and neighbourhood capturing what zero waste living looks like for these two. This short film will offer inspiration and encouragement to all of us, no matter where we are on our waste minimisation journey.

Production details
Filming took place in November 2022 and post-production is now underway.

Budget
Production – director, producer, writers, sound recordist: $8,900 NZD.
Post-production – transcription services, editor, colourist, royalty-free music, sound mixer, post-production management, poster art: $7,900 NZD.
Production overheads – travel, food, insurance, gear hire, stock footage, contingency: $3,217 NZD.
Total: $20,017

Location
Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Release
The festival premiere is at the WAO event in Aotearoa. Book tickets to attend online or in person here. The filme will be uploaded to YouTube on 11 November 2023.