Tag: Green Arts Day
Green Arts Day 2021
Thursday 19August was Green Arts Day, and we were proud to take part and use our social media to talk about what we have been doing, and how we support the work of others.
This year, Creative Carbon Scotland encouraged the Green Arts members, like Fife Contemporary, to use Green Arts Day to focus on the theme, Just and Green Recovery, and share Culture for Climate Scotland’s 10 steps towards a just and green recovery in the cultural sector. These steps have been developed to help the cultural sector reach Scotland’s 2045 target of net-zero emissions in a way that is collaborative, inclusive and just.
We shared content on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and reminded our audiences that we are committed to being as environmentally sustainable as possible. We have our own Climate and Environmental Policy, with nine aims:
- Minimise Waste
- Minimise Energy Use and Encourage Renewable Energy
- Encourage Accessible and Sustainable Transport and Travel
- Develop and Implement Sustainable Purchasing Policy
- Ensure the Effective Management of Other Resources
- Meet or Exceed Legal Requirements
- Control Pollution
- Protect and Enhance the Natural and Built Environment
- Promote Good Practice
We have been working on each of these aims to ensure that we are monitoring our carbon, making reductions, and advocating and helping others to do the same. As part of that we have launched a free, downloadable, Artists’ Environmental Resource, and a Sharespace for artists to share their own environmental practice. We also have a carbon statement, and a travel plan, to make sure that we place sustainability at the heart of our programme.
One of the things that 2020 highlighted is how we continue to bring our commitment to working towards being environmentally sustainable as an organisation into how we work from home. Many people made the switch to homeworking in 2020, and this is going to be a large part of how we work as an organisation going forward. Monitoring our carbon footprint at home is now part of our commitment to the aims and values of the organisation.
Green Arts Day 2019
It’s Green Art Day! Fife Contemporary is proud to be part of the Green Arts Initiative, and you might have noticed the Green Arts Organisation logo at the bottom of our web page. That means that we are committed to being as environmentally sustainable as we can be.
With help from Creative Carbon Scotland we have already implemented a number of energy and waste saving practices which makes our office and programme sustainable, and we are planning on more in the future.
During last year, we focused on reducing our waste. Like most people we already think, ‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’, and we have recycling bins in the office for any waste we can’t reuse. We extended this to ‘Avoid, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Dispose’, and thought of ways we could avoid creating waste, and how we then disposed of any waste we created.
Our ‘Think before you Print’ policy has reduced the amount of printing we do, and when we have to print, we make sure it is always double sided. We use scrap paper and old print material for making scribble pads for our own notes, and when that is being disposed of, we shred the notes to make packing material.
We recycle our office supplies as much as possible, reusing envelopes and boxes, as well as reusing files and folders instead of buying new ones. This has not only reduced waste, but has also saved us space when archiving.
Our office printers are monitored to make sure they are in good working order, and we recycle all our printer cartridges.
We are committed to reducing plastic use, and have already switched to using jugs and glasses of water when we can, and using the ecologically sound Vegware cups and spoons for all our events.
Our display equipment is reused for as many exhibitions as we can, even though our limited storage space can present us with challenges. When we no longer need an item, it is offered for use to another organisation or artist.
This year we are focusing on reducing our energy use, which means a change in the way we work, and our behaviour, in the office and beyond.
Our ‘Switch Off’ policy ensures that all unnecessary office equipment is switched off at the end of the day, reducing the amount of energy used, and when they aren’t needed (because of our lovely sunny Scottish weather), we switch off the office lights, and enjoy the natural light. We have also added a timer to our office heating, to prevent the area becoming over hot, and reducing our energy use.
The reduced heat is popular with the Fife Contemporary office plants, which help to improve the mental health of staff, and promote a healthier and more relaxed working environment. They also look lovely on our window-sill.
Next year we will turn our attention to reducing our carbon footprint by reducing our travelling. Come back next year and find out how we have planned and managed this.
Further information on Green Arts Day can be found at Creative Carbon Scotland.