Reducing Emissions Through Reuse

The most straightforward way to reduce the carbon footprint of scenery is to minimize the use of new materials. The budget is the best place to start.

  • Set a target, e.g. no more than 50% new materials
  • Put a dollar value on stock items
  • Break your materials budget into three columns tracking stock, used, and new materials separately
  • Reallocate funds from materials toward labor and transport needed to source used materials
  • Save money on disposal – no more dumpsters!
Sample budget of sustainable set from Barnard College Department of Theater

Tracking Material Use

Each element of scenery can be estimated in terms of material use (stock, used, or new) during the budgeting phase. If you are working with an overall target, elements with higher proportions of new materials can be offset by the use of stock for others.

  • “Stock materials” includes pieces in storage and “sunk cost” materials from previous projects
  • Used materials are preexisting objects bought expressly for this project
  • Choose new materials that can become stock materials in the future

 

Sample breakdown for one scenic unit

Valuation of Stock

Stock scenery is typically treated as a zero-cost element, but that mindset actually leads to undervaluing it. Putting a dollar value on each item of stock, based on the cost of building from new materials, is a one-time exercise with several benefits:

  • Allows you to track use of stock in your show budget and assess the proportion of stock to new materials
  • Gives a more accurate indication of the scale of a show
  • Can help make the case for increased storage
Sample table of scenic unit values

Spend Money on People, Not Stuff

  • Your most precious resource is your team. Shifting to a more environmentally sustainable model can allow you to shift some of your budget from materials to labor – i.e., to pay your people more, and hire more local artists.
  • Reuse and non-toxic shop practices can take more time or labor. It’s important to consciously shift dollars from the material line to labor lines of your budget: i.e., spend money on people, not stuff.
  • This pivot to a ‘human centered’ spending can be an asset for grant-writing and fundraising.
Actor Christopher Pio

Shop Practices

  • Build for disassembly – put away the nail gun and use screws instead
  • Only use glue when necessary
  • Commit to sustainable materials choices – no plastic foams or toxic products
  • Find options for recycling lumber and hardware
  • Choose FSC certified lumber or Masonite over MDF or Lauan
  • Create bins for sorting hardware and recyclable materials at strike and in the shop
  • Use low VOC paint
  • Provide clearly distinguishable containers to separate wood scraps that can be recycled or burned versus those that must be sent to the landfill
  • Maintain an up to date inventory of stock scenery that can be offered to designers well in advance so that reuse of existing units is more likely
Sound Designer Almeda Beynon