Are Playbills environmentally friendly?- Page 3

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/19/19 at 4:34pm

Pashacar said: "@Fosse76, thanks for this wonderful post, bringing some sense to this messy discussion.

Especially grateful for this: "Since most theater patrons are too stupid to put recyclable items in the correct bins therefore mixing with actual garbage, recyclable goods are minimal.""

Irony? Not much "sense" in the pointless attack on theater-goers. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 8/19/19 at 5:47pm

I'm usually liberal hippie-dippie about the environment... but paper waste issues are over-amplified. Trees for paper are farmed. It's very controlled. Paper is recyclable and biodegradable, unlike single-use plastics.We're not causing the demise of the amazon rainforest due to using paper. Most forest land is being ruined to make space for more pasture for livestock. So long as you recycle your playbills, you're fine. Use them for fire kindling or something. 
 

Updated On: 8/19/19 at 05:47 PM

[Pashacar]

Posted: 8/20/19 at 3:56pm

joevitus said: If you were to get rid of them and encourage people to read the info online, you'd probably end up creating more pollution by the excessive use of energy by internet users. You'd be moving the problem laterally, but not clearing it up. The paper not used to print Playbills anymore would be used for other ephemeral items instead."

Are you just trolling, or do you actually believe that a few million website hits have an equal impact on the planet as printing nearly a billion pages on paper, shipping them in fossil fuel-powered vehicles, and disposing of them largely in landfills?

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/20/19 at 10:14pm

If you in fact look at the repercussions of using your laptop, and what damage the frequency of laptop usage does, in terms of the environment, you can see the additional damage such a move would make--in a way that offers no positive solutions, whereas the "waste" of paper can be surmounted by recycling.

Love that you're a "you must be trolling because your opinion varies from mine" form of accusation. 

[Pashacar]

Posted: 8/21/19 at 12:23pm

joevitus said: "If you in fact look at the repercussions of using your laptop, and what damage the frequency of laptop usage does,in terms of the environment, you can see the additionaldamage such a move would make--in a way that offers no positive solutions, whereas the "waste" of paper can be surmounted by recycling.

Love that you're a "you must be trolling because your opinion varies from mine" form of accusation."

Liking vs not liking a show is an opinion. Here we’re dealing in facts.

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/21/19 at 12:36pm

How's this for facts:

"There were over two hundred million internet searches per day in 2006 in the U.S. alone, totalling approximately two thousand tons of greenhouse gas emissions every day. Computers themselves tend to create forty to eighty grams (depending on type of computer, type of energy used, etc.) of emissions per hour throughout their electricity use. Added up, the internet usage from the U.S. counts for two percent of global CO2 emissions. All this to say that the information-technology (IT) industry plays a huge role in the future of sustainability." https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/is-your-internet-use-destroying-the-environment/

And you want to increase the amount of internet use by removing Playbills and having people look up online the info they provide, while paper products are completely reusable and don't pose a threat to the environment (because trees for paper manufacture are farmed, as another commenter explained above) whereas the damage of internet usage can't be rectified in the same way. You'd be replacing a less serious threat with a more serious one.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 8/21/19 at 1:32pm

Honestly, I don’t like the concept of everything in the world going digital. Physical Playbills are a nice souvenir for people to have after seeing a show, and if theatres want to make a difference for the environment, then they can either reuse discarded Playbills for the next performance or find a way to recycle them if the quality went down after all the wrinkling up and moving around of a typical audience member. But no, putting EVERYTHING on some sort of digital cloud just sounds awful, imo.

[thewzrdofoz]

Posted: 8/22/19 at 2:39am

I love paper Playbills and would hate if Broadway went completely digital. It's part of the Broadway experience to receive a physical, paper Playbill. 

We all want to be more friendly to our environment, but we do not have to give up every single little thing that could be viewed as wasteful. Being more mindful of what you use is definitely appropriate and necessary, and therefore if you don't think you'll keep your Playbill then I say don't accept one from the usher. 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 8/22/19 at 2:47am

I am surprised that theatres do not have recycling trash cans for paper inserts and playbills in the lobby. A friend of mine who works a front of the house position says that people are always handing her their programs as they leave for recycling. At first she would say we do not recycle but then patrons would become angry with her so she now just takes the programs and says thank you. She says the theatre recycles in bulk which includes bundles of playbills that are from the month prior, but does not recycle individual programs. Those are disposed of in the regular garbage.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 8/22/19 at 7:10am

Mine are all on eBay now.  Upcycling!