5th Anniversary Report

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Alexandra Walker
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1 5th Anniversary Report

2 The Broadway Green Alliance educates, motivates, and inspires the entire theatre community and its patrons to implement environmentally friendlier practices. Printed on Recycled Paper (of course!)

History Mayor Bloomberg and the Broadway community at the launch of the BGA In June 2008, over 250 theatre professionals from every part of the community gathered for a Town Hall at the Gershwin

3 History Mayor Bloomberg and the Broadway community at the launch of the BGA In June 2008, over 250 theatre professionals from every part of the community gathered for a Town Hall at the Gershwin Theatre to discuss their nascent efforts to green Broadway. At that time, there was no place to go to find out how to make better environmental decisions on what paints to use for sets, which lighting instruments were more energyefficient, or how a production could use rechargeable batteries or focus on recycling when closing. Working with the support of Dr. Allen Hershkowitz and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), participants from that Town Hall formed a group called Broadway Goes Green, which was launched officially in November 2008 by leaders in the theatre community and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Today, as we celebrate our milestone fifth anniversary, we are known as the Broadway Green Alliance and are a thriving organization disseminating information on greening theatre from front-of-house to backstage, from Broadway to all across the country and around the world.

Mission The Broadway Green Alliance s mission is to educate, motivate, and inspire the entire theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally friendlier practices.

4 Mission The Broadway Green Alliance s mission is to educate, motivate, and inspire the entire theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally friendlier practices. The BGA operates as a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, as an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League, and, MOTOWN Green Captain Marva Hicks and BGA volunteers at our Fall 2013 Textile Drive along with Julie s Bicycle in the UK, as a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA is an inclusive alliance that learns from others taking environmental action and disseminates better practices throughout the theatrical industry. The BGA brings together all segments of the theatrical community, including producers, theatres in New York and around the country, theatrical unions and their members, and related businesses. Working closely with the NRDC, the BGA identifies and communicates better practices for theatre professionals and reaches out to theatre fans throughout the country. The BGA calls for everyone involved or interested in theatre to adopt better practices, recognizing that there is no best practice and all activities have an impact on the environment. Following the principles of our guiding partner, the NRDC, we understand that there is no litmus test for green activity but instead there is an opportunity to be

day. Our members have found Broadway Green Captains that, in making greener changes, there are huge opportunities to save money both immediately and after investment.

5 greener. Indeed, just as climate change does not result from one large negative action but from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. Our members have found Broadway Green Captains that, in making greener changes, there are huge opportunities to save money both immediately and after investment. Currently, all Broadway theatres are participating actively. There is a BGA liaison at nearly every Broadway show, as well as almost fifty off and offoff Broadway theatres, and colleges and universities around the country. Our quarterly collection drives draw contributions from dozens of shows and theatre companies, and result in the recycling of thousands of pounds of electronic waste and textiles each year. We have over 1,200 members, and growing participation in the off-broadway, regional, and college theatre communities.

The BGA focuses primary on the following six areas of theatre: Venues The most visible change of the last five years is the upgrading of marquee and roof sign lights at all 40 of the Broadway

6 The BGA focuses primary on the following six areas of theatre: Venues The most visible change of the last five years is the upgrading of marquee and roof sign lights at all 40 of the Broadway theatres to energy-efficient LED and CFLs. The famous white lights of Broadway are now greener just as Mayor Bloomberg promised at the 2008 launch. This one change saves energy, money, and over 700 tons of carbon a year. Though less visible than the outside lights, Broadway has changed a host of backstage practices as well. All Broadway theatres now have recycling programs and Energy Star appliances; many use dilution centers for cleaning fluids, and most use refillable water bottles and filtered water. Representatives from all of the theatre owners on Broadway come together on our Venues Committee. Working together and sharing information, they have committed to measuring their energy footprint as they also explore further energy saving measures for their venues. BGA members have made many improvements, including using environmentally friendly cleaning products, aggressively insulating heating pipes, installing bike racks, and coating roofs with reflective paint to reduce heat absorption. To help venues purchase greener house cleaning products, the BGA/ServCo purchasing program allows member venues access to significantly lower prices through aggregate buying of greener supplies from Staples.

rebates available to assist in paying for them.

7 In the coming year, the BGA will launch a Green Assessments program to help venues identify areas ripe for greener changes. Along with a detailed checklist, a BGA expert will be available to tour theatre venues and recommend green improvements, as well as help identify the incentives and rebates available to assist in paying for them. Pre and Post-Production The BGA promotes sustainable design choices and building practices from inception through strike. Led by Tony-winning set designer Donyale Werle and LEED-certified shop owner Robert Usdin, this committee has supported the recycling or reuse of sets from closing Broadway shows, saving from landfill over

8 85% of materials during surveyed periods. The Pre/Post Production Committee has organized workshops on sustainable design choices, established a pilot program for recycling lighting gels from Broadway shows to regional and off-broadway theatres, organized workshops for scenic and lighting designers, as well as a forum for directors and choreographers looking to get greener. This committee addresses the concerns of set, lighting, costume, projection and sound designers, as well as technical directors, artisans, technicians, and shop managers. This year the committee is launching the Greener Lighting Guide, which will allow theatre professionals to compare the performance, cost and environmental specifications of stage lighting instruments. Production At the first rehearsal of Broadway and off-broadway shows, the Actors Equity Association business representative asks for a volunteer from the cast to be that production s BGA Green Captain. These Green Captains are the go-to people backstage for information and encouragement for getting greener. Once the show moves into the theatre, the Green Captain can be MACBETH Green Captain Alan Cumming anyone involved in a production. Past and current Green Captains have ranged from assistant prop masters and other backstage crew to stars like Bryan Cranston, Alan Cumming, Hugh Dancy, Montego Glover and Carol Kane. The BGA reaches out to every Green Captain with a Welcome Kit of

9 useful hints, a backstage greening checklist, and a list of the recycling collections that we run. Green Captains post ecotips, encourage shows to use rechargeable batteries, maintain collections for the re-use and recycling of certain items, and explain the details of a theatre s recycling program to fellow cast and crew members. Many Green Captains also join the Twitter fun, tweeting during green #SIPs Saturday intermission pictures about the ways they get greener backstage. We also have Green Captains at all of the major theatrical unions including Actors Equity; IATSE/ Local 1; American Federation of Musicians Local 802; Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local 764; ATPAM and SDC. Five years ago, there wasn t a single Green Captain on Broadway; today there are more Green #SIP tweet from the cast of NEWSIES than 40 on Broadway alone. Now nearly every show and theatrical union has a goto person for hints, encouragement, and answers to questions about getting greener. And now that this role is an accepted and anticipated part of every production, new Green Captains are stepping forward to volunteer. Our Production Committee also runs our popular binder exchange and our community-wide recycling collection drives. The committee meets monthly to continue outreach to all of Broadway s running shows to encourage them to find ways to get even greener.

The binder exchange (housed at the BGA office at Broadway Cares and at Actors Equity) allows anyone to borrow used binders at no cost, thereby reducing the expense and waste of

The BGA also operates collection bins for recycling textiles both at our BGA office and in the Actors Federal Credit Union at Actors Equity, as well as at the Wardrobe Union, Local 764.

10 The binder exchange (housed at the BGA office at Broadway Cares and at Actors Equity) allows anyone to borrow used binders at no cost, thereby reducing the expense and waste of continually purchasing and disposing of new binders. The BGA also operates collection bins for recycling textiles both at our BGA office and in the Actors Federal Credit Union at Actors Equity, as well as at the Wardrobe Union, Local 764. Education With the help of Paul Brunner of Indiana University and Michael Mehler of Allegheny College, the BGA has begun working with colleges and universities to help green their theatre departments. In 2013, the BGA launched its College Green Captain program as USITT. Michael Mehler and Donyale Werle at the USITT 2013 Conference

11 More than 100 students and faculty, representing over 50 institutions, signed up and received our College Green Captain kit. Touring/Regional The BGA works with touring productions to encourage them to stay green as they tour and to get information back to us about how green different venues are. Many touring venues have become greener, often in innovative ways. We share better practices employed on Broadway with theatres around the country, and vice versa. We also distribute a survey of touring venues to identify greening actions at venues across the country. These surveys, called the Touring Scorecard, have begun to be returned from touring Green Captains and the data is being entered into a survey-tracking document and analyzed. Since early 2008, many touring shows have participated in the Touring Green program, operated by Clark Transfer. Touring Green participants have invested in wind generators, methane digesters and other projects offered by NativeEnergy, offsetting over 15,000 tons of carbon emissions.

In 2013, we also opened our Green Captain program to regional theatres and created a Green Captain kit customized for greening regional theatres.

12 In 2013, we also opened our Green Captain program to regional theatres and created a Green Captain kit customized 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. 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. This year, we hope to eventually gather feedback from member theatres that will allow us to better tailor the kit to the needs of regional theatres. Outreach Fun at the BGA table at Kids Night on Broadway The BGA is proud and grateful to be a part of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. We participate in fundraising initiatives for BC/EFA and produce green merchandise, which repurposes materials from Broadway shows. Our guitar string bracelet program (where Broadway musicians donate their used strings that are made into lovely bracelets by Wear Your Music) has been thriving at ONCE, where the

bracelets are sold during the BC/EFA Collection Period each Spring and Fall. The BGA had its first 100% recycled bonnet at the 2013 Easter Bonnet event.

aware. We work with the Tony Awards each year to make the awards ceremony as green as possible.

13 bracelets are sold during the BC/EFA Collection Period each Spring and Fall. The BGA had its first 100% recycled bonnet at the 2013 Easter Bonnet event. Every year, the BGA has a table at the Broadway League s Kids Night on Broadway event where we play green games with attending children and educate them about ways to become more environmentally aware. We work with the Tony Awards each year to make the awards ceremony as green as possible. We have a Tony Awards Green Captain in the production office and have worked with the venues to purchase green energy and offsets for the telecast. BGA Co-Chairs Charlie Deull and Susan Sampliner Thanks to our close partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the BGA has become a leading resource for information about greening in the theatre world and ideas for better practices in each area of theatre production. The NRDC has now teamed up with the Broadway Green Alliance to create the NRDC Theatre Greening Advisor an online guide to help theatres across the country implement eco-intelligent

practices. This free tool provides BGA members and allies with valuable and detailed information on all elements of greener theatres and productions.

14 practices. This free tool provides BGA members and allies with valuable and detailed information on all elements of greener theatres and productions. The NRDC Theatre Greening Advisor will help theatres continue to commit to energy efficiency, recycling programs, waste reduction, water conservation, smart paper purchasing and use, and other smart operations, usually resulting in cost savings. In 2013 we began working with the off- Broadway League and the Alliance of Resident Theatres- New York. We quickly assembled a group of a dozen committed leaders and expanded our Green Captain Off-Broadway Greening Committee Blythe Danner, KINKY BOOTS Green Captain Adinah Alexander, and cast members from AVENUE Q visit our 2014 E-Waste Rally Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski program to this community. We are happy to announce that we currently have over 45 off and off-off Broadway Green Captains and have already had a green design workshop, and plan for others in the coming months. International Green Theatre Alliance In 2012, in partnership with the UK s Julie s Bicycle, the BGA launched a new international consortium, the International Green Theatre Alliance (IGTA), dedicated to improving environmental sustainability across the theatrical sector around the world. The mission of the IGTA is to inspire direct industry-wide action for positive environmental change. The focus of the IGTA is threefold: to collect and publicize the

efforts of environmentally like- minded theatre organizations worldwide; to disseminate the most current, reliable, and relevant information about best practices at the individual and institutional

15 efforts of environmentally like- minded theatre organizations worldwide; to disseminate the most current, reliable, and relevant information about best practices at the individual and institutional levels; and to generate a network of global support for greening efforts throughout the theatre industry. We look forward to welcoming as members other national or international groups focusing on sustainable theatre in other countries. Canada and Australia look poised to join in 2014, expanding our coverage to a large portion of the English-speaking theatre world. At the BGA we believe that cultural institutions can help lead the way and encourage CINDERELLA Green Captain Harriet Harris with Laura Osnes others to find more environmentally friendly ways to thrive. Broadway is a much greener and more environmentally aware place today, and the Broadway Green Alliance promises to be there for the next five years and beyond leading the way to a brighter, greener future. We eagerly look forward continuing our mission to make Broadway -- and the world -- a bit greener!

16 Get Involved Join the BGA: Become a Green Captain Volunteer with the BGA Sign Up for our quarterly newsletter The Green Sheet HARVEY Green Captain Carol Kane Have other ideas and questions? Contact us by ing green@broadway.org Donate Now: Give to the BGA through Broadway Cares: Buy Tickets: See your favorite show and give back to the BGA when you buy through Givenik: Buy Merchandise: Go green with sustainable products from the BGA:

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