Sustainability

We have been pursuing the sustainability of our cinemas for many years. Here are some of the measures we have taken.

Electricity and Photovoltaics:

From the outset, we have relied on electricity providers in the regenerative sector. The goal is green electricity only, without any compromise. In the Kreuzberg open-air cinema we have currently achieved this only for the projection. In Friedrichshain, the cooling is supported by a balcony photovoltaics system.

In the Rehberge open-air cinema, we rely on our own photovoltaics system with a smart storage facility for our own surplus electricity and surplus regenerative electricity from the grid.

Lighting/LED Technology:

Both the external lighting and the lighting in all of our workspaces has been switched to energy-efficient LED technology.

Refreshments:

We offer fair-trade and vegan products and sweets in environmentally friendly packaging as a matter of course.

Popcorn:

It goes without saying that we make our popcorn from scratch every day using biologically produced German maize and rapeseed oil as well as biologically produced cane sugar. (Audiences will be alerted to instances in which we may be unable to source any of these biologically produced ingredients due to supply shortages.)

Cold Drinks:

Drinks are cooled with energy-efficient (in part external) refrigerating units.

Drinks/Deposit-free Returnable Bottles:

We source juice, Schorle and cider regionally from our partner Ostmost who produces them in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.

We offer excellent domestic, vegan wines from the Dr. Scholl Winery in large returnable bottles, along with deposit-free glasses.

Coffee and Milk: instead of milk we serve biologically produced oat drink with your coffee.

We source our biologically produced fair-trade coffee and tea from Gepa.

With the exception of sparkling wine, prosecco and wine in single-serving bottles, your drinks come in deposit-free returnable bottles you can leave at the recycling points on your way out.

We do not offer any bottled drinks, including beer, that have been shipped over long distances by sea or by air.

Crockery, Glasses, Plates:

We do not use any one-way crockery. We do not require you to pay a deposit on glasses, plates and other crockery. Please just leave them at the recycling points on your way out.

Wieners:

We source our humanely and organically produced Wieners from the Biomanufaktur Havelland and serve them in a deposit-free returnable porcelain dish.

Cleaning Products: 

We select our cleaning products to meet environmental standards.

One-Way Products:

We only use toilet paper and paper towels produced in an environmentally friendly manner from recycled material in line with Blue Angel and FSC certification or higher standards.

Flyers and Posters:

All flyers and posters are printed on recycled paper.

ELectronic Receipts:

Our electronic receipts are printed on environmentally friendly paper.

Transports:

Thanks to technological innovations and better internet connections (fiber-optic connectivity in Friedrichshain), 90% of our films are now delivered digitally, obviating the need for numerous transports and hard disk deliveries.

To be as sustainable as possible we rely on our transport bicycle wherever possible. Where this is not practicable, we combine deliveries to ensure that motor vehicles only need to come to the site once a week. In addition, we also rely on bicycle couriers.

Recycling/Waste Separation:

Thanks to the development of a more sophisticated waste separation system and the reduction of waste overall we have been able to halve the number of requisite bin collections in recent years. We have created a recycling point where visitors can leave their waste—glasses, crockery, returnable bottles, one-way bottles, other recyclable and non-recyclable waste, paper etc.—whether acquired in, or brought to, the cinema.

We are enormously grateful to our audience for their spirited support in this endeavour!

Access:

Located in public parks, our sites are best accessed by foot, by bicycle or by public transport.

Water:

In Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, our lawns are watered with deep well water. We have also taken numerous measures to collect rainwater which is either used to water plants at the site or allowed to seep back into the groundwater.

Heating:

We do no heat the cinemas. :)

Best Practice:

Since the inception of the Kino Natürlich scheme, the open-air cinema in Kreuzberg has been singled out for its best practice in matters of sustainability.

Meadows: 

At the sites in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, we have turned the areas not in use into wildflower meadows. We have been keen to use primarily regional plants whose nectar not only suits the needs of domestic insects, but which are environmentally beneficial as a whole as a source of nutrition or in terms of their potential for ovipositing: more insects means more birds means more summer sensation.

More than half of the Rehberge site is wooded. Visitor security aside, this area is left untreated to provide a domicile and breeding ground for as many kinds of animals as possible.