OCT’s Blog

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Eco-challenge week #7 (Feb. 14 - 18): Plastic recycling beyond the bin.

Acting Academy instructor and former OCT employee Sara Kennedy Adams suggested this for our final eco-challenge. We will collect the plastics that cannot be recycled here at our office and take them to Far West Fibers.

Can you commit to doing the same? Maybe take a monthly trip to a recycling center as a household?

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Week #6 (Feb 7 – Feb 11)
Container consciousness challenge. Our offices are downtown and located next to one of the city’s amazing food cart pods! The delicious lunches comes dished up in to-go containers, which can be hard to recycle once contaminated with food, or not recyclable at all! Next time we’re at the food carts, we’ll be brining our own reusable containers! Same for our lunches we bring from home.

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Week #5 (Jan 31 – Feb 4)
Once per week challenge. We have a lot of bike commuters at the office, but for those of us who don’t bike to work, the weekends are also great times to get out of the car. We’re committed to biking or walking to a destination at least once this week.

Maybe that means walking to the grocery store for a few items, or pulling out the bike for a jaunt to Sunday morning breakfast! Just once this week would be a success!

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Week #4 (Jan 24  - Jan 28)

Veg out challenge. Eating less meat has a big impact on the environment. Many of us at OCT already live a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian lifestyle, but we’re making an extra effort this week! For some the challenge might be just one meal per day, for others a whole week might be feasible. Join us, and let us know how you're doing.

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Have you seen Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly? Let us know what you thought by commenting on this post.

CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW TO READ REVIEWS!

Reviews from Ticketmaster

Posted 02/01/2011
First time at this theatre and seeing a play from the OCT. Great first experience. My 4 yr old son and husband loved it, as did I. The cast, set and music were wonderful. My son was glued to the stage and characters. Would highly recommend seeing this play.

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Steel piping from an unused structure unearthed from Keller Auditorium storage. Repurposed set pieces from Ramona, Miss Nelson is Missing, and Charlotte’s Web.

Shadows cast onto the backdrop show us what things look like from a bug's perspective!

Used bicycle tires and used real estate signs for textured facade.

Cyclorama (backdrop) made from six used vinyl billboards and painted white on the front side. This is a view from backstage.

"Dirt" is made from crumpled up paper!

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THE COSTUMES

Even the costumes are environmentally friendly! Designer Sarah Gahagan selects used clothing, everyday household objects, and natural fibers whenever possible.

• Fly: Wings are made from car headlight covers found at the Manzanita Recycling Center on the coast and a steamer basket from Sarah’s house. The main costume body is made from recycled fleece, natural cottons, and wool. Additionally, the wood buttons are sourced from a friend’s plum tree, and the costume is padded with padding from a mattress pad!
• Worm: The main body of the costume is made from recycled fleece made from pop bottles.
• Spider: The fur on the hood is from a different hooded jacket. The shirt and shorts were found, and then tailored and custom embellished.
• After the show the costumes will go into OCT’s costume stock, which is housed at Portland Community College.

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Week #2 (Jan 10 – Jan 14)
Travel mug challenge. OCT staffers are tea and coffee connoisseurs, and as result there are often many paper cups in the garbage cans. This week we’re committed to using insulated travel mugs to keep caffeinated and keep cups out of the landfill.

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The theater industry has a long history of reusing and repurposing set pieces, props, and costumes. Not only does it save money, but it sparks creativity and ingenuity, often with amazing artistic results!

 ON STAGE

• Giant leaves made from carpet that was used for a former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts campaign event.
• Used bicycle tires and used real estate signs for textured façade.
• Cyclorama (backdrop) made from six used vinyl billboards and painted white.
• Paint remainders from the set design studio's existing stock.
  • Additional paint purchased by OCT will go to Metro’s Central Hazardous Waste Facility as part of their conditionally exempt generator program.
• Reused Styrofoam for giant acorns and spider egg.
• Reused wood from the set design studio's stock.
• Steel piping from an unused structure unearthed from Keller Auditorium storage.
• Repurposed set pieces from Ramona, Miss Nelson is Missing, and Charlotte’s Web.
• Rented disco ball.
• Borrowed bungee from BodyVox.
• Caster wheels salvaged from old set pieces.
• One moving spotlight as opposed to multiple lights saves money AND energy.
  • Because this a world premeire play, OCT will most likely present it again in the next four to five years, which means that all set pieces and costumes will be stored and used for other plays.

NEXT UP: The Costumes

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In support of our production of Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly, and in the spirit of new year’s resolutions, the OCT administrative and box office staff are taking a weekly green challenge! We'll be reporting on our progress, and hope you'll join us for a greener 2011.

Week #1 (Jan 3 – Jan 7)

No recyclable left behind. Like all good offices in Portland we recycle a lot of paper, but it can be hard to remember to recycle everything, like plastic yogurt and salsa tubs, milk cartons, etc. This week we’re committed to paying closer attention to what goes into the trash, so that we can keep up the good habits all year long.

Here are some great resources for easy-to-understand information on recycling.

http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=29041

http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=20432

Here is a photo of one of our trash cans "before."

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