Taylor Swift has finished her monumental Eras tour in Australia, culminating in a sold-out show in Sydney last night after dazzling Melbourne just over a week ago.
As the lights fade and the crowds disperse, the question arises: What is the environmental aftermath of such massive events in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and smaller towns like Adelaide?
Click the link below and listen now:
On today’s The Briefing podcast, LiSTNR journalist Loren Howarth joins us to discuss the environmental impact of the Eras Tour and similar mega-shows.
Loren says that the ecological footprint of these events involves several factors, including energy consumption, carbon emissions from transport, and single-use waste like cups.
According to a research by Green Music Australia, 80 per cent of waste at music festivals comes directly from campsites, including cheap broken tents left behind.
While sales are beneficial for the industry, the environmental consequences, including potential landfill waste, are concerning.
Liam Taylor, Head of Communications at Planet Ark, says: “What I found interesting was a lot of the anecdotes coming out from city cleaners and those working in the waste space wasn’t even as bad as the average sports game.”
“So what that kind of tells me is that Swifties or people who are into music in general are pretty conscious about putting their trash in the bin at the end of these kinds of events,” he says.
Mr Taylor points out that artists like Billie Eilish and Coldplay are making efforts to tour more sustainably.
Billie Eilish, for example, partnered with an organization called Reverb to minimize the tour’s impact by offering plant-based meals, eliminating single-use plastic, and supporting climate projects.
“I’ve heard of things like festivals giving themselves carbon budgets so that they can only bring a certain number of acts from overseas, or they have to change a part of their operations to reduce their footprint elsewhere.”
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news and deep dives on topics affecting you, all in under 20 minutes.