Cirque du Sustainability

Cirque du Soleil, the famous traveling circus show that blends arts, theater, music and dance, is jumping through a number of hoops to make sure its environmental performance is the best under the big top.

The company, which debuted in 1984with a crew of about 75people, today employs more than 3,800people worldwide, including close to 1,000artists. Step onto its Montreal headquarters and signs of not only its creative culture but also its social culture capture the spotlight. An installation by artist Peter Gibson decorates the parking lot, which is made of a vegetable oil–based material rather than asphalt.

An organic garden, irrigated by a new rainwater collection system, provides vegetables for the employee cafeteria. When chefs are overrun with zucchini and tomatoes, employees get to take surplus produce for free. Busy moms and dads can order reasonably priced prepared meals from the cafeteria to take home for dinner.

Nearly 200 bicycle parking spots accommodate employees who pedal to work, and company- owned bikes encourage people to cycle to workday meetings (unicycling is optional). For those without pedal prowess, Cirque du Soleil subsidizes employees’ public transportation passes. Led by founder and CEOGuy Laliberté, Cirque du Soleil has held a longtime commit- ment to social justice. Yet the company’s executive committee just recently adopted an environmental policy.

“It all starts there,” says Sébastien Cloutier, Cirque’s environmental adviser. The company’s first order of business included commissioning a third-party analysis to develop a set of indicators to track its environmental performance. “It will define the actions we’ll take in the future,” Cloutier says.

When a third-party inventory showed that energy consumption accounted for nearly 70 percent of of Cirque du Soleil’s greenhouse gas emissions, the company implemented new lighting control measures at its headquarters. In the past year, it installed the above-mentioned rainwater collection system, began using biodegradable cleaning products, and started using Forest Stewardship Council–certified, non- chlorine-bleached, 100percent post-consumer recycled paper on its Montreal campus. Yet while implementing such strategies at its headquarters is a good first step, taking them on the road tends to be a bit of a juggling act, Cloutier says.

Cirque du Soleil presented 15shows around the world in 2007, including six touring shows, eight resident shows and one arena show. It plans to add two more shows in 2008, according to Cirque du Soleil spokesperson Frédérique Gagnier.

While the company has been successful at setting up recycling systems and switching to more energy-efficient lighting at some venues, such changes require buy-in from stage owners and business partners, according to Cloutier. “It’s been a progressive change,” he says. “We change one location at a time.”

Cirque du Soleil remains dedicated to social justice issues. Working with Oxfam International and other nonprofits, Cirque du Soleil annually donates 1percent of its profits to support theater programs for at-risk youth. The company has spent almost $40million in 80communities in 20countries, including the Saint-Michel neighborhood in which its headquarters is located and one of the poorest neighborhoods in North America, according to Gagnier.

In October 2007, Laliberté launched ONE DROP Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at providing the world’s poorest people with access to water. Laliberté committed $100million over 25years, while RBC Financial Group, Canada’s largest bank, committed $10million over 10 years—the largest contribution the bank has ever made.

Cirque du Soleil chose its long-time partner Oxfam International to select and implement field projects for the ONE DROP Foundation, which will be financed by donations from the employees of Cirque du Soleil and the public. The United Nations estimates one in five people in the developing world lacks access to clean water. Moreover, people living in slums in developing countries typically pay five to 10times more per unit of water than people with access to piped water.

Cirque du Soleil, which hasn’t received any grants from the public or private sectors since 1992, plans to continue expanding its resident shows in coming years, Gagnier says.