In our daily work

• Our offices have moved and the workspaces have been significantly reduced in size, which means we need to heat fewer rooms. 
• All our lights have been replaced by LED lighting, often with timers and motion sensors.
• We carefully separate our waste.
• Our staff lunch is completely vegetarian.
• We use sustainable toilet paper from The Good Roll.
• We use digital tools and technology consciously.
• We regularly evaluate the systems we use so that we do not use more digital infrastructure than necessary. Because fewer tools = fewer servers = less energy.
• The archive is stored as sustainably as possible. We remove documents from the cloud after a certain period of time.
• We print double-sided as standard.
• Where possible, we laminate with Rite in the Rain Paper instead of non-recyclable laminating sheets.
• We measure and evaluate the effects of our choices and translate them into new objectives.

Staff, creators, partners & theaters

• All employees of Het Zuidelijk Toneel endorse our green ambition. 
• New creators or partners are informed about our sustainability objectives and sign an agreement to comply.
• Sustainability is included in contracts with theaters and other venues.
• We share what we have learned with other organizations by speaking at events and through peer-to-peer learning. 

Production & technology

• We make sustainability ‘fun’ by making it an integral part of our artistic process. We do not see self-imposed restrictions as limitations, but as an invitation to creativity. In concrete terms, this means:
  • In 2025, we worked exclusively with non-material sets for our own productions. In other words, we built our worlds using only props, LED lighting, sound, and perhaps a puff of smoke. That was all we needed.
  • In 2026, we will play the game a little differently again: we will develop only one set for three performances. A challenge that forces us to be smart and playful in our creativity.
  • In 2027, our sets will be made from 100% recycled materials.
• In general, we always choose the option with the lowest possible ecological impact for props, sets, and technology. 
• Our set, costume, and lighting designers think smart and circular: they design based on what is already available and immediately consider a second life for each material. If we can't decide, we use our decision tree to make choices.
• We tour and transport electrically wherever possible.
• For location theater, we use fixed power or a battery instead of a diesel generator wherever possible.
• We only print scripts once during the rehearsal process.
• We use FSC-certified wood as much as possible for the construction of our sets.
• We no longer give flowers to the cast, crew or artistic team after premieres. Instead, we have opted for a sustainable and fun alternative. A wooden sign with the word “FLOWERS” on it is solemnly passed around at every premiere as if it were a fresh bouquet, or we collect the plastic flowers used in a play and distribute them with the same solemnity.

Travel & accommodation

• Where possible, our actors always travel by public transport to the theaters where we perform.
• We have Swapfietsen bikes to get from A to B within Tilburg.
• When taxis are used, trips are combined as much as possible.
• Technical staff travel to the theaters together as much as possible by carpooling or shared transport.
• During rehearsals, 50% of dinners are plant-based.
• When staying in hotels, we prefer hotels with a sustainability label if the price-quality ratio is the same.
• We only fly for distances of 700 km or more, or for journeys of more than eight hours. If air travel is necessary, we look at how we can make it as sustainable as possible and how we can limit its impact: keeping the team as small as possible, minimizing cargo, choosing the least polluting flight, and perhaps also offsetting CO2 emissions in some way.

Audience, marketing & communication

• We are increasingly focusing on online visibility so that we need less printed material.
• After our performances, we ask our audience to return their program booklets so that we can reuse them. 
• We offer digital programs as a sustainable alternative to paper.
• Our printed materials are printed on recycled or biodegradable paper as much as possible.
• We work with sustainable partners as much as possible.
• We limit the number of physical marketing materials and consciously opt for smaller print runs.
• Our website runs on servers powered by renewable energy instead of electricity from fossil fuels.
• We deliberately keep our web pages light and compact so that they consume less energy and load faster.
• We make our newsletters light and energy-efficient, with minimal heavy images.
• Through our communication channels, we regularly share stories and updates about our sustainability journey to inspire others and involve them in our choices.
• We ask our audience to travel to our performances sustainably, for example by promoting cycling or public transport in our communications.

As you can see, green production is an ongoing process. We continue to learn, adjust, and find new ways to make theater that is ecologically future-proof. To be continued, then.