Being Green on Set is Easier Than You Think

The temporary nature of most production work can make it seem inherently unsustainable. Set walls and props are often used once before being discarded, while cases of plastic water bottles and disposable utensils quickly fill the dumpsters.  As new reports on climate change continue to look more bleak, there has never been a better time to push for greener productions. So, before Oregon becomes as warm as California, let's look at some simple methods that can quickly mitigate production waste.

The easiest and perhaps the most obvious method is to focus on how food and beverages are consumed on set. Every little piece of garbage adds up fast when there are 60+ people working in one place. Over the course of a 3-week shoot last month, we were very impressed by the overall lack of garbage. Catering and craft services implemented reusable tableware and the crew brought their own water bottles to fill each day with our bottleless water system. They put a reminder on the call sheet each day and this kept our dumpsters surprisingly spacious, especially for a production of this scale.

Before we start having to call Vanilla Ice, Vanilla Water, (We can all agree that “Water, water baby” just doesn’t have the same ring), try to limit the amount of printed paper on set by going digital whenever possible. E-signature platforms are becoming more streamlined, while cloud storage is simple and often more efficient to sort than endless stacks of paper files. You can also make it really obvious where the recycling, garbage and compost should be sorted.  If they’re unlabeled, we can guarantee that some people will throw stuff in the wrong place. If hiring a waste monitor is out of the budget, ask that PA twiddling their thumbs in the corner to supervise the garbage area for a while. 

These are by no means the only ways to make your production more green, but they are some of the easiest.  If you're looking for more ideas on how to be sustainable on set, check out this website from the Producers Guild of America https://www.greenproductionguide.com/