Tonya Ingerson from Vassar College and Grace Urquart from William Jewel College have won the BGA’s 2018 College Green Captain Award for their dedication to sustainability in their respective schools’ theater departments.

Ingerson’s project was called “Environmental Education and Awareness Through Theatre.” She hosted a Climate Change Play Festival at Vassar in which she put on 8 plays from Climate Change Theatre Action’s repertoire. She wanted the festival to be as green as possible, so it was zero waste. She made paperless efforts everywhere, including making a Google Form in place of paper audition forms and advertising the event online as opposed to using posters. All members of the production were encouraged to bring reusable containers for food and drinks and to only print scripts that were necessary. Ingerson also put up blackboards in the auditorium, informing and encouraging the audience members to take more steps toward sustainability. In addition, all costumes and props were either borrowed or made with existing materials on hand. Finally, all food provided at the event was vegan, hand-held (no need for plates or cutlery), delivered in returnable steel trays, and audience members were informed beforehand to bring their own cups for the lemonade.

Urquart started several initiatives in the WJC theater department to make it greener. She replaced the incandescent lights in their lobby with LED and saved the incandescent bulbs for art projects. In their makeup department, they began using more eco-friendly practices such as using homemade makeup remover and cleaning supplies made from natural products, in addition to reusing makeup remover cloths and laundering the application sponges to be used again. Urquart has also worked to include signage throughout the theater, reminding students, faculty, and visitors to engage in green practices like turning off the lights when they leave a room. In addition, their costume department collected scraps of fabric that could not be reused, braided them into ropes, and donated them to their local animal reuse and adoption center, KC Pet Project, to be used as dog toys. They also collaborated with Mallin Companies, donating their used hardware to be melted down, remolded, and sold again. Finally, in October 2017, Urquart collaborated with the Physics Department to host an event called Cardinal Karaoke that used solar-powered light.