Set Sustainability Goals

 

How to set sustainability goals in pre-production

benjamin-balazs-72hVnjtGxJQ-unsplash.jpg

The pre-production stage is the right time to set sustainability goals. If you can, get someone in your production department in charge, so that there’s one person that the crew can go to for questions about sustainability. However, it’s all teamwork and everyone should help. Start by formulating your goals and how you’re wanting to achieve them, so that it is clear for everyone what you're doing.

Keep evaluating these goals throughout pre-production, production and post-production.

So how do you start? Below are some examples, but of course each production is different.

Goal: Diverting waste from going into landfill.
Achieve this goal by:

  • Finding out where your nearest recycling points are and using recycling bins on set and in the office.

  • Finding out where foodbanks are for any leftover food and/or arranging tupperware so crew can take any leftovers home.

  • Hiring, borrowing and reselling and giving away props and costumes.

  • No using single-use plastics on set.

  • Reusing anything that can be reused or getting it second hand.

Goal: Saving on petrol
Achieve this goal by:

  • Carpooling.

  • No idling.

  • Where possible finding locations close to each other.

 
Goal: Reducing paper and plastic consumption
Achieve this goal by:

  • Working and sharing documents mostly digitally.

  • Having an opt-in option on paper printouts so you only provide print-outs of call sheets and scripts on request.

  • Asking vendors about the sustainability of their packaging.

  • If you receive a lot of paper or plastic packaging; reusing any paper or plastic packaging instead of throwing it away.

  • Reuse paper that's been printed on one side only.

In upcoming posts I’ll go deeper into what each department can do, and we’ll take examples from existing films and how they’ve been making their productions greener. However, I’m not trying to invent the wheel here. There are tons of resources out there which you can use or draw inspiration from that I’d like to share with you.

Some of the best websites are:

greenfilmmaking.com
wearealbert.org
www.greenproductionguide.com




 

 

 

 

 





 
Laura Torenbeek