Capital Brewing joins forces with Giants to score goals for the Snowies

Capital Brewing Co has recruited the GWS Giants to help take its Trees For Tomorrow campaign to the next level and aid restoration efforts in the Snowy Mountains.

The newly launched Kick a Goal, Plant A Tree program commits to planting a native Australian tree in the region for every goal kicked across the AFL and AFLW 2023 season.

The partnership is an extension of Capital Brewing Co’s Trees For Tomorrow initiative with Jindabyne-based environmental charity Keep It Cool, pledging to plant a native Australian tree for every Capital Brewing Co beer purchased in the Snowy Mountains throughout the ski season.

Co-founder and managing director of Capital Brewing Co Laurence Kain said with the Trees For Tomorrow initiative going strong in its third year, the Giants would be a powerful vehicle to up the ante for this year’s campaign.

“They’re a key partner of ours and having the ability to reach the growing membership base of the Giants and AFL fans around the country with this environmentally friendly message is so valuable for us,” he said.

“This year we’re planning on reaching our target of planting 5000 trees in total – a target we set when we launched the initiative in 2021.”

So far Capital Brewing’s efforts have seen 2036 trees planted in the Snowy Mountains, a region that has sustained significant environmental impact in recent years.

Populating the area with more native trees will help draw down carbon, create new habitats for wildlife, reduce soil erosion and increase biodiversity and the recovery of species under threat, including the iconic Eucalyptus Viminalis (Ribbon Gum).

In addition to pledging to plant a native Australian tree for every goal kicked, the company has committed to planting extra trees for special milestone moments expected to take place across the season through individual players and the club.

It’s projected that one of these milestones will be met this Sunday (19 March) when Giants star forward Harry Himmelberg, who currently has 149 goals under his belt, is expected to kick his 150th.

It’s also hoped that recently assigned team captain Tony Greene will reach his 300th during the season.

Capital Brewing will pledge like for like, planting 150 and 300 additional trees respectively under the Kick a Goal, Plant A Tree banner.

Backed by a new head coach, the Giants are expected to kick last year’s combined total of 274 goals out of the stadium this season – and the Kick a Goal, Plant A Tree initiative provided extra incentive, according to Himmelberg.

“This is a fantastic initiative by Capital Brewing Co who are wonderful partners of our club,” he said.

“You can be sure I’ll be trying to kick as many [goals] as possible!”

Capital Brewing Co will also look to roll out its original ‘Buy Beer, Plant Trees’ program across participating bottle shops and pubs, expanding it beyond the Snowy Mountains region and into metro NSW.

Capital Brewing Co’s Jonny Day said this sizeable expansion, along with the Giants partnership, was part of Capital Brewing’s goal to pivot and grow the Trees For Tomorrow initiative to new heights year on year.

“Already we did triple the number of trees in the second year than in the first, and we’re confident this year we’ll hit our target of 5000,” he said.

“You see a lot of retailers offering a ‘gift with purchase’ and a lot of the time it’s low value novelty pieces of merchandise that end up in landfill, adding to our environmental problems.

“We’re offering this instead, because we believe our customers care about sustainability and because it ladders up to our investment in the environment.

“We hope that as Capital Brewing grows on a national level, this initiative will grow with us and eventually be rolled out nationally.”

Brewery staff, GWS Giants players and Keep It Cool staff will converge at Capital Brewing Co’s annual Planting Day in October to plant all trees committed across the initiative.

For more information on the Trees For Tomorrow initiative visit Capital Brewing Co.