Getting Into Bed With the Environment

Sydney’s theatre scene is starting to take notice of the carbon emissions it is releasing as a result of its day-to-day activity. Some within the industry are now trying to set an example for the rest and are now putting their money where their mouth is. Arts Hub speaks to one producer who is already in on the act – Rebecca Rocheford Davies.

What made you aware of the carbon off-set system?
Over the last couple of years, I have become increasingly aware of how much energy I was using and because of that my attention turned to Fishy Productions. I wondered what we could do to make less of an environmental impact. There were lots of things we could do, but some things like computers, stage lights, transport and air conditioners were unavoidable. So I did some research on-line and found a company that could off-set our unavoidable energy usage by creating wind and solar projects as well as planting trees.

What have you done to reduce and offset the environmental impact of the show?
For now, in addition to off-setting our carbon, we are doing everything we can think of and we are finding a lot of support in the Sydney business community. Whole Foods House has supplied all of our groceries and the floor was provided by Style Planation. Lexus took an ad in our program to promote their hybrids and we are finding there is a lot of interest in going green, not only from businesses but from people in general.

Our return season of Dinner With Friends was a bit of an experiment to see what we could do to lessen our environmental impact even further. We are an independant theatre company with a small budget, and we found that what we did was really easy and affordable. All of our promotional printing (fliers, posters, and programs) is produced on recycled paper. It only costs 20% more to use recycled paper. The floor of our set is bamboo. Bamboo floor looks like a hardwood, but because it is a type of grass, it grows quickly and is renewable. As well it is considered eco-friendly, especially when it replaces other timbers. All of our food props are organic and biodynamic when possible. We changed all the light bulbs in our rehearsal space to eco-friendly bulbs and we are composting and recycling our props every night.

Do you think that theatre and the performing arts are doing enough environmentally?
At this stage, I would say that we could all do more to think of ways to lessen our impact on the environment. I think most performing arts companies and individuals want to do something, they are just not sure where to start. All we have done at this point is to do what we can think of doing. The most surprising thing for us has been that it really isn't that hard to make a few small changes an all it takes is a little planning and forethought.

What are your environmental plans for your next show?
Our next show, This Is How It Goes by Neil LaBute, will be on at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company early next year. We plan on continuing what we have implemented so far and continue to look for new ways to conserve in the future.