Cirque du Soleil has adopted a mission to be "an agent of change" says Sebastian Gautier, environmental advisor to Cirque. So far, Cirque's attempts at being green are seen as creative and well thought out. Cirque's touring production of Kooza is considering scrap costumer materials dyed in vibrant colors, sustainably transporting props, lighting and stage equipment around the world and finding a way to reuse a spent blue-and-yellow circus tent. How will they do this? Currently, scrap costume materials are placed in glass holiday ornaments and sell for $29 and the tent - all 66 foot high and 167 feet across has been sliced and diced to form messenger bags that sell for $139.

As well, Cirque headquarters recently completed an expansion and made it almost 100% sustainable. Namely, it provides a complete recovery water system, which uses reclaimed rainfall for all of the building’s sanitary, cleaning and irrigation needs. Cirque has even experimented with running one of their tour companies solely on biodisel.

Read the full article at Common Ground

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