A trip to the theatre is generally considered to offer escapism. So if it’s the burden of planetary responsibility you’re trying to escape, you might think twice before heading to the Dominion Theatre, currently showing We Will Rock You. Having just won the London Mayor’s Extra Mile Award for Innovation in Creating a Sustainable Workplace, it is tackling green change head-on.
Down a gin and tonic in the bar and you’ll spot recycling bins for paper, plastic, glass and aluminium. Lose your mobile phone down the side of a seat and it will be carted off to lost property; if unclaimed, it will be given to a recycling scheme that pays £10 to charity for each phone.
Such trailblazing devotion from one of London’s largest West End theatres is well worthy of the prize. But then, I would say that, as I voted for it. I was a judge on the panel with fellow eco-experts a few months back.
Sifting through the entries, I was also impressed by the Metropolitan Police Service. Over the past year it has almost tripled its purchasing of recycled products, from furniture to animal bedding, for the force’s obedient mutts.
Meanwhile, accountancy firm KPMG buys 90 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, saving 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted. To win over employees, it has introduced Fairtrade wine-tasting evenings, which struck me as particularly innovative.
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But it was the theatre that leapt out. Mainly because its commitment to change came from staff: front-of-house staff, bar workers and sound technicians were united in their calls for broader recycling facilities.
It’s not the only arts venue in the capital to dabble in greenery. This year’s Frieze
Art Fair worked closely with the recycling organisation Closed Loop London, and Chickenshed, a theatre company in North London, has been praised by the London Environment Centre for cutting by half the rubbish it sends to landfill.
Now it’s up to others to take their cue.