Everybody has heard of it, but what exactly is your CARBON FOOTPRINT and how does it relate to your project.?
Your / Your projects CARBON Footprint (CO2e footprint), is about specific actions that have a tangible impact on your own or your projects EMISSIONS. They are mostly calculated in kg or tons of CO2e emitted.? Examples of how you can influence the amount emitted during your production include:
_____________________________________________________________________
??? Waste Reduction and Recycling in the Office and on Set:
- Plan meals in collaboration with the caterer to minimize food waste (read how food waste and CO2e emissions are linked HERE and HERE).
- Build and design sets in a way that allows to reuse, donate or recycle components after filming f.e. use reusable/rental walls for studio construction (more about this HERE and HERE), make sure that wood connections are not glued, that wallpaper can be removed from set elements, etc.
- Prefer to rent props and styling items instead of purchasing new material (usually also a more cost efficient solution!).
- Work hard on making your office paperless in daily communication and also accounting.?
- Put out recycling bins on set and in your office and clearly label them?? and make sure the waste that could not be avoided is recycled properly.
_____________________________________________________________________
??? Energy Planning & Saving:
- Sign up all production spaces to green energy suppliers, make sure the studios and post houses you’re working with have coops with green energy suppliers as well (but definitely keep asking! demand creates the awareness that something is needed! and even if you favorite post house or hotel or studio doesn’t have green power yet, them hearing the question again and again and again, might create a sense of necessity for change!)?
- Prioritize grid power connections during on-location shoots.
- Explore alternatives to diesel generators and check in with your production manager on which locations alternative power sources might be available.
- Collaborate with your DoP and Gaffer on lighting concepts, ensuring that grid power is used and prioritized as often as possible, and that they also check for alternative lighting sources, or the use of reflectors.
- Make sure old projects on FTP Servers and Files on Cloud Storage are archived and deleted regularly, storing data consumes heaps of energy (electricity required by data centers in Germany has almost doubled from 5.8 billion in 2010 to ten billion kilowatt hours in 2020 - LINK)
- Email attachments cause heavy data traffic and thus the need for more computing power and data storage. Sending and reading a normal email currently causes 10 grams of CO2e in Germany. This is the equivalent to the carbon footprint of a plastic bag (LINK). Every year, around 8 million tons of CO2e are generated by sending emails in Germany (LINK). Of course more with files attached. Make sure you reduce PDF and Videofile sizes before emailing them or use links ins emails for larger files, also: unsubscribe from all unwanted newsletters.?
_____________________________________________________________________
(… and obviously traveling less and the avoidance of travel are also a mayor possibility to reduce emissions and your CO2e footprint) ????
