Environmental Policy

Hivshu - Magnetic North - photo: Gayla Morell

Border Crossings recently updated its Environmental Policy.  As the policy is, in many ways, a public statement, it seemed important to place it in the public domain.  

This Environmental Policy dates from March 2021

Border Crossings acknowledges:

• That our planet, the life it sustains and our own futures as human and non-human beings are facing an unprecedented level of threat.
• That this threat is the direct result of human activity, and particularly the extreme and unsustainable exploitation of limited natural resources in the pursuit of material wealth, personal property and power over other beings (both human and other-than-human).
• That this policy was created in the midst of a global pandemic caused by a zoonotic disease, which has spread as a direct result of the decline in biodiversity, leading to immense damage to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing.
• That, as a company, an artificial entity, it is regarded as a legal person, with the consequent rights, including the right to take action and to be represented in a court of law, while natural beings such as animals, plants, mountains, rivers and oceans have no such legal personhood or rights in the UK or most other jurisdictions.  
• That in 2021 only one country in the world, Ecuador, has enshrined the rights of nature in its constitution, and only one country in the Commonwealth, New Zealand, recognises natural beings like rivers as legal persons.
• That the attack on biodiversity and the attack on Indigenous cultures that live sustainably and gratefully with nature are part of the same interconnected attempt to subjugate life to profit: a process of ecocide and genocide rooted in myths of cultural and racial hierarchy.
• That, as an organisation working closely with Indigenous cultures and learning from those cultures, it is obliged to advocate for environmental justice and the rights of nature, and to adopt practices that are ecologically responsible and sustainable within its own work.  

Border Crossings therefore undertakes:

• To create platforms for Indigenous artists and activists committed to environmental justice and the rights of other-than-human beings.
• To research and create innovative forms of performance and performance-making, including but not limited to digital platforms, that actively and significantly reduce the environmental impacts of our art-form.  
• To curate and manage projects that engage people in ecological issues and practices, encouraging the adoption of sustainable ways of living and cultural norms.

This will include:

1. ensuring that projects are undertaken with partners and funders who share our commitment to environmental justice.
2. refusing publicity or endorsement to corporations or other bodies whose practices are environmentally destructive.

• To use natural resources prudently and to minimise the generation of waste.  

    This will include: 

1. the use of a virtual office, with key personnel working from home.
2. minimising of print.
3. sustainable waste management, with materials recycled wherever possible, and the use of safe and environmentally responsible methods of waste disposal.
4. responsible sourcing of goods, with an emphasis on local produce from ecologically prudent suppliers.
5. minimised use of energy, particularly the electrical power that can be consumed in theatrical productions, using low or zero carbon energy sources whenever possible.
6. the use of public transport for work-related journeys whenever possible, and car shares when travelling on business.
7. minimising the use of air travel, with care being taken to maximise the benefits of any flights, and carbon offsetting (the latter to be included in project budgeting).

• To monitor, evaluate and constantly seek ways of improving environmental performance

    This will include:

1. an annual self-evaluation of the company's performance in implementing these principles and in complying with all applicable laws and regulations.
2. an annual review of this policy, to be led by the Artistic Director and reported to the board.
3. ensuring compliance with environmental legislation as a minimum.
4. communicating with, engaging and training staff (including freelancers and volunteers) around environmental issues.
5. communicating with and engaging external stakeholders on environmental issues.

Adopted by the board

11th March 2021