Chelsea's Festivity-Wide Eco-Challenge!

Here's a great and inspiring idea from Planet Connections Assistant Manager Chelsea (Green Initiatives/Charity Outreach) about a way that we, as a Festivity, can collectively make a positive impact on the environment!

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Going green can seem terribly overwhelming.  It's natural to wonder: how does anything I do possibly make a dent in any of these problems?  

However, one website made me feel a little less insignificant: www.onemillionactsofgreen.com.

This site not only sums up your impact on the environment, but creates a community of individuals and organizations who are trying to make a difference.  For the first time we can track and see the fruits of our labor.  We can create challenges for a group (for example... Planet Connections!).  We can choose a lifestyle change - even if it's only for a week - and see the collective progress we've made.  It illustrates how these small choices can cumulatively make a big difference.

Need some inspiration?  Here are current stats from the website:

U.S.
Total Acts of Green
186,265
Greenhouse Gases Saved

23,564,037 KG

This is equivalent to:

• taking 4,992 cars off the road for an entire year
• planting 23,564 trees
• replacing 871,868 light bulbs
  

Each costume and prop we recycle, each decision to use the Soda Stream instead of getting a soda can, each piece of scrap paper re-used - multiply that by the 40+ productions and reading in the Festivity....

Can you see where I'm going with this?

I'm sure we could top any group on the website (my competitive streak is showing).  Now increase that by the number of people working on each show, branch out to our charity partners, and now include our audience members...  We could definitely make a dent in those One Million Acts! 

ACTION ITEM: Now all we have to do is sign up! I've created a group named Planet Connections Festivity, which you can join after you log in. 

Suggest your eco-challenges to the Planet Connections Festivity Group in the comments section below!  

Trash Your E-Waste the RIGHT Way!

Do you have electronic equipment piling up at home?  Old cell phones, computer speakers and mice, a DVD player that no longer works?  (Yup, that last one is me.)

On Wednesday, February 23, Broadway Green Alliance is hosting an e-waste collection from 11AM-2PM on 45th Street & Broadway (Minskoff Theatre Walkway).   You can find info and factoids on their Facebook page.

For those who haven't heard of the BGA before, it was founded in 2008, as an industry-wide initiative to educate, motivate and inspire the theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally practices in theatre production and everyday life.  We heart BGA!

So, on your lunch break, consider disposing of electronic equipment in a safer, cleaner, more environmentally friendly way!  Because e-waste does NOT belong in a landfill!!!  Sorry for the bold font, but I'm passionate about this one.

Do you have other ways/places to recycle or repurpose your e-waste?

INSPIRATION ALERT: Well Worn Theatre Company

Love this story from Soweto, South Africa about theatre engaging young people (and older ones too!) in science and environmental studies.

The Well Worn Theatre Company, led by Kyla Davis, is founded on a strong environmental ethos.  Their current play, Pollution Revolution, teaches kids in schools about the tenets of environmentalism: reduce, re-use, recycle.

Davis said: "We want to inspire a new generation of South Africans to learn new habits and get them to guilt their parents into adapting their lifestyle (to be more socially and ecologically responsible).

You can read the full article here.

I love the energy that this company exudes, especially in their mission statement:

Well Worn is your dose of chaotic creativity in an increasingly uber-clean, sterilized, character-less, brand-spanking-new, made-in-elsewhere, air-conditioned world that we lately so often find ourselves surrounded by.

Do you know of other theatre companies bringing environmentally aware art into the classroom?  If so, tell us about it in the comments!

A Hoarder Makes Good

I am a hoarder.

There, I've admitted it.

But finally, this past weekend, I was able to put all the beautiful things I've been saving to good use!
On January 29, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity hosted a networking event at a fabulous apartment at The Plaza!  Wow.  It was pretty impressive.  (Even though we don't officially open until June, the PCTF staff is working hard to produce an amazing festival of live performance that's not only green but supports charities around NYC and beyond, to boot!)  We wanted to make sure that our staff bartenders got tipped and hopefully recoup some costs so we decided to put out a few donation signs.  [This might be something done at a fundraiser or networking event hosted by your company or production.]

The requirement?

1.  Must be Plaza-worthy (aka fabulous)
2.  Must be eco-friendly!

I went to my trusty box-of-saved-"trash"-and-other-good-stuff-that-I'll-need-someday to see what I could find.




Currently unused picture frames


                             


Materials from my (rarely used) craft folder!
This includes leftover wrapping paper, the front of a birthday card
and a free postcard that I picked up at Ikea four years ago.



I have way too many paint chips.  Way too many.

Combine all of these elements together and what do you get?

Et voila!

The best part (I think) is that we can use these again at future events!

What do you have in your apartment that could be re-purposed into something else?  Tell us in the comments!