Our long-term goal is to bring a ‘green mindset’ to everything we do, operationally and creatively, ensuring we work in as sustainable a way as possible.
We established our Beacon Green Team in 2015 to support our green ambitions and help us reduce reducing our carbon footprint. We record and monitor carbon emissions, as part of our Carbon Management Plan, and in 2015 we joined Creative Carbon Scotland’s Green Arts Initiative and follow their recommendations.
A reduction in gas consumption will have indirectly occurred in 2020, due to the venue being closed for a number of months, and during 2021 we will continue to develop our Building Management System for more efficient use.
In 2019, we began exploring the introduction of filtered water points around the building, encouraging further reduction in single use plastics. Compostable paper cups and plastic glasses are now in use and we switched to paper straws in our catering. We changed our brochure packaging from polythene to a compostable potato-starch alternative and we have explored options to introduce public recycling points within the Beacon
We installed energy efficient LED lamps in our lower concourse lighting, upper concourse lighting and lower theatre downlighting. Estimates show this will reduce energy consumption in these areas from 111,360 kilowatts to 14,166 kilowatts per annum.
Did you know that we won Creation Carbon Scotland’s competition for Green Arts Initiative members?
Our winning idea was to align our green practices with programmed activities so what better opportunity than an application for ‘seed funding’ to support our pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk!
We used the prize money to buy bean seeds for local schools to encourage participation in a green class
project. Once the seedlings had grown into mini beanstalks, we hosted a green arts workshop and
showcase at Belville Community Garden for the local schools and groups who took part.
We’re proud to be part of an initiative linking culture, creativity and climate action, helping everyone in Scotland to beter understand how to contribute to becoming a net-zero society.
Working in partnership with Belville Community Garden Trust, RIG Arts and Inverclyde Libraries and others, Beacon Arts Centre is one of seven hubs across Scotland, known as ‘Climate Beacons’ in an initiative funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Change and Culture Division, Creative Scotland and Museum Galleries Scotland.
The aim of the Climate Beacons is to bring together shared resources and knowledge and provide both a physical and vitual space in which members of the public, artists, culture sector professionals, environmental NGOs, scientists and policy makers can discuss and debate COP26 themes and climate actions that are specific to their local area. For the Inverclyde Beacon, of which we are part, the focus will be on the roles of climate change mitigation and adaptation as part of the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic of one of Scotland’s most economically deprived area.
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