Richie Hawtin: Save the Environment!

Richie Hawtin has announced that he will make the environmental impact of his work as a DJ and record company executive a major issue. Hawtin, who heads the “Plus 8” and “Minus” labels and is one of the most succesful contemporary “intelligent techno” artists with engagements worldwide, will take steps in two important areas. Firstly, carbon emmissions for all flights by employees of “Minus” will be offset by a certificate scheme introduced by German non-profit organisation Atmosfair – Richie Hawtin himself of course being part of the package. Effectively, this means that in a first step, the CO2 production of each flight is calcuated and in a second, the cost of initiating projects offsetting this amount are estimated. Take a flight from Frankfurt (where Richie Hawtin could, for example, spin records at his friend Sven Väth’s Cocoon Club) to John F. Kennedy airport in New York. According to the calculator on the Atmosfair site, a one-way ticket for this journey creates 2.000kg of CO2. The cost of offsetting these are given as 41 Euros (approximately 56$). So, by buying a certificate for 41 Euros at Atmosfair, the organisation will invest them in environmental projects to make up for the polution. According to Richie Hawtin, the scheme offers the best possible alternative to the option of not flying at all – which, in his case, seems anything but viable. Of course, this can only be considered a first step. Hawtin: “I feel that carbon offsetting should be used in conjunction with other courses of action to minimise our global footprint. Therefore we are continuing to investigate alternative ways of reducing our combined CO2 output through alternative travel choices such as the use of public transport, cars, trains, bikes and combined artist bus tours” The latter refers to the Min2MAX 2006 USA Bus Tour, which saw Richie Hawtin head a crew of established and fresh talents from his record company’s roster.