Last month, Watershed, Bristol Old Vic and Colston Hall declared climate emergency. Diverse City joined the movement earlier this year too by joining Culture Declares Emergency.
This month, we created a Diverse City Climate Emergency working group to make our company, our work and our world more sustainable
This blog is our pledge. It lists our current commitments and the new ones we want to make to better sustain our future world.
What we already do
- We limit our energy consumption: We do not have a central office. Remote working means we share space with collaborators, work from home and work in public spaces
- We reduce our carbon footprint: Remote working reduces daily commuting: Instead of meeting face to face, we use online platforms like Skype, Zoom and Slack. We recognise the carbon footprint of email and avoid using it internally
- We limit waste and recycle: We aim for digital over print marketing campaigns, we avoid single use plastics in meetings and on tour. We celebrate individual efforts to reduce personal consumption such as the wearing second hand clothes and avoiding new purchases
- We create sustainable partnerships: Our touring partner Cirque Bijou has strong sustainability commitments. You can read them here.
- 100% of the food we offer at meetings is vegetarian and vegan and we limit plastics at Team Sprints and away days by cooking most meals from scratch.
- We track our carbon footprint: Every member of the team tracks and reports on their work travel. As an NPO, we commit to Julie’s Bicycle‘s environmental reporting requirements.
- Our work reflects all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our purpose is to increase diversity and inclusivity in the performing arts and this strongly relates to “Goal 10 – Reducing Inequalities”.
What we want to do
- We will further our reusing and recycling work: Our youth company EBYA have committed to recycling costumes from their two previous shows to re-make them for future shows. We will create a “Reusable Items” Trello board where employees can list items they are looking for and items they want to give away.
- We will support the planting of trees to offset our carbon footprint: We are encouraging Diverse City employees to use Ecosia. The search engine uses advertising revenue to plan trees. In addition, we reached out to Sustainable Swanage earlier this month. The charity is supported by Dorset County Council, Extinction Rebellion and other local groups. We will be meeting soon to see how we can support them as a Dorset-based company.
- We are making a pledge to be Oil Sponsorship Free: Diverse City will not take any oil, coal, or gas corporate sponsorship for our work. We call on our peers and partners to refuse fossil fuel funding too.
- We will assert our climate emergency responsibility: The emergency will be an item on every company team meeting and production meeting agenda.
- We will encourage our partners to reduce their carbon footprint: We will advocate the use of online communication platforms instead of travelling to meetings or emailing. When meeting face to face is essential, we will encourage the use of public transport.
What you can do
- Julie’s Bicycle are giving a free online webinar called “Culture Beyond Plastic” on December 5, 3:00pm-4:00pm. The event is now fully booked but you can join the waiting list.
- Check out Possible Culture who share resources to help others tackle Climate Emergency. Their activities are delivered with support from Climate Museum UK, another great source of information and inspiration.
- Do you have ideas for actions that tackle fossil fuel relationships with cultural organisations? Contact the Art Not Oil coalition on [email protected] to discover what is already planned and what you could support.
