Speaker 1: This week, we're getting hot and sweaty for the sake
Speaker 1: of sustainability.
Speaker 1: How's it going? Thank you so much for hitting play
Speaker 1: on Earth Care the podcast where we have climate conscious
Speaker 1: conversations in a not so overwhelming way. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Sarah Christie and welcome to episode four of the Sustainability
Speaker 1: and the live music Industry series. Now, before I introduce
Speaker 1: you to this week's guest, I just wanna extend the biggest.
Speaker 1: Thank you to you. Whether you've listened before, whether this
Speaker 1: is your first time hitting play, I really do
Speaker 1: appreciate your time and that you're joining this conversation. Swg
Speaker 1: three is a venue in Glasgow Scotland that embodies the
Speaker 1: creative innovation that a green future calls for in your
Speaker 1: conversations about sustainability. The phrase use what you have may
Speaker 1: have come up. This call to action is a big
Speaker 1: proponent of waste reduction
Speaker 1: because it isn't dependent on more, right, more extraction, more emissions,
Speaker 1: more waste, which yeah, it can easily be put in
Speaker 1: motion on an individual level. You don't have food containers
Speaker 1: to store leftovers. Great. I'll just use old jars and
Speaker 1: old take out containers that I have ran out of rags.
Speaker 1: No problem. I'll cut up an old T shirt and
Speaker 1: turn that into rags. But what does that look like
Speaker 1: for a venue though, especially one of Scotland's busiest venues
Speaker 1: that welcomes 250
Speaker 1: 1000 people year round. In 2021 swg three began their
Speaker 1: substantial shift towards Net zero. They began measuring the carbon
Speaker 1: footprint of their operation to better understand their environmental impact.
Speaker 1: With that. They developed a baseline that allows them to
Speaker 1: continuously move that sustainability needle as a business, they want
Speaker 1: guests to keep dancing, they want to keep working and
Speaker 1: have made it their mission to operate in a
Speaker 1: manner that recognizes the climate crisis. By 2022 swg three
Speaker 1: caught the world's attention by introducing a form of renewable
Speaker 1: energy that no other venue had tapped into. They started
Speaker 1: using the heat generated by all of the dancing fans.
Speaker 1: Body heat. I remember reading about that here in Canada
Speaker 1: and a being so jealous that it wasn't here. It
Speaker 1: was all the way in Scotland and B being so
Speaker 1: energized at the fun strides being
Speaker 1: made for the environment. Body heat is just one of
Speaker 1: the items on the very long and growing list of
Speaker 1: systems in place that are getting swg three closer to
Speaker 1: net zero. I'm so thrilled to introduce you to Hannah
Speaker 1: George sustainability coordinator at SWG three who is here to
Speaker 1: break down how exactly body heat works, what other green
Speaker 1: practices are in place and what's next for SWG three's
Speaker 1: sustainable journey.
Speaker 1: Here it is episode four of the sustainability and the
Speaker 1: live music industry series on Earth Care with Hannah George.
Speaker 1: Hannah George sustainability coordinator over at SWG three. How are
Speaker 1: you doing? I'm good,
Speaker 2: thanks. Yeah, how are
Speaker 1: you? I'm great. I, like I said, so excited, beyond
Speaker 1: excited to be talking with you right now. Can you
Speaker 1: tell me as we get into it just to kick
Speaker 1: it all off the back story on SWG three deciding
Speaker 1: to kickstart the journey to going to Net
Speaker 2: Zero. Back in 2021 SWG three hosted the New York
Speaker 2: Times climate hub during COP 26. So that was,
Speaker 2: it is a really big turning point for us. We
Speaker 2: began to ask ourselves the question, you know, are we
Speaker 2: doing enough for the environment? Yes, we're recycling. Yes, we're
Speaker 2: trying to be energy efficient. But is that enough? And
Speaker 2: I think the truth is we could always be doing more.
Speaker 2: So that's when we decided to start our journey to
Speaker 2: going Net zero and just looking at all aspects of
Speaker 2: sustainability across the venue and across our events,
Speaker 1: what is the capacity of the venue?
Speaker 2: So we have four different venues within our venue. So,
Speaker 2: so the largest is around 1500 the smallest is around
Speaker 2: 100 and 25. So we can put on a huge
Speaker 2: kind of range of events and there is a really
Speaker 2: big diversity in the kind of events that we get
Speaker 2: at the venue and
Speaker 1: a lot of potential for waste for a venue that size.
Speaker 1: That is a large number, right? So when you are
Speaker 1: thinking about this transition, I am wondering what were some
Speaker 1: of the roadblocks that or the hurdles that you had
Speaker 1: to overcome to really start chipping away at this mission?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think anyone who has tried to implement
Speaker 2: will probably agree that one of the biggest hurdles is
Speaker 2: behavior change. So it can be difficult to kind of
Speaker 2: get people on board with change with sustainable change. That's
Speaker 2: kind of different to business as usual or what they
Speaker 2: have expected when they've been to the venue before or
Speaker 2: other venues. So yeah, whether that's like a different recycling
Speaker 2: system or reusable cup system, um it all kind of
Speaker 2: takes a level of communication, but I think there's definitely
Speaker 2: like a slow but certain change
Speaker 2: in people's attitudes towards environmental issues and people are being
Speaker 2: more open to these changes as they become more common
Speaker 2: in other venues and around the place as well. Definitely
Speaker 2: starting to see a shift in
Speaker 1: that, right? And communication plays such a major role and
Speaker 1: you think about it for an event space, right? You
Speaker 1: have to be communicating with your entire team, but also
Speaker 1: the guests who are then coming and letting them know
Speaker 1: about all of the new projects you have in place
Speaker 1: like body heat, which was implemented in 2022.
Speaker 1: Can you walk me through this technology? How, what is it,
Speaker 1: how does it work?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: Body heat is a thermal heating and cooling system. Basically,
Speaker 2: it allows us to harness body heat from club and
Speaker 2: gig goers and guests attending our events. So essentially the
Speaker 2: heat from our venues is transported using a carrier of
Speaker 2: fluid through a closed network of pipes to heat pumps
Speaker 2: in a plant room. And then that heat is then
Speaker 2: stored 200 m underground in our 12 boreholes. And then
Speaker 2: when that energy is ready to be used,
Speaker 2: it can travel back to the heat pumps where it's
Speaker 2: upgraded to a suitable temperature and then it's emitted back
Speaker 2: into our spaces. So that was a very brief rundown.
Speaker 2: But I hope that makes sense.
Speaker 1: Dancing is encouraged, sweaty is sustainable, you know, the sweatier,
Speaker 1: the better is that what you're saying here?
Speaker 2: Definitely. Yeah, we kind of realized like, I mean, anyone
Speaker 2: who's been to a club will know how hot it
Speaker 2: gets in there. Um So we, yeah, we just thought,
Speaker 2: let's see what we can do. How do we harness that,
Speaker 2: how we use it?
Speaker 1: I was laughing when I was uh doing some prep
Speaker 1: for this interview because I read that you often get asked,
Speaker 1: does it smell and does
Speaker 2: it? No, it doesn't. So all we're capturing is the heat.
Speaker 2: We're not capturing the sweat or the smell or anything
Speaker 2: like that. So yeah, actually it
Speaker 1: doesn't smell. How long did this take to install? Because
Speaker 1: this sounds like a major project. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: was so I wasn't actually sure when body heat was
Speaker 2: being implemented, but as a rough timeline, I think it
Speaker 2: took around two years from kind of the initial idea
Speaker 2: to the installation.
Speaker 2: And this is very much a project that began during
Speaker 2: lockdown when the venue wasn't able to operate. So, um
Speaker 2: you know, we were thinking, what, what can we do
Speaker 2: with this time? How can we work towards our sustainability goals?
Speaker 2: And it was kind of like a perfect opportunity to
Speaker 2: focus on a much bigger project like this and that
Speaker 2: required that time and resource. Wow,
Speaker 1: turning lemons into lemonade for sure.
Speaker 1: Was this the first of its kind, I've, I've never
Speaker 1: read about anything like this. Yeah.
Speaker 2: As far as we know, um this is the first
Speaker 2: of this kind of system that's been implemented in a venue.
Speaker 2: And the interesting thing is that it does use kind
Speaker 2: of off the shelf technology. So it uses heat pumps
Speaker 2: and it uses the kind of technology from geothermal storage
Speaker 2: to store
Speaker 2: that energy. So kind of putting different pieces of the
Speaker 2: puzzle together to create something new. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's super cool. Now, you also touched on the reusable
Speaker 1: cup system that you have in place and you know,
Speaker 1: for a venue of your size, I imagine there's a
Speaker 1: lot of upkeep. What is that like for SWG three?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So our reusable cup system um only kicked off
Speaker 2: in December of last year. So it's pretty new.
Speaker 2: But we've partnered with an amazing company called Stack Up
Speaker 2: who basically help us with the logistics of the system.
Speaker 2: So they've also implemented um a similar system in the
Speaker 2: hydro which is a neighboring venue with 14,000 capacity. So
Speaker 2: they definitely know what they're doing.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I think a lot of it comes down
Speaker 2: to communicating again how the system works with our visitors
Speaker 2: through social media and posters. And also making sure we
Speaker 2: have an effective cup collection system at the end of
Speaker 2: the night. So we're gathering them all back in to
Speaker 2: be reused. So
Speaker 1: this is for everything you go up to the bar,
Speaker 1: you order your drink, whether it's whatever beer, uh cocktail
Speaker 1: water and then it's given to the guest in a
Speaker 1: reusable cup.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. And are you guys looking after washing it
Speaker 1: or is it then given back to your partner that you,
Speaker 1: that you mentioned that cup
Speaker 2: will at the end of the night, take all the
Speaker 2: cups away and wash them and return them. So, and
Speaker 2: they're locally based. So yeah, it was a really great
Speaker 2: kind of partnership,
Speaker 1: right? So then you're working with the, you know, within
Speaker 1: the economy too, for green initiatives, which is so important.
Speaker 1: I have to tell you about the water bottle that
Speaker 1: I never leave my house without. This is the most
Speaker 1: convenient reusable water bottle, it's collapsible. So when you aren't
Speaker 1: using it, you squish it down into a little disk
Speaker 1: size and put it in your pocket purse. Fanny pack.
Speaker 1: Think about when you're traveling and you don't wanna take
Speaker 1: up too much space in your luggage or hiking and
Speaker 1: you don't want to carry around a heavy bag. This
Speaker 1: bottle is space saving, leak proof, ultra light. Then
Speaker 1: whenever you pass a water refill station, you expand it
Speaker 1: hydrate for free and help reduce plastic bottle pollution. My
Speaker 1: favorite place to bring it is concerts. I take it
Speaker 1: with me to every show. As long as the venue
Speaker 1: allows reusable water bottles, then fill it at the concert
Speaker 1: for free. It's the best though because it's suitable with
Speaker 1: venue regulation. It's so small that it fits in your
Speaker 1: tiny bag, which is perfect since most venues only allow
Speaker 1: small bags. Now check out the hideaway collapsible water bottle
Speaker 1: in the show notes and use the discount code podcast
Speaker 1: for 10% off your first purchase. What is the circular
Speaker 1: swap shop? How does that work?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's another recent one. We're not just a
Speaker 2: venue at SOG three. We also have 23 artist studios
Speaker 2: on site. We kind of wanted to create a platform
Speaker 2: for our resident artists to be able to like donate
Speaker 2: and swap and sell items. So they have a lot
Speaker 2: of art supplies, books and materials. So yeah, it's just
Speaker 2: an online platform that we've created for them to kind
Speaker 2: of be able to share things reduce waste and also
Speaker 2: kind of contribute to the circular economy.
Speaker 1: It sounds like the venue is just leading in that
Speaker 1: conversation of a circular economy. What about the active travel initiative?
Speaker 1: What's
Speaker 2: that? Our active travel initiative is a strategy that we're
Speaker 2: kind of in the process of developing,
Speaker 2: to encourage our staff and audiences to travel to the
Speaker 2: venue more sustainably. So it kind of began back in
Speaker 2: 2022 when we carried out an audit of how our
Speaker 2: staff travels to the venue and what those behavior patterns
Speaker 2: look like and kind of asked them, what would they
Speaker 2: like to see what would encourage them to travel to
Speaker 2: the venue more sustainably and a lot of that was
Speaker 2: to do with um facilities. So this year, we're getting
Speaker 2: much more cycle parking facilities installed and also looking at
Speaker 2: ways to engage staff with cycling such as proficiency lessons
Speaker 2: and bike
Speaker 2: maintenance workshops. And then hopefully, if the staff program is successful,
Speaker 2: we can start to expand some of these initiatives and
Speaker 2: with our audiences as
Speaker 1: well. It really sounds like you're just part of such
Speaker 1: a bigger conversation and leading in so many ways, which
Speaker 1: is just really encouraging and hopeful to see you're on
Speaker 1: this journey to be net zero by 2050. What are
Speaker 1: the goals do I have that correct? 2050 still? So
Speaker 2: 2030 is our, is our goal that's kind of aligned
Speaker 2: with the Glasgow City. Um
Speaker 2: It's your target. So that's what we're aiming
Speaker 1: for. So, one of the other goals by 2030 is
Speaker 1: to be working with artists reducing their touring emissions. Has
Speaker 1: that started yet? Have you had any artists come to you? For,
Speaker 1: in that aspect, we
Speaker 2: definitely are hearing more artists coming to us and you know,
Speaker 2: asking what our sustainability credentials are like, what are we doing?
Speaker 2: But I think there's still a long way to go
Speaker 2: with that. One of the things that we're doing this
Speaker 2: year is we've put together a green events guide which
Speaker 2: is being distributed to every single artist and event organizer
Speaker 2: that comes into the venue.
Speaker 2: So essentially this sets out the key areas for environmental consideration.
Speaker 2: So like waste energy, food production and kind of giving
Speaker 2: them tips on ways that they can reduce their environmental impact.
Speaker 2: How do you
Speaker 1: handle the rider situation? Yeah. So
Speaker 2: this is kind of our first step in that. It's,
Speaker 2: it's not something we're mandating, it's just suggestions starting that
Speaker 2: conversation because I think that's what needs to happen first
Speaker 2: and then eventually we'll maybe look at including that in
Speaker 2: more of a formal rider for artists.
Speaker 1: Have you had other clubs reach out to you and,
Speaker 1: and other venues reach out to you trying to follow suit. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So we are really kind of connected with um other
Speaker 2: venues um in the Glasgow scene, I guess. And So
Speaker 2: we work quite closely with the f concerts who um
Speaker 2: put on a huge range of uh concerts and events
Speaker 2: and have their own sustainability strategy. So looking for ways to,
Speaker 2: you know, align those things to link up with promoters
Speaker 2: and other venues and
Speaker 2: yeah, event organizers to find ways that we can collaborate
Speaker 2: on this. Because I think that's, that's what this issue needs,
Speaker 2: it needs kind of that cross sector collaboration.
Speaker 1: Yeah. All hands on deck and now that you've had
Speaker 1: time to really spend in the sustainability space and see
Speaker 1: it be successful. What do you hope to see more
Speaker 1: of moving forward from, you know, the live music industry?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think more artists communicating with their audience.
Speaker 2: I think artists have such an influence. There's only so
Speaker 2: much we can do as a venue. But I think
Speaker 2: um if artists are communicating these issues to their audiences,
Speaker 2: that could have a huge kind of ripple effect. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'd love to work with more artists um to see
Speaker 2: what we can do to make change in the
Speaker 1: industry. If I ever find myself in Glasgow swg three
Speaker 1: is gonna be the first stop on the travel bucket list.
Speaker 1: Hannah George. Thank you so much for sharing your time
Speaker 1: with Earth care. It's been
Speaker 1: such a pleasure chatting with you. Thank you. How much
Speaker 1: harder would you dance if you knew it was supporting
Speaker 1: renewable energy? I can't get over how reassuring it is.
Speaker 1: To learn that innovation like this is successfully in motion
Speaker 1: and it's such a populated place. The word we keep
Speaker 1: going back to in this series is community because that's
Speaker 1: what live music effortlessly creates. Swg Three has organically welcomed
Speaker 1: a community of a
Speaker 1: quarter of a million people annually who are celebrating live
Speaker 1: events while simultaneously embracing green alternatives. The body heat technology
Speaker 1: is such an ingenious creation that addresses the climate crisis
Speaker 1: without interfering with the norm. You know, you still get
Speaker 1: to go to the concert, you still get to dance.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's encouraged, imagine how this technology could be used.
Speaker 1: Not if but when it catches on
Speaker 1: at other venues, gyms, hot yoga studios, schools the mall
Speaker 1: during the holiday season, when you trekked in from the
Speaker 1: back of the parking lot and your winter coat, if
Speaker 1: you live somewhere that gets winter, you know,
Speaker 1: the technology hasn't made its way to Canada yet, but
Speaker 1: there are a ton of venues here in Canada, major
Speaker 1: ones too that allow guests to bring their own reusable
Speaker 1: water bottles, which is a really simple way to take
Speaker 1: climate action. The fans choose to reuse pledge is a
Speaker 1: call to action that I launched that encourages music lovers
Speaker 1: and concert goers to bring a reusable water bottle to
Speaker 1: live music events. Whenever the venue allows it, if you
Speaker 1: choose to reuse, this is so great,
Speaker 1: you can prevent up to 156 plastic bottles from being
Speaker 1: discarded annually, which is important when you hear that 1
Speaker 1: million bottles are purchased every minute. If you want to
Speaker 1: learn more about the pledge, add your name, join that
Speaker 1: community of music fans taking action. I'll include the link
Speaker 1: in the show notes each episode. I promise to do
Speaker 1: the research. So you don't have to and tell you
Speaker 1: about more venues across the country that are cool with
Speaker 1: personal bottles. This is all based on where you want
Speaker 1: me to look though.
Speaker 1: So keep messaging me about venues and cities. You're curious
Speaker 1: about this week's message is from Luke and Edmonton who
Speaker 1: said he saw Noah Khan at Roger's Place but wasn't
Speaker 1: sure if he was allowed to bring his bottle. Not
Speaker 1: only are you allowed to bring a reusable water bottle there,
Speaker 1: Roger's Place is actually Lead certified, which is a green
Speaker 1: certification and one of their other initiatives. This is so neat,
Speaker 1: ensures prepared but unserved food from events is then donated
Speaker 1: to the Edmonton Food Bank.
Speaker 1: So, hey, cheers to reusing at the next concert you
Speaker 1: go to if you've been enjoying the series so far,
Speaker 1: I invite you to leave a review rate. This podcast.
Speaker 1: This really helps get the word out about the podcast
Speaker 1: and then encourages new listeners. And if we've been learning
Speaker 1: anything about this conversation, it's that we need as many
Speaker 1: people as we can get in these climate conversations and
Speaker 1: everyone is welcome to them.
Speaker 1: I truly do appreciate you making time for this conversation.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining episode four of the
Speaker 1: sustainability in the live music industry series on Earth Care.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Sarah Christie. I'll talk to you next
Speaker 1: week when actually, we're taking a deep dive into that
Speaker 1: lead certification at Canada's largest Convention Center.