Green(er) Productions

Renewable is the key word here. Consider the following: 

The power supply used during the shoot:

• Whenever possible, plug into the local power grid instead of using generators.
• Preference for electric generators (vs diesel-powered)

The power supply of production partner offices and/or Studio:

• Renewable energy provider preferred
• LED lighting preferred

Traveling is one, if not THE biggest cause for emissions on set, but there are ways you can reduce the carbon footprint of your production:

• Any unnecessary travel should be avoided by all parties (agency, production partner, clients, yep even you). Consider only essential personnel.
• Consider a Local/European based director
• Crew up locally
• Look at filming within reach of train travel (vs flying)
• Use e-vehicles during production
• Consider green couriers (bike couriers)
• Book certified eco-friendly hotels/accommodations 
• Edit in Locally (if needed, consider bringing editor to homebase)
• Encourage remote casting to help reduce emissions from driving to and from the casting facility.

Maybe, it’s vegan sausages that will make the world a better place. At least they can help you make your production a little greener:

• Choose vegan and vegetarian food to be served on set
• Encourage everyone to bring their own refillable drinking bottles and offer water refilling stations on set
• Use of fairtrade products and/or products from sustainable and local suppliers
• Provide reusable tableware (“compostable and biodegradable” ware to be used when water connection is not guaranteed)
• Pre-plan organization to donate leftover food to a local shelter ‘when possible’ (it is not always legal or protected)

Before you sit down for your next fitting, here’s a list of things you can consider when choosing outfits and materials for the shoot:

1. Ensure that all props procured for production are returned, donated, or recycled.
2. Allocate proper time for art, wardrobe, beauty departments (avoiding quick online orders, purchasing from sustainable businesses)

Wardrobe:

• Consider used clothing and donate all clothing to local shelters or reuse for future productions. 
• When possible, try to limit the amount of wardrobe options and make decisions on key looks before purchasing.

Set: Always design and build with strike and wrap in mind. Request that all sets building materials be:

• Recycled, eco-friendly or sustainable building materials
• Reuse materials where possible and discuss with the production designer about donating all props, paints, and other materials to organizations in need.
• Pull as much as possible from rental houses that can reuse props and wardrobe, instead of purchasing new products.

Waste and recycling are a big part of every productions carbon footprint too. Here are a few tips on what you can do:

• Administer a plastic-free shoot
• Separate waste into recyclables and compostables on set
• Ensure clear signage and placement of Resource Recovery Stations (waste stations for recycling/compost) which the sustainability coordinator is responsible for

For more helpful information on how to make productions more sustainable, check out the super smart people at Green the Bid , Green Screen and Good Planet Innovation.

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Our first campaign for Google ‘Every Climate-Friendly Decision Counts’, is a rallying cry to all Germans that no matter how small their climate-friendly actions are, together it counts towards something much, much bigger. We also put this idea to the test as we did the production, and tried to make more sustainable decisions.

Watch it here:

To learn more about the campaign, click here.

We weren’t perfect. But, in reality no production can be. After all, the best shoot for the planet is the one that doesn’t happen. Thankfully, there are loads of things we can do to make our productions more climate-friendly. Like some of the examples we’ve shown you today. And if we all did these small changes they’d add up to a lot.

These measures ultimately led to our Google production saving a whopping ⅓ of carbon emissions, which is a huge amount in terms of tons of carbon not released into the atmosphere. Go us!

And that wasn’t the only highlight:

•  The elimination of flights saved 3 tons of CO2
• Shooting locally in Germany saved about ¼ the average consumption of emissions on an average commercial production
• Our carefully selected energy sources emitted 75% less than average energy sources (e.g. Generators)  
• ⅓ of costumes/wardrobe were borrowed and given back for reuse