Have you ever wondered how big a ballet company’s carbon footprint is? We have. We’ve monitored our areas of operation during a busy touring year, and we’ve calculated our carbon footprint. We hold our hands up – there’s room for improvement.

Scottish Ballet’s focus over the next two years is improving energy efficiency at our headquarters in Glasgow. We’re preparing to make the leap to carbon net zero, and we’re refining smaller sustainability steps too…

Next up in our environmental series, paper.

A 2020 report by SEPA revealed that 1.23 million tonnes of waste was incinerated in Scotland in 2019. That’s an increase of 72% from 2018. Reducing our contribution to landfill waste is clearly crucial and being prudent with paper is a good start.

Working online during the pandemic has shown us, and many other organisations, that there’s a different way of doing things. At Scottish Ballet we’re re-thinking the way we use paper, both at our headquarters and whilst on tour.

After trialing a digital souvenir programme, we found that demand for the printed version was still high. Many theatre-goers really treasure the printed programme and enjoy sharing it with friends. So, to reduce the impact of our souvenir programmes, we worked with our partners at J Thomson Colour Printers who source FSC stock paper, which means the woodlands used to make the paper have been managed in an environmentally friendly way. We’ve Carbon Balanced our print too, protecting and restoring threatened forests in the tropics.

Theatre tickets to the public are now digital. We’re trialling QR codes so that audiences can access cast sheets at our shows and schedules at our events.

Our supporters’ magazine is posted in bio-degradable polythene envelopes (no more window envelopes or cover letters) and it’s now available in a digital version too. We calculate the smallest print run, so there are no leftovers.

So, to sum up, here are our eight steps to keeping paper waste to a minimum:

• Switching to FSC certified paper
• Using carbon balancing in our print
• Posting bio-degradable polythene envelopes
• Offering digital versions of publications
• Encouraging staff to only print what we know we will use
• Using QR codes for cast sheets and event schedules
• Digital theatre tickets
• Removing bins from desks

Keep following Scottish Ballet’s climate change series to discover the small and big changes we’re making to our operations. We’d love to hear your tips and advice on our climate subjects too.