North East London

Arcola Recieves Green Tourism Gold Award

Arcola, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arcola Theatre is delighted to announce that it has achieved Green Tourism Award Gold standard. Sustainability Projects Manager, Rachel Carless, and the rest of the sustainability team worked hard to fulfil the rigorous set of criteria set out by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), who came to carry out an audit at the end of April. Arcola is now the first theatre in the UK to achieve a Gold award in Green Tourism and is proud to be recognised as ‘a strong local catalyst in greening North East London (Hackney and surrounding districts)’.

The GTBS, developed by the International Centre for Responsible Tourism and validated by Visit Britain, is the largest of its type in the world, and since 1997 has worked to make tourism and the hospitality industry in the UK more sustainable. The audit covers areas such as energy efficiency, waste minimisation and recycling, use of local produce, and support of public transport, its overall aim to encourage sustainability in business and provide the consumer with a ‘green’ choice.

Attempting to improve on the Bronze Award, received in 2008, the sustainability team had a number of issues to address including improving links with other GTBS members (e.g. Arts Admin), developing better systems for measuring the theatre’s energy use, and sourcing greener cleaning products. In the GTBS’ audit report, special mention was given to Arcola’s success in communicating the green message, in particular through the Green Sundays events and the green notice board up in the café/bar. Reaching the GTBS’ Gold standard is recognition of Arcola Theatre’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and its goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral theatre.

The Green Tourism audit report can be viewed here.

Go to Arcola Energy

UK Gold Award: “And the winner is…”

news, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reprinted from PR Log: “Theatre Honoured with Top Award for Putting Environmental Issues Centre Stage” May 19, 2010

The Arcola Theatre in Hackney, East London has become the first theatre in the UK to achieve a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

Founded in 2000 the Arcola, in Arcola Street, London E8, is regarded as one of the leading arts venues in the UK. Now, it has become a leading light in the campaign to reduce London’s carbon emissions by 60 per cent before 2025 by investing in series of innovations and and an ongoing project to educate visitors on sustainability.

“We are trying to become the world’s first carbon neutral theatre.” said Dr Ben Todd, Executive Director with the Arcola Theatre in London.

“We are in a very old dilapidated building so we’ve done lots of work in house. That’s involved changing our suppliers, turning things off and putting in some fairly advanced technology for demonstrations.

“We are in fact the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered theatre and we’ve done some shows where we’ve run purely on hydrogen. Which in itself isn’t directly green but it helps to persuade lighting designers that they need to seriously cut the amount of lighting they use.

“We’ve managed to put on a theatre show here on five kilowatts which is about 70 per cent less than you would normally use,” said Dr Todd.

GTBS members are assessed on 145 separate measures by qualified advisers before being awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold grading, making it one of the most scrupulous green accreditation schemes in the world.

To achieve a Gold grading from GTBS members have to demonstrate a number of practical measures which have improved energy savings and promoted sustainability.

“The Gold Award for the Arcola is a strong catalyst in greening North East London, including Hackney and surrounding districts,” said Jon Proctor, Technical Director of the GTBS.

“The most progressive areas for the business relate to how they communicate the green message to the community. The theatre hosts monthly green Sundays which are popular and very well designed.

“The Arcola staff have taken a lead on Green tourism in the area having been an excellent advocate of the scheme through presentations and demonstrations and they continue to drive sustainable development through a mix of highly innovative projects such as LED lighting and hydrogen fuel cells as well as simpler products such as a vegetarian restaurant.

“There are still areas for further improvement but the business has tackled all the issues which can be tackled directly and remains an inspiration to the community and the whole industry. As the first theatre in the UK to gain a Gold Award we hope further promotions will follow.”

ShareThis

Go to the Green Theater Initiative