<
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/arts/music/dutch-national-opera-green-deal.html>
"Opera is an art form made of other art forms: music, theater, dance, visual
art, film. It brings together performers, creative teams and audiences from
around the world for what, at its finest, is a glorious but ephemeral
experience.
Imagine, then, the carbon footprint for this grandest of performing arts.
It’s not just about the globalized nature of opera today. If companies want to
go green, they have to think beyond plane tickets to how productions are made,
what materials are used in costumes and sets, and how the theater operates.
They have to think about what food they serve, what dishes they use, and
whether water comes from glass or plastic bottles. They even have to think
about how audience members, often thousands at a time, travel to and from
performances.
In an age of tighter budgets and rising expenses, it can be difficult for
houses to know where to start. But the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam is
setting an example with the great leaps it has made in recent years toward
sustainability. The dream, distant for now, is carbon neutrality; the reality
may still be a work in progress, yet changes have been adopted with remarkable
speed.
Under the banner of its Green Deal program, the opera house has brought
sustainability to virtually every corner of its operation. This year, it even
updated its contracts for creative teams to include a commitment that their
productions use at least 50 percent recycled material.
“If an artist says, ‘Sorry, but I’m not interested in your Green Deal,’ that’s
fine,” said Sophie de Lint, who has been the director of the Dutch National
Opera since 2018. “We shake hands and move on. But that hasn’t happened. People
are actually
really open and want to go there.”"
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-health-center-rooted-in-nature/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
