We will:

1. Strive towards Net Zero 
2. Train staff in Carbon Literacy
3. Keep track of our progress and share the wins and challenges along the way
4. Lead and take part in conversations on the climate crisis
5. Work with our local community to make positive changes
6. Keep working with Theatre Green Book (find out more about this below)
7. Continue to improve our operations – scroll down to see what we’re doing so far...

Since we set a benchmark in 2016, we’ve achieved an annual 5% reduction in energy use each year.

We’re on a deep green electricity supply, so all our venues and buildings now have 100% renewable energy.

We’re recognised by the Renewable Heat Initiative thanks to the open and closed loop Ground Source Heat Pumps sitting below Oaklands Park and Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery units across our air handling plants.

The water management technologies we use include percussive taps (no, that doesn't mean they play a tune!), short flush sanitary ware and external rainwater soakaways.

Recent grants from The Foyle Foundation and The Theatres Trust’s Theatre Improvement Scheme, in association with the Wolfson Foundation, have supported the upgrade of our stage lighting equipment and auditorium lights, reducing their energy consumption by 99%.

We have over 10 different recycling and waste streams with split waste bins in both staff and public areas. We recycle nearly 40% of all our waste and we're totally zero to landfill, so anything that can't be recycled is used to create energy. You can help by putting your rubbish in the correct bins when you visit.

We are a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation, recognising that 42 of our permanent staff have completed Carbon Literacy Training. We will continue to train our staff so we can all keep learning and contributing ideas.

You can find reusable cups in our bars for taking your drinks into the theatre, instead of single-use plastic cups; please make sure you return them after use! Bring your water bottle, too, as we offer a free water refill point in the Foyer Café.

We’ve partnered with Community Transport West Sussex to launch a free community bus. This includes a shuttle to and from the train station for selected performances to encourage our audiences to use public transport. See the most up to date Theatre Bus timetable here. 

Our catering partner Caper & Berry is also committed to reducing their environmental impact. All plastic packaging has been replaced with reusable, recyclable or biodegradable options and they pride themselves on using locally sourced produce.

If you're lucky you may be able to pick up a Caper & Berry Magic Bag through the Too Good to Go app, where we sell any surplus food at a reduced price at the end of the day.

We reduce our fossil fuel emissions by using an electric van for local distribution and bigger vans for longer runs to and from London and beyond.

You can carbon-offset the impact of your journey to the Theatre through our partnership with Ecologi. To date, over 40,000 trees have been planted internationally, in addition to offsetting over 1000 tonnes of CO2. Take a look at our international planting and offset projects on our Ecologi profile.

We support local rewilding and charitable initiatives in place of traditional opening night cards and gifts.

We have planted 28 trees in Oaklands Park; take a walk around the park to try and find them next time you visit! 

We supported the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project to restore our local underwater kelp forest. Sea kelp is an important habitat for marine wildlife, but was nearly all wiped out by 2019. The project is celebrating a dramatic increase in marine biodiversity.

We adopted some animals at Aldingbourne Country Centre for the company of Chichester Festival Youth Theatre's Cinderella, and they had a delightful day off rehearsals visiting their new furry friends!

We will install a birdbox to commemorate each show in Festival 2025. How many different birds can you spot on your next visit?

A wildflower meadow was planted behind our building as part of our 60th birthday celebrations in 2022 and is being cultivated to ensure the flowers return year on year. Next time you visit us, have a wander behind the building to have a look.

In November 2023, we teamed up with the Friends of Oaklands Park and Transition Chichester to plant 520 whips (think baby plants) along the border of the archery field in Oaklands Park. We hope this will create a wildlife corridor, a source of food and somewhere to shelter for the animals, birds and insects that call the park home.

We’ve installed swift boxes on the Festival Theatre building, bird feeders in our Green Room garden and a glass house for our staff to have a go at growing.

We’re exploring growing plants to create vegetable dyes for costumes as a small scale trial to support our commitment to following the Theatre Green Book.