Broadway Green Alliance Hosts Textile Drive for Theatre Industry and Fans 9/15

The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is sponsoring a textile drive for the theatre industry and its fans on Wednesday, September 15 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm in Times Square at 46th Street and Broadway (just behind the TKTS booth).

The first BGA collection drive took place in December 2009, when 6,000 pounds of electronic waste was collected from Broadway shows and theatres working with the BGA to make theatre greener. This collection drive is open to all shows, theatres, industry members and fans.

All goods will be collected by Wearable Collections, who will make sure that 96% of everything collected gets re-purposed or recycled. They accept all used clean clothing including shoes and hats; and household items such as curtains, linens, towels, handbags and belts.

BGA Co-Chair Charlie Deull says, "Wearable Collections has proven that clothing recycling is one of the most efficient recycling businesses. Close to 50% of textile waste is recovered as secondhand clothing (primarily resold in markets such as Latin & South America and Eastern Europe); while 20% of the material processed becomes wiping and polishing cloths & rags (resold in various local & international markets) and 26% is sent to facilities to be broKen Down into fibers to be reused in many products such as fiberboard, upholstery or rewoven into new textiles."

Industry members who want to drop off items before the drive can drop off at one of three locations - TWU Local 764 at 545 West 45th Street, Actors' Equity Association at 165 West 46th Street (14th Floor), or Local 802 AFM at 322 West 48th Street (1st Floor - Club Room B) during regular business hours.

The BGA Textile Drive is part of the Broadway League's Back2Broadway month (www.ILoveNYTheater.com), and is designed to engage members & fans of the industry to join BGA volunteers in keeping textiles out of landfill. Wearable Collections will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Broadway Green Alliance to aid in the BGA's efforts to turn Broadway into the Great Green Way.

BROADWAY GREEN ALLIANCE (BGA) is an industry-wide initiative that educates, motivates and inspires the theater community and its patrons to adopt environmentally friendly practices in theatre production and everyday life. The BGA (formerly Broadway Goes Green) was launched in 2008 as an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League. The BGA brings together all segments of the theatre community, including producers, theatres in New York and around the country, theatrical unions and their members, and related businesses. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the BGA identifies and disseminates better practices for theatre professionals and reaches out to theatre fans throughout the country. For more information, visit www.broadwaygreen.com.

WEARABLE COLLECTIONS is a socially responsible clothing recycling company that makes it as easy for New Yorkers to recycle their clothing as it is to recycle cans, bottles and newspapers. www.wearablecollections.com

THE BROADWAY LEAGUE, founded in 1930, is the national trade association for the Broadway industry. The League's 600-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in over 240 North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry. Each year, League members bring Broadway to nearly 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.BroadwayLeague.com. Follow on Twitter @TheBwayLeague or on www.Facebook.com/BroadwayLeague