
Sarah Christie (she/her/hers), creator and host of Earth Care podcast and National Music Manager for Virgin Radio, launched Earth Care in 2021. Earth Care is a short-form interview series where Sarah engages with experts to explore actionable steps for saving the planet. Sarah's dedication to environmental advocacy and love for live music joined together with the 2023 launch of the #FansChooseToReuse pledge. Through Earth Care and the #FansChooseToReuse campaign, Sarah Christie is on a mission to empower individuals with practical and inclusive climate solutions, striving to make a tangible difference in protecting our planet.
Learn more about the Earth Care podcast by visiting the website and following the show on Instagram @earthcareshow.
Congrats on five seasons of Earth Care! Take us back to the beginning. What motivated you to start this show?
Acknowledging that the helplessness and eco-anxiety I felt prior to taking action wasn’t helping. Day-after-day, we read new climate-related headlines that overwhelm you with doom. My professional background is in Top 40 radio, so the “trending topics” on my algorithm are a constant mishmash of the climate crisis and celebrity gossip. My goal was to find a way to combine those worlds — use the same upbeat, entertaining approach of communicating in Top 40 Radio to communicate climate issues that need more attention.
It was Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s Climate Venn diagram that led me to creating an eco-focussed podcast. The diagram asks: What brings you joy? (Creating and meeting new people) What work needs doing? (Climate communication, climate crisis awareness) What are you good at? (Broadcast and creating) This tool allowed me to redirect the “I must do it all” approach that I imagine most folks feel at some point in their environmental journey to a focussed action that works for me.
It’s clear you’ve taken some of the skills you’ve honed from studying and working in radio to build your podcast. I’m curious, have you found a way to integrate your interest in climate with your 9-5 yet? And if not, do you believe there is a way to make it happen?
Before Earth Care, I actually had a weekly on-air segment called “Eco-Friendly Friday.” This was a quick, planet-friendly tip that myself and listeners could try adopting in our day-to-day.
Since then, we’ve started to have bigger conversations regarding systematic changes that can be made behind the scenes to reduce waste overall. I believe there’s a lot of exciting opportunities for what can be done moving forward to implement greener practices. One of my biggest ‘A-HA’ moments was realizing you don’t need to work at a stereotypical “green job,” to make a difference. You need to be the voice in your own circle that advocates for a livable future and help amplify other voices that need it.
Since your primary education focus was not environmental studies, a couple of years ago you enrolled in certifications, such as “Sustainability Reporting” at University of Toronto. How did that educational experience prepare you for making this show?
The program teaches students to read and dissect sustainability reports. Professionally, it paved a new lane of conversation with future Earth Care guests. Sustainability Reports are typically quite long and full of information the average reader may not understand how to follow (myself included prior to taking the course). Additionally, so much of the information regarding the climate is shared through data and numbers which isn’t everyone’s learning style (myself included…again!). Taking this program quickly became an important tool to lean on while identifying significant information that can be brought up in the podcast in a digestible way.
What is one area of climate / sustainability you still want to explore?
Choosing one area seems impossible because there is so much to learn and truly get excited about! However, I’m very eager to learn more about native gardening, soil preservation and tree conservation. One of my favourite pastimes is vegetable gardening. I’d love to level up and create a garden that is more sustainable and properly supports the local biodiversity!
What is one climate / sustainability fact that really surprised you from any of your seasons?
In season 3, the Executive Director of Water Watchers, Arlene Slocombe, explained that water is traded on the stock market and I think about this multiple times a week. The exact quote is, “Now water is trading on the stock market much like other commodities. So, securing access to water is something that we all need to be very, very diligent about, paying close attention to and opposing wherever we can.”
There’s an emotional rollercoaster that is likely common across any activist’s journey –you allow room to celebrate and feel hopeful, then are hit with information that brings you right back down to reality – such as a basic human right, water, being exploited for capital gain. However, like Alrene explained, this information should be used to drive us to continue to be aware and take action.
Let’s talk about season five for a bit, your focus is the live music industry, whereas in previous seasons you focused on various topics. I know that singer Billie Eilish has made news in the past couple of years for bridging climate action and live music, though there are others that have come before her as you cover in episode 2. Why do you feel the relationship between live music and climate is an important topic to follow?
The music industry is truly one of the most influential, if not the most influential industry. Artists have access to platforms that the average person doesn’t, whether this is their online platform or the stage when everyone is listening. They have a superpower in communication. Both artists and creators know how to tell a story and bring people together with their art. Those two qualities create endless opportunity to foster awareness and influence positive change for the environment.
The available data on the state of our climate puts a major emphasis on the saying “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” We can’t continue the way we’ve been operating and expect the Earth to not fight back. Most industries are likely seeing a green shift in their operations. However, the music industry are the trendsetters who can both lead and steer important conversations about the climate.
Music is also the great connector. To see that systems are already in motion, some for decades, offers hope and motivation for the fans!
And what would be your pitch, to performers and consumers alike, to care when greening may initially raise costs for this entertainment type that can already be quite costly?
The short answer would be of course to quote Music Declares Emergency and say “there’s no music on a dead planet.”
However, the sustainability in the live music industry series is only a taste of the resources that are available for artists to begin implementing greener practices. Wherever you are at in your sustainability journey, there is a resource that will be the right fit. The first episode of the series featured Filkin’s Drift, a folk duo who walked their 870-mile tour to promote sustainability. This in fact lowered their costs! They also shared advice for other musicians focussed on “don’t try to do it all at once, do what works for you.”
What Coldplay managed to do with their Music of Sphere’s tour is absolutely trailblazing and completely unique to what they can afford with their budget. For musicians in a different boat, there are also several non-profits with free tools and resources (REVERB, Music Declares Emergency, Julie’s Bicycle).
In this series, a number of guests have expressed that they’d like to explore working with artists on a more interactive level. They’d like to see the artist be more active on their platform to help communicate the systems that are already in place. In this case, greening can mean simply offering a bigger platform to a worthy cause. Creativity and collaboration can be effective in both sustainability and cost cutting.
Before we wrap, can you tell us about the #fanschoosetoreuse advocacy campaign you’ve created to align with this season?
The #FansChooseToReuse pledge is a rally call for music lovers and concerts goers to take climate action by bringing a reusable water bottle to live music events whenever the venue allows it. The pledge is about harnessing the unifying power of music to spread awareness about the encouraging power of individual climate action.
The podcast series is largely from the professional, behind the scenes perspective but fans play a role in the live music industry as well. As a genuine music fan who has been to hundreds of concerts, this is the world I can speak to and I know best. I have seen the sea of plastic when you leave a concert and I’ve seen the overflowing, contaminated recycling bins. Participants who take the pledge are part of a movement that champions the preservation of our planet for future generations.
If this show’s topic interests you, you might also want to check out the Sounds Like Impact interview with Ruxandra Guidi of The Catch podcast.