Championing sustainability in the arts, The Poly signs up to Culture Declares

The Poly in Falmouth has joined a growing number of individuals and organisations involved in arts and culture, who are declaring a climate and ecological emergency. 

A community arts, science and heritage centre, The Poly is doing more just than putting its name to this movement. It is actively committed to developing its social, economic and environmental sustainability credentials - aiming to minimise any negative impact of its activities and to enhance the positive impact it has in operating sustainably.

The venue is working towards a net zero carbon plan and is already carrying out improvements to the building, including switching to green energy provider Octopus Energy, moving across to LED lighting, draught proofing, and monitoring energy and water usage. In addition, The Poly is endeavouring to significantly reduce its waste – choosing recyclable materials and avoiding single use plastics where possible. Other steps being taken include implementing a procurement sustainability plan and integrating sustainability into staff and volunteer induction training and team working.  

The Poly also made an adjustment to its investment policy which was agreed by the Board of Trustees in February 2021. At that time the charity sold oil and gas shares in line with its Sustainability Policy, requesting that its broker gradually increase The Poly’s ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) stock.

As an arts venue, The Poly is also planning to programme environmentally focused events and further encourage collaborations with artists creating work from recycled and sustainable materials.

The move to sign up for Culture Declares was fully supported by The Poly’s Members in its recent AGM.  

The Poly Trustee Sue Radmore says:

“We aim to show leadership through our actions across every aspect of our work, for example, our programme also reflects our concerns, from exhibitions featuring junk mail art, to influencers such as George Monbiot discussing Regenesis.“

“Based in an historical building, we recognise achieving net zero is a serious challenge. But we are committing to year-on-year review of our policy and will implement steps identified along the way to close the gap until we have achieved our goal. We will publicise our achievements (and disappointments) and encourage others to support the CDE campaign.”

The Poly in Falmouth has joined a growing number of individuals and organisations involved in arts and culture, who are declaring a climate and ecological emergency.

ENDS: 7th November 2022