How The Great Australian Bake Off is Rising to Sustainability Challenges
BBC’s The Great Australian Bake Off isn’t just serving up delicious treats - it’s also dishing out big sustainability wins!
Series 7 of The Great Australian Bake Off recently rounded off with an aptly joyful finale. And whilst this year’s bakers were busy showing off their culinary genius, the production team was putting in great efforts behind the camera to reduce the show’s environmental impact.
“At BBC Studios Productions Australia, we’re committed to decarbonising our productions as part of the BBC’s wider commitment to create greener and more sustainable productions.” David King, Line Producer and Sustainability Lead, explains. “We have established a ‘7-Steps To Go Green” plan for our productions to follow that includes appointing Sustainability Ambassadors and completing Green Memos to tracking carbon footprints via Albert and completing Sustainability Wrap Reports.”
In prep, the production and editorial teams also attended SSA’s Sustainable Production Methods and Sustainability On Screen workshops and assessed impact areas and developed a sustainability strategy.
Casting reduced travel with more selective in-person auditions and increased social media outreach to reduce flyer printing.
During filming LED lighting was used to reduce the amount of power used. By using crockery and reusable water bottles, 2,396 bio-pack plates and cutlery, and 5,575 600ml bottles were saved from going in the bin.
Cutting Fuel with Battery Power
Hybrid generators are being used to power the production village demountables, the back of house kitchen and the control room. The battery is charged by a diesel gennie when it gets down to 20%, with approximately two four hour charges per day. The albert draft footprint (which is a carbon footprint calculator used by the industry) shows a predicted saving of 1,700 litres of diesel and 6.43 tonnes of CO2.
The Bake Off team has also tackled its fuel usage by swapping out petrol vehicles for electric. On screen talent travel to and from set in electric cars, which has so far led to a saving of 0.47 tonnes of CO2.
Greening the Catering
As a food show, it would be remiss not to address the impact of the catering tent. Not only have the team continued to eliminate disposable items, but they have also implemented Meat Free Mondays for the six-week shoot. Just by swapping meat for veggie meals once a week is saving a whopping 4.8 tonnes of CO2e across the series. Bakers are encouraged to take their bakes home, and any unavoidable food waste is collected into organic bins and taken for anaerobic digestion or composting for use in the farming and agriculture industries.
A Team Effort
Making the important decision to communicate sustainability goals with everyone on set, including on screen talent, has resulted in an atmosphere of camaraderie, highlighted by Judge, Darren Purchase:
“I was incredibly pleased and inspired by BBC Studio Productions Australia’s advocacy of sustainability practices during production of The Great Australian Bake Off in 2024. A thoughtful approach to making a difference, small or large, throughout every facet of production meant that we all helped to reduce the collective footprint of our actions. Not only that, as a team we enjoyed the camaraderie and responsibility of being sustainable.
From my transfers to the shoot location in electric vehicles, to soda streams instead of bottled water, from keep cups and Meat Free Mondays, to eliminating disposable cutlery and plateware, there was not an area where our impact was not assessed for a better option for the environment. From my point of view, I am incredibly proud to be part of a team that tries to do the right thing and while it is hard to be perfect, the entire crew were united in a singular purpose and will continue to do so for future productions.”
Sustainable Suppliers
David King echoes this sentiment, highlighting the importance of sustainable suppliers and team effort. “The Great Australian Bake Off is a fantastic production for us to implement sustainable initiatives and behaviours. It's important for us to engage with all staff, crew, suppliers and talent throughout the production so we can reduce our environmental impact together, whatever our job while maintaining high quality creativity and production values and the whole team have embraced our objectives wholeheartedly”
The Great Australian Bake Off’s electric vehicles are provided by Evoke, hybrid generators are provided by Aggreko and waste collection by Doyle Bros.
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