Orchestras
In 2010 Julie's Bicycle published our Green Orchestras Guide, unpacking actions that the orchestra sector can take to start greening their activities. Here we summarise the key recommendations from the report and signpost resources that can help you reduce your environmental impact, while still maintaining a creative and flourishing orchestras sector.
To start with...
1. Engage your Board
Ask them to issue a statement of environmental commitment, and set up a Green Team giving staff members responsibility for implementing environmental initiatives. Feed back on progress at board and staff meetings, and celebrate achievements.
2. Get an environmental policy
Develop and adopt an environmental policy that sets out what you’ll do to reduce your environmental impacts, and set targets for this acitivity. Check out our Environmental Policy Guidelines for some help and feel free to pick up the phone!
3. Measure your impacts
Use our IG Tools (free carbon calculators) to calculate emissions for office and venue spaces, as well as for planning and analysing your touring impacts. If you're permenantly based in a venue, ask the building manager to use SMEasure to monitor weekly energy use over time in offices and where possible rehearsal and peformance spaces. Read our Green Your Building Guide.
4. Buy green
Commit to sustainable procurement – try to buy goods and services from suppliers with environmental credentials. See our Green Suppliers Database for ideas, and encourage your existing suppliers to sign up! Read our Sustainable Procurement Guide.
5. Sustainable printing
Use less printed materials where possible and if you must print, use recycled or FSC certified paper and sustainable inks. Read the 'printing' section in our Sustainable Merchandise Guide for more infomation.
6. Improve recycling rates
Read our Green Your Building guide for ideas on how to do this.
7. Use green venues
Work with venues that have good environmental credentials. Go to our Green Database to see which venues are going green – if your chosen venues aren’t on there, ask to see their environmental policy and encourage them to sign up. If they don’t have one ask why not, and put them in touch with us.
Work with venues to improve energy performance, such as looking at lower impact lighting and heating options, and most crucially, communicating public transport options to audiences. Signpost our Green Your Building Guide and Communicating with Audiences.
8. Green your tour
Use the Julie’s Bicycle Green Rider in performance contracts, and/or include a clause on sustainability. Download the Green Rider.
Use our IG Tool for touring to measure and manage your environmental impacts while on tour.
9. Travel green
Try to use public transport where possible, and explore more group travel options while on tour.
10. Tell everyone about it
Communicate environmental commitments, impacts and actions internally to staff as well as your funders, audiences and industry peers, and let them know what you’re currently doing to reduce your environmental impacts - disclose your carbon footprint on your website and list your environmental policy and initiatives there too.
