Greening The Set Help Book-It "up-the-ante" on our green practices, while we transform The River Why from the page to our stage. Book-It’s scenic building has always been necessarily frugal, minimizing waste and maximizing recycling options. But we’re taking things a step further, digging deeper into our construction practices, examining ways in which we can make even more environmentally-friendly choices.
We’ve enlisted scenic designer Carey Wong to conceive a set incorporating recycled, reused and re-purposed materials, in an effort to raise environmental consciousness both in our audiences and in our own artistic process.
We will share what we learn along the way in the hopes it may be of use to other theatre companies interested in developing their own sustainable models of production.
Thanks to all that donated plastic bottles for our set Here's a sneak peek of the construction process -- bottle bottoms are transformed into a sculptural river.
Photos: top by Laine Mullen, bottom by Rachel Wilsey..
Computer animation by Doug James comparing the US rate of plastic water bottle recycling (approx. 100 bottles/second) to the non recycled rate (approx. 845 bottles/second) for 2005.
"This computer animation was made to raise awareness about bottled water, and its surprisingly poor recycling rates. Since its recent popularization, bottled water (in all its flavors) has become ironically one of the most consumed, yet least recycled beverages. For example, it is estimated that in 2005 alone approximately 30 billion plastic water bottles were purchased in the US, with only about 12% recycled (in part due to out-dated deposit laws), and the remaining 25 billion bottles land filled, littered or incinerated."
Book-It Repertory Theatre | Seattle Center House,305 Harrison Street | Seattle, WA 98109 | Box Office: 206.216.0833 | Administration: 206.216.0877 | email: info@book-it.org Book-It Repertory Theatre is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming great literature into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspiring its audiences to read.
