Becoming eco economically

You are a busy arts manager with an overflowing in-tray, a season of events to organise and a budget that’s been battered by cuts. You’ve probably just snatched a few minutes to read through AP and the last thing you need to hear is that you now have to make your organisation green, too. Surely this can wait until next year, or the year after? However, I’m sure I am not alone in being bothered by the sight of props discarded in a skip, or exasperated by a light left on. As well as having a personal desire for our industry to limit its impact on the environment, environmental and energy management can help to stretch every pound further.

One of the most cost-effective ways to improve your environmental performance is to tackle the habits and working practices of staff. Energy management specialists say that most organisations could save 15–20% of their energy costs by adjusting internal practices. This task is already being undertaken by a number of arts organisations across the UK. The following text aims to provide a basic plan to help get you started with environmental sustainability, without adding too much to your in-tray or budget.

Step 1: Find a leader

Joanna Read, Chief Executive of the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, identified strong leadership as one of the main drivers behind a successful sustainability strategy. She advocates making sure that changes are led right from the top of the organisation. If you would like to see your organisation change, but are in a position of limited authority, do your best to get one of the managers or directors behind you.

Step 2: Start with an easy project

All organisations I spoke to agreed that the best starting point is to make the easiest change you can find and then grow from this point. Suggestions for quick-win projects ranged from turning the heating down to installing light sensors in corridors, and even to introducing a chocolate-based reward scheme for switching PC monitors off! Introducing weekly monitoring of energy and water use was one of the starting points for Hall for Cornwall. This enabled the venue to relate usage to the constantly changing activity in the building and to more easily identify areas of waste. If you are looking for further ideas, there are plenty of resources and guidance available on the websites of organisations such as Julie’s Bicycle and the Carbon Trust.

Step 3: Consider investing to save

Oliver Langdon, of the environmentally sustainable company Kilter Theatre, was keen to point out that sustainability should start with reducing unnecessary waste rather than spending lots of money on new or replacement appliances. Switching a light off is better than swapping it for a low energy alternative. That said, once equipment is used more efficiently, there are still savings to be made. The corridor outside my office has four halogen lights fitted in the ceiling – the sort that you would see in almost any venue. The corridor has few windows, meaning that the bulbs are frequently left on for up to 10 hours a day. At 50 watts per bulb, the four lights cost about £60 a year to run and produce a volume of CO2 equivalent to driving a car about 850 miles. If they were replaced with LED bulbs that give the same amount of light while running on 4 watts each, this would give a 92% saving – £57.50 per year. The first year’s saving would pay for the new bulbs. As these bulbs last for around 15 years, the savings would keep rolling in each year.

Step 4: Keep the momentum

Not everyone in an organisation will appreciate being asked to alter their habits and you may find that some will refuse to change. Joanna Read employed a mixed arsenal of good communications, humour and constant reminders to get her less enthusiastic staff on board. Asking people to wear more clothes, rather than turning on the radiators, proved to be a difficult point, as did encouraging the accounts department not to print everything on a new sheet of paper. However her persistence, powered by a strong personal belief that this is the right thing to be doing, is paying off.

Step 5: Publicise your work

Publish your sustainability strategy on your website and don’t miss the opportunity to inform your audiences and the press of changes you have made. After starting to implement its strategy, the Hall for Cornwall entered the Cornwall Sustainability Awards, gaining a ‘Highly Commended’ award and valuable public profile.

As a final question to each of the organisations, I asked for the main piece of advice they would give another organisation wishing to improve their environmental practices. “Just start,” was the advice that came back. “Start somewhere, anywhere you like and start as soon as possible.”

Read Linsday’s round-up of ten environmental sustainability projects being undertaken by arts organisations from across the UK by clicking here.