Make your show ecofriendly

Having a dedicated individual or team helps drive the environment work forward. If you’re a staffed organisation, write the role into a job description. Your Green Champion will be someone who already takes an interest in green issues and has the capacity to spark interest in others. They can lead on making your show greener, but provide them with support, so their work is seen as positive and important by the whole team.

The Green Arts Portal is a free database of ideas and resources to help you become a greener arts organisation, developed by Creative Carbon Scotland and Festivals Edinburgh.

Visit the Green Arts Portal

Printing on recycled paper shouldn’t come at an extra cost, just ask your printer. Can you come up with innovative ways of publicising your show that allow for smaller, cheaper print runs? What about using ink stamps, or smartphone taps, or clever social media tactics?

The ideal is to make everything reusable – not only for extra dates for your show, but in the future. Build sets and use furniture that can have a future life. When reuse isn’t possible, use materials that are recyclable and low impact, like wood and card over polystyrenes.

Start to measure the carbon impact of your travel – the first step to improving your carbon footprint is knowing what it is. If you are not transporting a large amount of set and props to Edinburgh, try to travel by rail, bus or other low-carbon means. If you know you need to travel by road to bring your show, do you have other local Fringe-going shows or audiences you could split travel with?

While looking at accommodation in Edinburgh, think about the distance between the place you stay and where you would like to spend most of your time, and whether you could get to know our compact city more on foot or bike, as well as our cheap and extensive bus network.

• For more information about aviation and flying, you could have a look at Stay Grounded.
• Visit the You Well website for suggested walking routes.
• Visit the CycleStreets website for cycle routes.

Your approach to eating and drinking while in Edinburgh can significantly impact your carbon footprint. Try vegan or vegetarian meals instead of meat; avoid unnecessary food packaging where possible; bring your own reusable cup; avoid single-use plastic; and opt for seasonal, local and organic food as much as possible. Edinburgh has no shortage of locally sourced and healthy food options - give them a try!