NRDC and Broadway Green Alliance Team Up

Love the theatre?  On the board of your local theatre?  Know someone that works in theatre? Ever been to a theatre?

Two terrific organizations - The Broadway Green Alliance and the NRDC have teamed up to help theatre's be as green as possible.  This dynamic duo of organizations (BGA & NRDC) really know what they're talking about.
So you may ask.  Why should our theatre go green?
Good Question.  Here are three good answers.

1.  It's good for business.  Efficiency leads to cost savings.  Saving money is always good for the bottom line.
2.  It's good for the environment.  Less impact on the planet = better health for everyone.
3.  Brand Enhancement.  Everyone knows "green" is good.  Get that extra little bit of love from your patrons.  They'll know they're supporting "the arts" and doing the "right thing" for the planet.  It's win win.

Check out this simple list of tips for greening your theatre.
1. Establish an Organization-wide Environmental Policy
2. Have an Energy Audit Performed
3. Start Tracking Your Progress
4. Recycle More
5. Reduce Water Use
6. Use Less and Better Paper
7. Donate Food
8. Switch to Green Cleaning Products
9. Choose Green Energy
10. Involve Your Supply Chain

Want to learn more about how you can green your theatre?
Much more here.

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Buy Quality Stuff... it lasts longer and makes less waste

I wrestle with the battle between buying good quality stuff vs buying cheap stuff all the time.  I love quality made things.  But the temptation to buy "what I can afford at the moment" is always there.  It's there because... I'm a business guy.   Buying an item as cheaply as possible saves money which allows me to purchase other business items I need.  But the old saying... "Quality Cost Less In The Long Run" is true.   It's true for both the cost to your bottom line and the cost to the environment.  Ultimately we use fewer resources and waste fewer resources, when we choose to buy quality items.  Here's a fascinating blog post in the New York Times by  Carl Richards that supports a personal rationale for buying quality stuff that lasts a long long time. Buying quality products reduces waste. If you can't afford the quality item right now... just hold on until you can... then buy it. Maybe if we did this... repair shops would pop up all over (driven by the market) to service these high quality items. This in turn would produce even less waste... and that would be awesome!

Why Entertainers Are Magic...

One of the things great entertainers do is create magic. It's not necessarily magic that involves a trick or an illusion. It's the creation of warmth and genuine connection with a large or small group of people. Everyone in the room shares a brief moment of happiness and joy, and they do it together. This glass (with a broken egg in it) is all that's left of such a performance. It's a single broken egg in a long stemmed glass. Mark and Nani Wilson left it behind after a magical performance a few nights ago. The performance - in Ventura California - was momentary... fleeting... But the shared magic and the beauty of the moment... will linger as long as memory does. Every day good entertainers do this. They connect. They make the heaviness of life less heavy. As far as I'm concerned... that's a real good thing.