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Props departments are best know for their unending storage caves with hundreds of mementos from past productions lining the walls, and narrow footpaths snaking through arrangements of furniture and home decor. There is a special place in my heart for the mystical props storage building, but since I’ve started the path to sustainable living, I’ve started thinking more about the lifecycle of all the junk we keep in the unseen corners of the theatre. It’s true, most props and scenic departments have a good commitment to keeping and reusing objects over and over again, but there is more to practicing sustainable theatre than hoarding every thrifted item in the hopes to use it in a future production. This post aims to uncover ways we can create more sustainable props departments within our theatre community. If you want to learn more about sustainable theatre, you can read my post entitled Theatre and Environmental Degradation as well as my post on sustainable stage management.
Throughout this series, I have used How Bad Are Banana’s (buy from Bookshop.com or Amazon), an index of the carbon emissions for common activities, in order to detail the the environmental impact of our theatre-making lives. In this post, and in future posts for this series, I will talk more about the detriments associated with the production and consumption of materials and how our consumerism takes form in the theatre industry. For this topic, I commonly reference Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff (buy from Bookshop.com or Amazon), a video-series-turned-book I fell in love with at the wee age of 13. I highly recommend both of these books to help us fully understand how we play a part in the degradation of our environment through consumerism, both as individuals and as theatre makers.
ways your props department may be creating waste…
throwing props out after a production
I know this is counterintuitive to everything I just stated above, but it’s still true that some props get thrown away after a production. Usually these are props that are overused or that may not have a place in future productions. As we know, these discarded props end up in landfills or other harmful waste disposal systems, which then contribute to habitat pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (Annie Leonard, 2010).
purchasing new items
As the discussion about sustainability gains traction, we continue to learn about the problems with feeding into a consumerist system. With new manufacturing techniques and a demand for cheaper products, waste associated with creating new products has skyrocketed (Annie Leonard, 2010). Not only that, but many of the laborers who make these products are paid a fraction of a fraction of a living wage, and they work in life-threatening conditions (The True Cost, 2015). When we choose to buy something new, we are creating a demand to make more of that product, and often directly funding dangerous and underpaid labor as well as wasteful manufacturing processes.
travel
I’ve already discussed the hefty carbon emissions associated with employee travel to and from the theatre, but a different kind of travel demands our attention when it comes to props. Shipping goods and supplies to the theatre uses up tons of fossil fuels, especially when products are shipped from another country. Many props budgets are not very large, which means that preference is given to cheaper items made in more industrial countries (again, with cheaper labor and dangerous working conditions). The preference for cheaper items means those items most likely will be shipped from across the world, emitting more greenhouse gases than items shipped from within a person’s home country. Moreover, shipping practices have become more about speed than efficiency: many companies that offer 2-day shipping or similar services are usually transporting goods in trucks that are nowhere near full. Thus, it takes more travel to ensure items arrive on time rather than shipping more items in a full truck all at once.
lack of planning
With props in particular, much of the on-site waste happens at strike. Closing a show involves quick decisions in a fast-paced environment. The show needs to come down so we can get the next one up; everyone’s time needs to be honored and the process needs to run as efficiently as possible. Without any forethought, it can be easy to just say “chuck it all” and be done with it. Without proper planning for how props will be treated after closing, there is a greater chance of throwing them in the trash (Broadway Green Alliance).
ways you can create a greener props department…
- Work with your department to draft a purchasing agreement. It can be as formal or informal as needed and it will list the requirements for any future purchases made by your company. Some stipulations outlined in the purchasing agreement can be that “the product is made using fair trade materials and labor” or “the product is made out of at least 75% recycled materials.” It can literally be anything agreed upon by your theatre in order to think more critically about the items purchased for a production (Broadway Green Alliance).
- Get crafty and reuse items you already have in stock first! Use your artistic abilities to transform already existing props rather than buy new products.
- One thing that will help in reusing old props is to create an inventory of what you have in stock. Being able to see what you already have is crucial to avoid buying new product because you forgot you already had the item.
- Rent props from other theatres in your community. Reach out to other companies to create a co-op for renting out each others’ props, set pieces, and even costumes. Not only does this help save the environment, it also helps your budget! Renting props is often cheaper than buy or making items new.
- When you can’t reuse or rent props, try to find the item locally and preferably already used. Antique and thrift stores are great resources for finding unique items at affordable prices. Plus, you would be supporting local business!
- Plan ahead for strike. All you need to do is go through the show props list and make notes about where those props are going once the show closes. If they aren’t going into storage, you can find a way to properly recycle the item or…
- Donate your unwanted props! There are always local schools with drama departments in need of donations (we all know how underfunded they are!).
- You can also search up www.set-exchange.com or www.greenclover.com. These companies are dedicated to exchanging set and props for theatrical productions (@GreenTheatreUK). Giving your props away is a great way to make sure they continue their life and are used to their fullest potential.
more resources for sustainable theatre…
Julie’s Bicycle
Julie’s Bicycle is a London based charity organization founded to help the creative community act on climate change and sustainability.
Broadway Green Alliance
The Broadway Green Alliance is an initiative created to educate, motivate, and inspire theatre practitioners and patrons to adopt more sustainable practices.
@GreenTheatreUK
@GreenTheatreUK is an instagram account based out of the UK that shares tips and resources for theatres to make their practices more sustainable.
Staging Change
Staging Change is an artist-led, sustainable theatre network designed to support theatre practitioners who are responding to climate change.
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for further reading …
- Berners-Lee, Mike. How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2011. Print.
- Leonard, Annie. The Story of Stuff: [how Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change]. New York: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2010. Sound recording.
- Morgan, Andrew, Michael Ross, Lucy Siegle, Stella McCartney, Livia Firth, Vandana Shiva, and Duncan Blickenstaff. The True Cost. , 2015.
