Broadway Green

E-Waste Recycling Rally: The NFL is Playing for Keeps and Greening Broadway

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

The NFL is Playing for Keeps

Author: James Gowen

Before the Super Bowl last year, more than 7.5 million households purchased a brand new television before the big game. Whether viewers are watching to catch the big game, the spectacular halftime show, or even for the striking commercials, everyone wants the perfect display to make their viewing a touchdown. If you’re one of these many devoted Super Bowl fans, you are probably searching for deals during Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. No matter how you watch your favorite team, don’t forget to bid farewell to your old TV sets responsibly.

NYRP Tree Planting     VZW Electronics Recycling Pile

In the United States, more than 80% of TVs are left to be dumped in landfills. Landfill disposal poses a threat to the environment and well-being of the community. Certain televisions may contain hazardous and toxic materials, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic.

Recycling TVs will not only keep this toxic waste out of the ground, but it will also eliminate the need to extract other limited resources. Once a TV is dropped off to be recycled, it is taken to a special facility where it is taken apart and separated for recycled disposal. The glass from the screens, for example, is ultimately used in other products.

Huddle Up!

Landfill interception! Verizon and the NFL simplified this issue by offering an event for all their favorite fans. People were able to bring their old TVs and other personal e-waste to Verizon’s Recycling Rallies on 1/8 in Times Square and on 1/7 in Fair Lawn, NJ. To find a recycling center located near you, please visit  1800Recycling.com.

Enjoy your new devices, but don’t forget to recycle your old ones! Happy shopping!

Greening Broadway

By Rebekah Sale, Coordinator of the Broadway Green Alliance

For the past five years, the Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) — an industry initiative that educates, motivates, and inspires the entire theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally friendlier practices — has been working to green-up Broadway. Besides working with theatre owners to replace all of their roof and marquee lights with energy-efficient bulbs, we now have a backstage liaison at nearly every Broadway show, operate a free binder exchange, circulate information on greener, better practices for all areas of theatre, and hold recycling collection drives four times a year.

For Broadway Green Alliance’s next drive, the alliance was thrilled to be partner with Verizon and the NFL Environment Program on a January 8th Electronic-Waste Recycling Rally in Times Square. Take a look at the website, BroadwayGreen.com, for event details as well as lots of resources and useful links.

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When the Broadway Green Alliance holds electronic waste drives we always save all iPods for our friends at the Broadway Alzheimer’s iPod Drive.  This inspiring program, started by Broadway musician Dave Roth, puts iPods into the hands of area Alzheimer’s patients through the Music and Memory Foundation (musicandmemory.org). The iPods are loaded with music familiar to these patients and what happens when these patients hear the music they remember is amazing.  As Dave explains,

“My mother spent her life devoted to conducting her folk choir in church for nearly 35 years. Unfortunately she has slipped into the fog of Alzheimer’s disease. She has not only lost memories but also the ability to speak. Using Music & Memory’s idea of personalized music, I decided to bring the music back in her life. The results were astounding because she surprisingly was able to recall lyrics and use words that my family and I hadn’t heard her use in years! “

Dan Cohen, the founder of the non-profit Music and Memory, explains:

“Although it doesn’t work for everybody and it is not a cure, it is turning out to be pretty powerful medicine for persons with dementia and others facing cognitive and physical challenges. Re-connecting nursing home residents with “their” music improves mood and enjoyment, increases sociability, enhances cognition, and reduces agitation.”

Dave Roth elaborated:

“Not only does the patient benefit but the families also feel the rewards from the therapeutic process of reminiscing about their loved ones’ favorite music of their past. It brings families together at a time when they already feel the impacting loss of their loved ones. The Broadway community has banded together and continues to ask everyone to donate their new or used iPods and to remember that ‘every used iPod can bring back a lifetime of memories!”

iPods collected at the January 8th event will go to Music and Memory to provide New York area nursing home residents with iPods with personalized playlists. Currently there is a waiting list of hundreds of residents who are waiting to enjoy their music.

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Meet Our New Off- Broadway Committee

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

This summer the BGA launched a new off-Broadway committee to inspire, educate and motivate the off-Broadway community to get greener.

The committee includes George Forbes, President of the off-Broadway League;  Tony Award-winning set designer Donyale Werle; Frances Black from the Alliance of Resident Theatres/NY; Ariel Dupas from the Pearl Theatre; Darren Bluestone from New World Stages ; James Cleveland and Chasmin Hallyburton of Production Core; Jonathan Zautner from the York Theatre; green lighting expert James Bedell; and Jeffrey Shubart and Nancy Beer from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.  And we are happy to welcome Izee Figuroa from the Public Theater to the committee as of this week.<

So far the committee has committed to circulating the new off-Broadway Green Captain kit and to identify a few theatre venues and small companies as early adopters to put the kit into practice.  The kit is based on our successful Broadway Green Captain kit but with additional resources for smaller theatres and with a dual focus on both venue greening and theatre company greening including green hints for offices.

The committee has also planned an off-Broadway Green Design Round Table for October 29th at ART/NY.  The round table will include as panelists set designer Donyale Werle, lighting designer James Bedell, and costume designer Andrea Lauer. Please see the BGA website for more details.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the BGA off-Broadway Committee please email green@Broadway.org.

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Ask A Broadway Green Captain: Adinah Alexander of Kinky Boots

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

Adinah Alexander at the opening of Kinky Boots.

Q: When did you first hear about the Broadway Green Alliance?

A: I first heard about the Green Alliance when my PSM sent an email out saying the company was looking for a Green Captain.  I just thought, sure…and then after my first meeting I realized how little I actually know and how much I can do, in my small way, to make things better in my small part of the world.

 

Q: Did your current theatre already have any greener practices set in place?

A: I believe The Hirschfeld Theatre had green practices already in place.  There are recycling bins throughout the building.  The sound department recycles batteries and I know that Jujamcyn is committed to a greener theatre environment.  The company was given a reusable lunch bag with a water bottle and food containers as a welcome gift when we started our run.

 

Q: What things would you like to do in your everyday life that are “greener”?

A: When I went to my first Green Alliance meeting, I realized that I have only the most rudimentary knowledge of recycling practices.  I was awed by some of the other Green Captains and the extent of their understanding of what can and can’t be recycled.  I would like to get my company to be more conscious about using disposable water bottles, coffee cups and plastic utensils.

 

Q: What specifically interests you about being “green”?

A: I became more interested in being green when I realized literally how much garbage I was creating.  I made a personal commitment to be more aware and use fewer prepackaged foods, etc.  I discovered a website called “reusit.com”  I purchased all kinds of reusable, washable items to replace disposable items and I stopped buying packaged foods.  I bring my own cotton bags to the grocery store, buy in bulk and always have real utensils, food containers, cotton bags, etc. on hand so that I don’t have to rely on disposable items.

 

Q: What is the most frustrating thing about being a Green Captain?

A: The most frustrating thing about being Green Captain is getting people to step out of their comfort zone, just a bit, and literally walk those extra few steps to put garbage in its proper place.  Also I watch people come in every day with coffee and food that they have purchased.  It only takes a few extra minutes to prepare your own food in a reusable container and to carry your own coffee container, mug, water bottle.

 

Q: What is the best thing about being a Green Captain?

A: Well..the best thing is that I am learning so much about what is possible in terms of recycling.  I volunteered at the e-waste drive in Duffy Square and was amazed at what was recyclable. I learned that there are many things that I have been putting in the trash that can be recycled. I am also excited about the upcoming Textile Drive.  I can donate all my old clothes and linens and not just throw them away…I had no idea that was possible.

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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The Phantom of the Opera Makes the Battery Switch

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance
By Molly McQuilkin

The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway
(Photo by Joan Marcus)

About two years ago, The Phantom of the Opera officially switched to using rechargeable batteries, instead of disposable batteries, in their continued effort to make their enduring show green and sustainable.  Paul Verity, the head of the sound department at Phantom, says “The biggest issue we had to overcome was space. As in all Broadway theatres, space is always a premium. That was certainly compounded by the fact that Phantom has been running for twenty-five years. Other than space, we just needed to lay out the routine for storage and recharging.”   He continues, “It certainly is more effort. With disposable batteries you open a box and toss them in another box after they are used. Dealing with rechargeables is neither time-consuming nor difficult, but it takes more effort.”

To get the rechargeable program up and running, the sound department had to purchase chargers, the rechargeable batteries (about 144), storage cabinets and some more power strips. The total of these purchases was approximately $1,516.  Paul says they have had to replace a couple of chargers, but overall, these investments should last about eighteen months until the batteries need to be replaced. Compare this to the $14,775 the show would’ve spent on 39,936 disposable batteries during this same eighteen-month period – a huge savings in cost and a huge reduction of waste!

Paul is not sure if the rechargeable battery switch will always be completely beneficial for short-running shows: “If it is in a venue that has the same sound team from show to show, then sure. It really become a question of cost. If it does not at least break even, then it becomes a hard sell to the producers.” But with long-running shows, and shows with smart producers and employees that have a passion for recycling, as Paul puts it, “It saves money and reduces waste. A win-win.”

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Green Captains Program Expands Beyond Broadway

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Regional theatres everywhere are going green!

Building on the success of our popular Broadway Green Captain program– where the BGA has a backstage liaison at nearly every show– we are expanding the program to include off-Broadway and regional theatres.

Last spring we brought our Green Captain program to college theatre departments by working with New York University professor Chris Jaenig and his student, Franklin Swann, to develop a “kit” of ideas for greening college productions and a sample timeline for implementation.  Now we are working with our brand new off-Broadway committee (see below) to come up with an off-Broadway Green Captain kit that tweaks the Broadway model, adding things relevant to the off-Broadway world and broken down into separate venue and theatre company sections.

Going even further we are now taking our Green Captain program to regional theatres.  After the BGA was asked for greening ideas by regional theatres like Studio 1 in North Carolina and the Dr. Philips Center for Performing Arts in Florida we worked to turn our Green Captain kit into a useful guide for greening regional theatres. The regional kit includes a section highlighting the terrific greening programs already in place at several regional theatres to help inspire others to start their own greening programs.  Major green overhauls have taken place at theatres like La Jolla Playhouse in California where permeable pavement reduces water run-off in their parking lot and the Walton Center in Arkansas where the concessions have all been re-designed to reduce packaging.

Nearly a dozen Regional Theatre Green Captains are already in place and we have sent out an interest letter explaining the program to over 75 theatres across the country encouraging others to join.  We hope to eventually gather feedback from member theatres that will allow us to better tailor the kit to the needs of regional theatres.

If you know of an off-Broadway theatre or theatre company or a regional theatre who might be interested in learning more about the BGA Green Captain program, please let us know or encourage them to reach out to green@Broadway.org.

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Join Us for Our Upcoming Textile Drive!

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Using Rechargeable Batteries on Broadway

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance
by John Curvan and Danielle Heckman

Backstage at BILLY ELLIOT on Broadway.

Backstage at BILLY ELLIOT on Broadway.

As of October 2008, the Broadway company of WICKED switched from using regular alkaline batteries to nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeables in all of their wireless microphones.  They alternate between two sets of rechargeables to allow sufficient time for recharging.  These two sets of rechargeables generally last for ten months.

There are many ‘green’ benefits from using these batteries. With the old alkaline batteries, they used 38 AA’s per show. This resulted in 15,808 used batteries per year.  Now they only need to dispose of 96 NiMH batteries each year.  This will reduce, over the next five years, 78,560 batteries from entering the waste stream.  That works out to 3,959 lbs of solid waste – just a bit less than two tons!

The new batteries are also mercury-free, cadmium-free and lead-free.  They are in compliance with the European Union’s stricter RoHS standard (the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment).

The last green benefit is money.  They pay 29¢ for each alkaline AA battery.  That works out to $4,742 every year. The NiMH batteries are $2.65 per cell, and require five rechargers for $66.97 each.  Rechargeables cost $589.25 the first year and $254.40 each subsequent (each year they need new cells but not new chargers); this will save $22,103.15 over five years.

Julie’s Bicycle reports that rechargeable batteries have 32 times less impact on the environment (global warming, air & water pollution) than disposable batteries throughout their lifecycle, and that one rechargeable can replace 93 disposables.  The end result, of course, is that finite natural resources are reused, and the release of harmful chemicals (such as lead, mercury and cadmium) from improper disposal is prevented.

Add up the benefits – reliability, cost savings, greener profiles, and less pollution and waste – and it’s easy to see why better batteries is one of the wisest sustainability choices a production can make – and why theatres from as far away as Australia are reaching out to the BGA for information about how they too can go greener.

For more information, please look at our website BroadwayGreen.com, or email green@broadway.org with specific questions.

Broadway Shows Using Rechargable Batteries: 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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Expanding Plastics

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance
Expanding Plastics

Mayor Bloomberg at the press launch of Broadway Goes Green.

Mayor Bloomberg at the press launch of Broadway Goes Green.

by Noah Aberlin

Get ready to add all rigid plastics to your recycling bin-

NYC has expanded the residential recycling stream.

On April 24th Mayor Bloomberg announced that NYC will now recycle all rigid plastics. These newly included items go in the same clear bag or blue bin where all glass, metal, aseptic packaging (juice boxes, soy milks), and plastic bottles currently go.

Rigid plastics include yogurt cups, toys, hangers, cookie tray inserts, plastic cups, food containers, and more. Bloomberg said at a press meeting, “Starting today, if it’s a rigid plastic – any rigid plastic – recycle it…This means that 50,000 tons of plastics that we were sending to landfills every year will now be recycled and it will save taxpayers almost $600,000 in export costs each year.”

This announcement coincides with the development of the new recycling plant being built by the Sunset Park waterfront in Brooklyn, which will be the largest household recycling plant in North America. Because it takes 70 percent less energy to make plastic from recycled plastics instead of raw materials, it’s going to help further reduce the city’s carbon footprint. New York City will not only become more sustainable but will also create 100 jobs at the new plant. Plus, it will be powered by one of the largest solar installations in the city.

Keep a lookout for new recycling decals and posters that should be mailed to residences soon and remember it is recommended that New Yorkers should rinse out all containers before sorting them in recycling bins. While these new rules do not effect commercial recycling (i.e.: at the theatres) they do include the new Solar Big Belly public recycling bins that have been sited around town. There are 30 in the Times Square area so please seek them out and use them.

To recycle plastic bags, many supermarkets and drug stores have special collection bins. Film plastic (plastic wrap) does not recycle.

For more information and a detailed list of all recyclable materials visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/home/home.shtml

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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A Greener (and easier!) Approach to Stuffers

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

Post by Jennifer Marik, Wicked Stage Manager

Printing your own stuffers in house as needed, rather than ordering them in bulk in advance, saves a lot of money, is very eco-friendly and is very easy!  At Wicked, we have a high-speed copier, an industrial paper cutter and a cabinet full of 100% recycled paper.  With just these tools, we are able to generate a stuffer for each performance – including bios and headshots for new performers and all of the necessary cast replacements.  If it is just a bio, or two or three replacements, we are able to print eight inserts to a page (which at the Gershwin is 225 copies per show).  If we need to include more information, we can generally put it on a four-up (450 copies per show).  On very rare occasions, we need to print three stuffers to a page to accommodate multiple bios, headshots and replacements. Depending on the number of copies, we can usually print the stuffers in about ten minutes and cutting the stuffers takes less than five.  We have templates set up in the computer (which prints directly to the copier), so we are able to quickly modify the stuffer each evening when we do our paperwork at hour before half hour. Our ushers generally have the inserts in hand 15 minutes after that.

WICKED has been a partner of the BGA since its founding.

WICKED has been a partner of the BGA since its founding.

What if the copier goes down at an inopportune moment?  Or what if an actor calls out at the last minute?  We keep one show of each cast replacement option in our emergency stuffer stash, so we are able to cover these contingencies.  And if the copier were to go down on a two-show day, or over the weekend (which has happened almost never), we would use Staples or Kinko’s for subsequent shows.

In an effort to be even greener, we do not cut the emergency stuffers ahead of time.  With the paper cutter, if we need to use them, we can cut them very quickly.  If we don’t use them and the actor leaves the company, we end up recycling only a total of 200-500 pieces of paper per actor leaving the company – we can use them for printing in/outs, scrap paper, etc.  What used to happen instead was that we’d have to get rid of 7200 small pieces of paper per actor leaving – and more if they covered multiple parts.  One bonus of this system is that we no longer need to store hundreds of stacks of stuffers that might never be used.

In addition to being a greener way to do stuffers, and being much easier for the stage managers, printing your own stuffers saves money – a lot of it.  Wicked saves about $5000 a month: just by making a one-time purchase of that industrial paper cutter and a monthly rental of the high-speed copier.  And an added bonus to having the high speed copier – we can generate scripts and scores on demand in-house as well, which even saves us more money.

Broadway Shows using GREENER Stuffers:

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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TOP TEN WAYS TO GREEN-UP YOUR LIGHTING & SET DESIGN

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This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

HOW TO THINK GREEN-ER AS A LIGHTING DESIGNER

  1. Always design with greener lighting in mind.

  2. Always rehearse under energy-efficient lighting (exceptions for tech and dress rehearsals).

  3. Keep all dimmers, instruments and control gear clean and dust-free.

  4. Shut down all dimming gear at the source at the end of rehearsal/performance day.

  5. Power down moving heads & LED power supplies if they won’t be in use for more than one hour.

  6. Make sure all back-of-house, dressing room, and corridor lighting is energy-efficient (LED recommended) and operated by motion sensors.

  7. All running and marker lights should be LED.

  8. Install dimmable energy efficient sources for all of your front-of-house areas.

  9. Use the BGA’s Gel Project for donating and reusing lighting gels where feasible.

  10. Join the Broadway Green Alliance!

 

HOW TO THINK GREEN-ER AS A SET DESIGNER

  1. Create a greener studio: For model-making, choose cardboard over foam core, pulp board over illustration board, white glue over Twin Tak or other adhesive sheets.

  2. Printing: Ink cartridges are often over-packaged with plastic. Choose a printer that uses less or no plastic packaging for their inks. Recycle all ink cartridges. Use recycled paper, print front and back, or review documents digitally and don’t print at all!

  3. Build models out of packing materials like cereal boxes, pulp board & cardboard inserts, plastic packaging and cardboard boxes.

  4. Recycle all paper & cardboard used in the studio. Break down old models and reuse materials. Save models that can’t be broken down to be used as base structures for new models.

  5. Designing Greener: When approaching a project, think of the type of materials you want to use. Is there a more sustainable option for this material? What is the sheet-size of this material? Choose sizes that more closely resemble size of sheet goods so as to produce less waste.

  6. Spend some time researching sustainable material options. There are lots of options out there, so this will be an ongoing adventure. Start with one material and build your references slowly as greening can be an ongoing process as opposed to a major overhaul. This will help you incorporate sustainability into your current working process & schedule.

  7. Try to incorporate used materials into your designs. Look through shop stock materials, search groups like Artcube and Craig’s List for materials, shop at places like Build-It-Green and Film Biz Recycling. Include a visit to Materials-for-the-Arts if you are working with a not-for-profit organization. (see the BGA’s website for all of these resources and more or you can “Ask the BGA” @ green@Broadway.org)

  8. Recycle your set. When your show is struck you can post it on the Artcube list serve for others to claim. Or donate directly to Film Biz Recycling. Other productions, particularly off-off Broadway shows with limited budgets, could really use these materials. Reuse encourages creativity. The BGA can help you facilitate this.

  9. Reach out to others. Sustainability in theatrical design is a new & ongoing area of exploration. We can all learn from each other. Share your experiences with friends, colleagues and students. Twitter, Facebook and blogs are a great way to share greening tips.

  10. Join the Broadway Green Alliance! You will learn new ways you can improve your greening efforts. Attend workshops and meet others who have a passion for theater and a passion for the environment!

 

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

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