Once upon a time in Petone, there was an enthusiastic team who worked hard towards rolling out the red carpet for greener and more sustainable practices in their cinema.

The set

Established in a historic theatre, the Light House Cinema has a natural look and feel. Following the ‘reuse’ ideal encouraged by all Zero Waste and Minimalism gurus, the comfortable sofa-like theatre seating was made from timber recovered from the old stage. But the eco-friendly initiative goes beyond the mere vibe.

The plot

Owner Simon Werry and manager Natalie Coe are the two protagonists of an ecological journey within the company. Featuring a number of movies that highlight environmental issues and encouraging debate and discussion among the audience came quite naturally as a first step in the greening process of the cinema, but they took their ambition to the next level together with their team. They managed to reduce the use of plastics by purchasing beverages in glass. Tea is also served in loose leaf. Besides this, they do their utmost to source local products, such as Kapiti ice cream.

Helpers and obstacles

Natalie and Simon admit that the public pressure has been a helpful motivation to go green. Indeed, the customers have an expectation of products in more sustainable packaging.

However, they are still struggling to source environmentally friendly products, and finding solutions and alternatives is a step-by-step process. For example, finding water in glass bottles turned out to be easier said than done and they are still looking for solutions to single use cleaning cloth and plastic food wrap.

Moreover, they consider the lack of infrastructure to support the sustainability journey of small businesses an important stumbling block and they “encourage regulators to interact with businesses to support solutions to enable these changes.”

Here are some tips for your own « Go green » scenario :
Tip 1: Just do it!
Tip 2: Keep making small changes
Tip 3: Be persistent
Tip 4: Review practices regularly
Tip 5: Reach out to others for advice and support