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Green Arts Day the Storytelling Way

Once Upon A Time, there was a building designed for storytelling, which opened in 2006. It planned to be open and accessible, with nature at its core design and the primary brief – to enjoy the spoken word, unamplified.

Utilising Douglas Fir, the spaces were designed to be outward-looking, connecting to the city and its stories through an inviting large window at the front, while maintaining connection to the natural world through the large, rear window overlooking Sandeman House Garden. Plus, natural light was harnessed through skylights that catch and diffuse sunlight into the venue.

Nature was and is at the core ethos of the Storytelling Centre, so the venue is proud to be a Green Arts Venue, as part of the Green Arts Initiative from Creative Carbon Scotland.

We’ve already come a long way in our habits to ensure we are reducing the impact of our operations on the environment:
– Recycling points throughout the building for staff and general public making it easy to reduce waste going to landfill.
– Energy and Water emissions reducing year-on-year (accurately monitored through meter readings)
– Encouraging use of walking/bikes/public transport to reduce carbon footprint emissions (and when cars are being used, car share!)
– Programmes for the Centre and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival are printed on recycled paper, utilising eco printing facilities.
– Digital innovation meets Green habit making as the Scottish International Storytelling Festival invited a global audience to live streamed performances, with no travel needed!

Then, one curious day, there was new management for The Storytelling Café!

Saltire Hospitality are an award-winning local, family owned company, guaranteeing the supply of exceptional fresh, local and seasonal Scottish produce. Saltire are focused on ‘Going Green’ and have recently obtained their Silver Green Tourism award, with ambitions to ensure they get to gold standard.

They will be helped in this ambition by being the first company in the UK to purchase their own GLS machine! Purchasing this Glass to Sand machine – which does what it says on the tin by crushing glass bottles into fully recyclable sand, in 3 seconds – means Saltire, who use a huge amount of glass but were surprised to hear of glass recycling shortcomings, can be confident they are recycling glass which then can be used for a variety of purposes, such as bunkers on golf courses, in construction or even as candle wax catcher… you can read more on this in action at Rosslyn Chapel here.

So, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Café continue to spread the word about thinking green, making it easy for visitors to be inspired and change some simple habits for the greater good of all, with a few plans up their sleeves including:
– Monthly Green Day
– Reusable cups replace single use plastics for performances at the Centre

Plus, our green approach is always reflected in our programme too, as nature is the core focus for our events on World Storytelling Day!

Join Allison Galbraith and Alette Willis on 20 March for workshop Mapping the Stories: People and Place and evening performance Re-Storying Our Planet, which empower all to re-unite traditional stories and environmental action. These events are inspired by the Andy Hunter Storytelling Bursary, which aims to continue Andy’s passion for nourishing the earth and the people in it through sustainable storytelling in nature, to connect with the landscape and rejuvenate the importance of place, just like the Storytelling Centre itself.

But this is not the end of our story… it’s just the beginning!

View Environmental Policy
View Event and Workshop
More Information on Green Arts Day