‘The Nutcracker’ goes zero waste at South Whidbey High School

The Nutcracker’s audience had a new place to throw what might not really be considered trash.

By Kira Erickson • December 12, 2023 1:30 am
From left, rePurpose volunteers Sheila Bélanger, Joan Green, Susan Prescott and Anne Hayden sort recyclable materials into bins. (Photo provided)
From left, rePurpose volunteers Sheila Bélanger, Joan Green, Susan Prescott and Anne Hayden sort recyclable materials into bins. (Photo provided)

Attendees at this year’s Whidbey Island Dance Theatre’s biggest holiday event had a new place to throw what might not really be considered trash.

The usual garbage receptacles at South Whidbey High School — the venue for “The Nutcracker” — were replaced with bright blue sorting bins, which instructed people to deposit their food waste, liquids, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, snack bags, candy wrappers and a bevy of other recyclables.

Zero waste group rePurpose and education outreach program WSU Waste Wise of Island County are leading the effort to make the beloved South End holiday-themed production’s concessions better for the environment. The effort is supported by a $3,000 grant from Whidbey Community Foundation. Disposable items – such as cups, utensils, paper napkins and hot dog trays – have been swapped out for their more durable counterparts of ceramic mugs, silverware, cloth napkins and stainless steel trays, which are washed by a team of volunteers at the end of every show.

Earlier this year, rePurpose launched a reuse and recycling program that accepts 18 categories of clean and dry items that are difficult to recycle in Island County, according to a press release.

“Most everything has another life where we can find a place for it to go and turn it into something else,” said Joan Green, co-founder of rePurpose.

There are some exceptions, of course, like adhesive tape and used tissues. The entire weekend of three “Nutcracker” shows yielded only one quart-sized Ziploc bag of trash.

The group transports hard-to-recycle materials to companies like TerraCycle, which finds uses for everything from Taco Bell sauce packets to extinguished cigarettes to Babybel Cheese red wax packaging.

Green observed that the show’s attendees have been curious about the new sorting bins. She recalled one conversation she had with a little boy who thought all he had was trash. Learning that it could be sorted into the bins and recycled, she said, expanded his understanding of waste.

“At the end of the day, the janitors at the school will be very happy with us because they won’t have any trash to throw away,” Green said with a laugh.

Tickets can still be purchased at widtonline.org for the four remaining shows of “The Nutcracker.” Expect to see the sorting bins present in the school cafeteria.