SUSTAINABLE FUTURE COMMITTEE PRO-TIPS
UPM
Be a Leader in sustainability at every stage of the production.
The DGA Sustainable Future Committee works to empower DGA TEAMS with a climate action plan to promote clean energy and decarbonize our work and workplace as our #1 priority. We also prioritize reduction of the plastic and landfill waste which we generate everywhere we go. There's no perfect approach. Everything we do has a carbon footprint. But that also means there's a sustainability opportunity in every department and every choice.
As UPM, your unique position of company leadership empowers you to become a fulcrum for positive change. Given our global climate crisis, adhering to sustainability guidelines is now as important as following safety and sexual harassment guidelines.
Be ambitious but never despair at not achieving everything. Every effort shifts the meter toward a sustainable future for our industry, our families, and our world.
There's no limit to what we can achieve together.
- Let your production executive and everyone on your producing team know that it’s important to reduce the environmental impact of the production, and that it can be done without compromise to the production.
- Ensure that your production has a sustainability plan. Challenge your production to exceed expectations. Lead by example. You will inspire others.
- Your studio or production company likely has a Sustainability Department. Engage and collaborate with them. Access, review, and implement the production company’s sustainable guidelines. Some studios efforts are unstructured, and others have mandated practices which is helpful. If a studio representative holds a sustainability meeting, they are sometimes selective about who attends. Make sure you and your department heads are a part of this process. The office and the ADs should make sure information about all studio practices is available to cast and crew.
- When you break down a script, look at it through a sustainability lens.
- Evaluate your script locations and if there are multiple distant locations scripted, consider consolidating the number of cities you need, and within each city reduce the number of company moves. Production "carbon-sense" is production common-sense when clustering locations.
- Foster communication between the AD, the Production Designer & DP early on to understand construction and set dressing efficiencies, and the potential for set wall re-use.
- Incorporate sustainability measures into the budget. Include line Items to reflect clean energy power sources, e.g., batteries, grid-ties, electric vehicles. And be sure to track production savings — especially on fuel. There is serendipitous bottom-line upside to sustainable choices.
- Build a Sustainability Department into your budget including a Sustainability Supervisor and on set ECO-steward/PAs to cover the communication and management of sustainable practices. The Sustainability Supervisor begins at the start of prep to coordinate and can support best practices across all departments, manage clean energy infrastructure, and communicate the sustainability goals and progress on your production. This person can also ensure that Eco solutions are vetted and not coming forward as a form of greenwashing. This is different from an "ECO PA" which is an entry level crew hire who supports the moment-to-moment functions of the set and production office under the guidance of the Supervisor. Companies providing Sustainable Production Services include Earth Angel and Green Spark Group These and other "for hire" services are a simple solution should your studio not offer infrastructure and resources.
- Consider choosing a location city with clean energy resources that your production can utilize for carbon and budget savings. Hire a local crew base to minimize air travel & living emissions.
- In the Transportation Department, budget for hybrid & electric vehicles, and solar powered trailers when available. Reimburse crew for EV charging expenses as you would traditional gasoline. Normalize and incentivize electric vehicle use.
- In Craft Service, budget washable plates, glassware, and cutlery wherever possible. As a second choice only, provide compostable dishware and cutlery.
- When hiring the production team and the department heads, be clear about the production’s sustainability goals. Engage and collaborate. Inspire them. Let them feel your passion for this work. Create a Climate Action Plan that fits the size and scope of the production and share it widely across the production.
- Work with HOD’s to develop a departmental sustainability plan that begins with the studio guidelines. Encourage them to be a leader and to identify gaps and solutions in the overall sustainability plan. They are the expert in their department, and they may surprise you with new and innovative ideas.
- Throughout the production encourage the Sustainability Supervisor and the Production Office to circulate updates to cast and crew on the successes and impact of various initiatives. This creates positivity in the culture of the set as often folks are unaware of the range of the efforts being made.
- Educate! Seek out allies. Exchange information with other productions and industry colleagues. Share challenges and solutions. Most Unions and Guilds have sustainability committees. Be knowledgeable about Inter-Guild initiatives and priorities and offer support and feedback where efforts are being promoted. An Inter-Guild & Unions Sustainability Alliance with Working Groups includes the below members:
- Positive Outcomes: Look for wins. They're everywhere. If you find green solutions that ALSO make the movie better, gives back to the community, and makes someone's job easier or more fun – these solutions are more likely to catch on, be adopted in future productions, and make a huge difference in the long run.
- Encourage and support the Directorial team and crew to find opportunities for sustainable onscreen behaviors, e.g., in background action, props and set decoration, costumes, and electric picture vehicles. Normalize characters engaging in sustainability fundamentals: "Refuse. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle, and the use of Clean Energy." Highlight decision-making where characters make sustainable choices.
- Provide Background reusable shopping bags instead of plastic, reusable water bottles, reusable straws, and coffee containers instead of single use plastic water and disposable cups. Avoid all on-camera single use plastics.
- For on-camera picture vehicles use electric vehicles, bikes, and scooters.
- Encourage everyone to read existing Sustainability Onscreen Tip sheets. (See “Climate Storytelling Resources” in RESOURCE section.)
- If you measure it, you can manage it. Set up your accounting department to track data with a carbon calculator. Check out the GPG Carbon Calculator. A great teacher in understanding which behaviors impact CO2 emissions. The Sustainability Supervisor can oversee this, but it’s not complicated for the accounting dept to achieve. Encourage your studio to archive this report. Carbon reporting is starting to be regulated by governments, and studios are preparing for this.
- Select and choose Green Suppliers that work sustainably and provide sustainable goods and services. Studio Sustainability Departments should be providing list of these vendors, but always check the Green Vendor Guide: https://greenproductionguide.com/green-vendors/.
- Energy comes at a cost to the budget and our climate crisis. We are now in a transition to clean energy moving toward electrification and removal of diesel generators from our sets. Collaborate with your DP and Locations team to make a clean power plan in pre-production, based on the unique needs of your production This prep may be new to many on your crew, but it is where our entire industry is heading. Challenge and inspire your departments to rethink business as usual.
- Create a power distribution plan for every set. Well-planned power distribution and clean energy options can often eliminate a diesel generator.
- Use battery stacks, hybrid generators and grid ties wherever possible to minimize the amount of fuel used to power the sets, base camp, video village, craft service, DIT, sound, and smaller sets.
- At night, power working trucks and catering with battery sources.
- The Emissions/Cost Optimizer (tutorial here) is a user-friendly excel doc to calculate the emissions and cost comparison of Diesel Generators vs Clean Energy. Understand what emissions you are willing to accept — and discover serendipitous savings from clean energy alternatives. Grid-ties, battery stacks, right-sizing generators, solar power, and renewable diesel are key examples. Download The Emissions/Cost Optimizer excel doc to input your show’s details for easy comparison.
- Be proactive and check out new and emerging low-carbon systems and technologies. The future is here. Many union sustainability committees are supporting clean energy vendor showcases with groups such as The Clean Power Initiative
Fossil Fuels are the greatest contributor by far to greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing the transportation foot print you will automatically reduce carbon emissions.
- Use renewable diesel whenever possible (currently available in California, the UK, and recently in New York) Where not available, advocate to your local vendors and film commission to demonstrate demand for renewable diesel to suppliers who can bring it into the area. The studios have data on how much diesel they use in every production city.
- Where available rent electric or hybrid cars, trucks, and generators.
- Rent solar-powered Trailers (available now in most production cities).
- Work with your department heads to reduce the amount of equipment that needs to be transported, and to reduce the number of equipment trucks needed on a daily basis. For example, if there are no Special Effects working, don’t transport the truck!
- Implement a no-idling policy. Idling contributes to wasted fuel and unnecessary pollution. Ask all drivers to refrain from idling to minimize exhaust emissions containing numerous harmful gases.
- Use smaller vehicles for smaller tasks and plan efficient routes to reduce emissions.
- Encourage staff and crew to use public transportation or carpool.
- In the transition to clean energy, Genny Ops are becoming "Clean Power Ops." "Right-size" any diesel generators that can't be eliminated. Studies show that on average, 80% of diesel generators are run at less than 20% of capacity, where they burn least efficiently. Low output is where diesel generators run the dirtiest. We are over-powering and thus overspending and emitting unnecessary carbon emissions.
- Collaborate to support LED lighting. Turn off lighting setups & trans lights when not using.
- Consider hybrid solutions when necessary, and pair smaller diesel generators with battery packs that power base camp, video village, craft service, DIT, sound, and smaller sets.
- Access the power grid to eliminate a generator completely. Grid-ties can be installed at locations with necessary approvals and turnkey installation by a licensed and temporary power vendor. When possible, coordinate with subsequent productions to leave grid-ties for the next company to use.
- Work with your local municipality to implement power drops for frequently used locations. This has been piloted in the UK and Vancouver and is in progress for production cities in the US including LA and NYC. Check out Vancouver’s Clean Energy Power Kiosk specs.
STAGE/FACILITIES
- When evaluating choices for stage rental, make sure they have adequate house power and/or grid-tie capability for lighting, basecamps, and heat/AC, so that diesel generators can be avoided.
- Seek stages that provide clean and renewable energy infrastructure, including EV charging stations. This includes offices, stages, mills, workshops, backlots, parking areas for equipment trucks, caterers, basecamps, air conditioners, and other support that requires electricity.
- Consider power-drops if the facility doesn’t have enough power to run lighting, basecamp, and craft service/catering. Grid power access can be installed at stages with necessary approval and turnkey installation by a licensed and temporary power vendor.
- Transition all office, house, and set lighting to fuel efficient lighting (e.g., LED).
- Use electric support equipment — lifts, golf carts etc.
- Make sure the facility has a waste management plan to include recycling and composting.
- Equip offices, stages and workshops with clean filtered water systems and refill stations to eliminate the need for single use plastic water bottles.
- Provide refillable water stations on all locations and clean water hook-ups for catering, craft services and trailers to avoid the need to run water trucks.
- For a deeper dive, read Albert’s Studio Sustainability Standard Report
PRODUCTION OFFICE ENERGY CONSUMPTION
- Contact your local utility company and sign up for a renewable energy program.
- Turn off lights and equipment at end of the day.
- Set up offices so it’s easy to turn off power strips and unplug chargers when not in use.
- Turn on power saving settings on all electronics.
- Use fans and open windows to minimize AC use. When AC is on, be sure to keep doors and windows closed.
OFFICE SUPPLIES
- Selecting green office supplies will make a difference on your production. Order recycled content office supplies whenever possible or obtain used office supplies. Plastic pens and highlighters take 400-500 years to decompose. ECO-PENS are real and widely available. Purchase mindfully.
- Reach out to the local production community to see if any productions have left over office supplies that they would donate to you or sell at a reduced price.
- White paper should contain 100% recycled content. Color Paper should contain at least 30% recycled content.
- Buy re-manufactured or soy-based ink toner cartridges.
- Reuse lanyards and visitor badges; purchase materials made from recycled content.
- Set up an office recycling program, including harder-to-recycle items like batteries and ink cartridges.
CLEANING PRODUCTS
- Use Non-Toxic certified cleaning products and paper products (including paper towels, toilet paper and tissues) that are bleach-free and made of 100% recycled content paper.
DESIGN
- Support your design teams and department heads in their efforts to use sustainable materials.
- Discuss overall re-use in Production, Art Direction, Construction, Costume Design, Set Dressing and Props. Empower your art department to design and build for re-use and ultimately for donation.
- At the end of the production, request that sets, props, materials, and costumes are donated to local non-profit organizations such as schools, theater groups, and shelters.
- Check with your Production and Costume designers for the work their union Green Committees are doing around waste, circularity, and research on materials that have been vetted for sustainability.
MATERIALS
- Materials Connexion in NYC has a database of over 10,000 tactile materials used in sets and construction.
- Plywood brings with it strongly adverse biodiversity impacts. Purchase verified sustainable plywood (e.g., FSC Lauan) or alternatives (e.g., Revolution Ply) when available. Use steel pipe scaffolding wherever possible.
- Seek out left over materials from other productions in your area. There is often a prior production that has left over materials and steel pipe that they will typically sell at a low price or give away.
RE-USE
- Recycle and re-use material goods. For example, once a set has been shot re-use the wall, moldings, glass, doors, etc., for other set builds.
- At the end of the production, request that sets, props, materials, and costumes are donated to local non-profit organizations such as schools, theater groups, shelters, etc.
- Work with organizations like Eco-Set in LA or Material For the Arts in NY, to donate left over building materials, set dressing, and costumes, that other productions may be able to re-purpose.
- Diverting materials from the landfill can also save your production money. For example: a representative from Material for the Arts reported that on a recent NY based TV series, "an estimated 3.9 million dollars" worth of assets found new homes and avoided a landfill. This translated into a tax benefit for the studio.
- Place visual reminders around office and workspaces to remind staff and crew to reduce, recycle and re-use. Make it easy to comply in the office, on set and on location.
- Coordinate with Office, Locations, Craft Service and Catering to create a responsible waste management plan that includes office and on set recycling -- and composting. More than half of all landfill methane (an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO2) is produced by food waste (US EPA). Find a local garbage hauler who supports this. Ask the garbage hauler to supply a diversion report.
- In addition to composting, recycling and trash, set up department-specific bins, for example, fabric recycling and donation bins in the costume department, or battery recycling.
- One of the most impactful ways an individual can reduce their carbon footprint is by adopting a plant-based diet. People who follow a plant-based diet account for 75 percent less in greenhouse gas emissions than those who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat a day (University of Oxford). Reduce or eliminate red meat from catering, provide plant-based options, and serve sustainably sourced fish and chicken. Check out DefaultVeg, an interesting initiative gaining traction in many industries.
- Set up the production office /workshops / kitchens with secondhand appliances, dishes, glasses, and flatware.
- Eliminate all use of #6 polystyrene plastic products (Styrofoam) and use reusable dishes and cutlery.
- Use reusable bags for shopping and ask suppliers to take back packaging for larger items such as computers and furniture.
- Purchase office and food supplies in bulk to reduce packaging.
- If you use coffee pods return them through a take back program.
- For take-out meals, refuse all plastic cutlery. Establish office preferences for restaurants who offer food in sustainable packaging. Let your preferences be known to food vendors.
- Purchase from local businesses to support community, avoid shipping, and cut emissions from delivery.
- Talk to catering about sizing portions appropriately to avoid food waste. Set up a local recipient for your excess catered food and follow the plan for the smoothest pick-up process and track how much you are donating and where. Organizations such as Every Day Action safely, swiftly and legally rescue left-over catered meals and delivered them to those in need.
- Food donations are protected under Good Samaritan Act’s in North America. See local regulations in other regions.
GO PAPERLESS
- Lead by example. Use paperless software for digital distribution, start paperwork and accounting documents. For script organization consider Scriptation, PDFExpert, or other available software.
- Reduce the amount of paper on your show and implement a “print on demand” policy for printing documents such as location scout schedules, art department floorplans, menus, shooting schedules, sides, etc. Encourage “recycled content” paper whenever possible.
GO PLASTIC-FREE
- Instruct your Prop and AD teams to avoid using single use plastic on-screen.
- Encourage people to bring their own water bottles and ask production to provide water bottle-filling stations in all areas on and offset. Model behavior by bringing your own re-usable bottle and coffee cup to set. Reusable, plant-based (and compostable!) water bottles are now real — check out S’wheat Bottle (wheat husk based) and Join The Pipe (sugar cane husk based) as examples.
- If single use water is unavoidable, use aluminum-canned water.
- Encourage your teams to remember that every cast or crew member that is flown in from out of town carries a huge carbon footprint. Every item from a big box store that was manufactured across the globe has a larger footprint than something sourced locally.
TRAVEL & LIVING
- Reduce air travel in every manner feasible by using alternative means such as trains, buses, and video conferencing.
- Reduce Pre-Production travel and remind everyone to use video conferencing to minimize travel CO2-both flying and driving. Consolidate meetings, scouts, casting sessions.
- Choose hotels with a clearly stated and implemented environmental program. Many green hotels use clean energy from renewable sources, and all are attentive to water conservation and separate waste collection. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/how-to-find-sustainable-hotels
- For long term hotel stays, ask that the rooms be serviced less frequently.
- Work with car service and rental car companies that supply electric or hybrid vehicles.
- Avoid private air travel. Private air travel is the most-polluting single action any production can engage in. Aircraft fuel not only releases CO2, but also nitrogen oxide contrails which contribute twice as much to global warming as aircraft fuel C02. Furthermore, an aircraft burns more fuel on take-off than it does in flight or landing. Avoid a second (or even third take-off) by putting personnel on direct flights as much as possible.
- Both EQUITY and the UK’s ALBERT offer a Green Rider which allows actors and filmmakers to consider the carbon impact of all requests made by and for the production — including air travel — to help reduce the production’s footprint wherever possible. See below for organizations where you can find a carbon calculator and purchase carbon offsets. In this way, you can also offset other activities that produce significant emissions.
CARBON OFFSETS
- Consider purchasing carbon offsets especially for airplane tickets. Most airlines provide them. The cost of carbon offsets is typically $10-20 per ton of CO2 equivalents. It should be noted that flying premium is more carbon polluting than economy by allotting more space to transport fewer passengers.
- Work with nature-based companies to purchase carbon offsets, here are a few to consider: https://sustainabletravel.org/, https://native.eco/, https://www.cooleffect.org/, https://terrapass.com among others. A carbon offset or carbon credit is used to offer a reduction in carbon emission by investing in an increase in carbon storage, such as planting new trees, and subsidizing biogas, solar and wind power projects for vulnerable communities to OFFSET the emissions that occur elsewhere, such as those emitted on your film/tv production.
- Work with locations and the local film commission to learn about the area where you are shooting for relevant environmental concerns.
- Participate in a community give-back program (e.g., tree planting, food drive, in-person/virtual volunteerism).