Assistant Director
You and your second have much to do with the mood on set. As the mouthpiece for the director, you must set the tone and be an example through gentle, yet professional peer pressure and informed guidance.
Arrange to have a meeting similar to a safety meeting about green procedures. Introduce your Environmental Team (if you are on a progressive enough shoot) to the crew and empower them. It’s going to be easy for crew to disregard the folks whose job it is to dig through the garbage to avoid contamination. You should make sure they have your support.
If an Environmental team or Green PA has not been hired, go through the recycling procedures during the Green Meeting and ask that the crew is conscientious and aware that the production is green.
If you and your team expect a potentially wasteful day (i.e. a hundred extras are going to need to be supplied with water on a very hot day), communicate with the Environmental team or production about the best solution, as having extras hold their own refillable water bottles is counter productive and impractical.
Camera
Shooting 3 perf uses 25% less film.
Recycle all the cardboard the 400’ rolls come in.
Turn in your cans, bags and cores with your exposed film and short ends. They should go back to the lab and not in the landfill can.
According to a representative from Falcon Brand Dust-Off, Dust-Off contains no CFC’s. When empty, they can be recycled with metals or metal recycling or at home with your regular residential recycling.
Some cleaners are needed – but any good assistant only uses it when they really have to. The chemicals can break down the coatings on lenses and sometimes the rubber housings.
Dummy loads should be sent back to the camera house with the equipment to be used at camera check outs and scratch test magazines.
Celebrities and Actors
Just in case you are the super star celebrity type with all kinds of power and influence, here’s a few suggestions for your rider and otherwise. I’m not sure how you got your hands on this Green Guide, but we’re glad you did.
Rider:
Your transportation must be a hybrid always.
Supply crew and talent with refillable water bottles and provide water stations.
Sets must be disassembled to their components and donated to Build it Green or ReBuilder’s Source.
The production must compost.
Insist that an Environmental Unit is hired to see best practices are a priority.
All items left over from the asset sales must be donated.
Refuse 2 or 3 story trailers, be okay with humble surroundings. It’s a lot of power to keep them going. Share a trailer and get over it. Over the top pampering of grown-ups is incredibly expensive and wasteful. We’ll love and respect you for it.
Drop the limos, private planes, stretch Hummers and what-nots. No one is above being environmentally responsible, and change takes everyone’s participation.
Craft Service/Caterers
Organic, organic, organic food. Support farming that does not poison our soil, air and water with pesticides and all that other junk.
Use reuseable plates or biodegradable or compostable plates and flatware – and actually compost them. Biodegradable material is capable of being completely broken down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass with the aid of microorganisms. Compostable material biodegrades, but only under specific conditions – for example, the regulated high temperatures of a commercial composting site.
All of the PLA (polylactic acid, usually made from corn) products biodegrade only in high temperature compost conditions. Some potatoware and bagasse plate/bowl products (bagasse is the fibrous material leftover after sugarcane juice is extracted from its stalk) may biodegrade more readily, but do so fastest when in a controlled compost environment.
Reduce your packaging waste. Single servings are incredibly wasteful, so buy in bulk.
If your schedule allows, buy at the farmer’s market. This reduces your food’s carbon foot print by it not being shipped from far away.
No red meat.
Construction Coordinators and Carpenters
Simply put, building sets to be used once and thrown out is a cradle to grave model and not only deforests our planet, but also creates greenhouse gasses in the landfill. So we are creating more carbon dioxide and reducing the earth’s ability to absorb it. What do we do? Reduce, reuse, recycle.
ASK what is to become of the set during wrap and offer the solutions mentioned below. Seek to reduce, reuse, recycle in at the beginning of the job.
ASK if the production would consider bringing you back on for the wrap to deconstruct the set so they can be acceptable to places like Build it Green and ReBuilder’s Source. At this time, more than likely everyone will look at you horrified and say, “No”. However, what you are doing is planting the seed and the idea for the future.
As far as sets are concerned, there are some short-term solutions and some long-term solutions.
Short-term solutions
Reduce your materials. That is pretty much what you try to do anyway to keep costs down, but it’s worth mentioning. Also, as a community we should try to avoid luan – a rain forest material. Instead, if the design allows, stretch and paint muslin, which can, at least, be reused.
Reuse – can you reuse materials from one set to build another? Rent flats instead of building more?
ASK the powers that be, if you can call Film Biz Recycling to come out and take pictures of the set while it stands. We will work to place those sets in theaters, high schools and colleges. The more time we have the better. This will also save in disposal costs.
Recycle – Lumber can be recycled. See the Vendor Guide for vetted Carting companies that can pick up waste wood, provide a container or where items can get dropped off. Most wood is sorted into open-top containers and taken to regional wood processing facilities where it is chipped and ground up for use as mulch and in the manufacture of various types of composite board. Some larger pieces of wood in good condition are reclaimed for reuse in the construction of crating, planking and skids.
Long-term goals
Reduce luan usage to nothing. We need to find an alternative to luan. Lots of eco-friendly products are being manufactured, like compressed cardboard. It’s out there somewhere and we have to find it, use it and set a new industry standard. In time, we’ll find something that is light-weight, strong and sustainable.
Reuse – We have to rethink the way we budget our builds and how we build our sets. Ultimately, sets need to be designed to be deconstructed and reused over and over. Screws should be used almost exclusively. Staples and glue render the lumber difficult to deconstruct. Last minute changes are inevitable, but glue and staples should be a last resort.
Once broken down, that “camera-grade” lumber goes to the reuse warehouse and sold back to the industry for a third of the cost next time around, in theory making the extra labor affordable. Not only are we saving materials and preventing pollution, but creating jobs.
If deconstruction is totally out of the question, as mentioned above, ask Film Biz Recycling to help you place the items in an under-funded arts organization.
Recycle - End of the waste stream solution. See above.
Set Decorators and Shoppers
Dollars are a vote. Every time you spend money on sustainable furniture, organic cotton sheets, recycled art, etc. you are supporting a cause, creating a market, sending a message and making a difference, and ultimately, driving down the price.
Right now, these items are a bit more expensive than conventional items and we all have to watch the bottom line and make sure we get hired again! But when you have the choice – pick the environmental option.
Always carry a few reusable bags. We recommend Chico Bags – buy on-line or at future-friendly stores all around town. They fold into themselves and it transforms from a one by two inch rectangle to a good-sized, strong bag that fits over your shoulder even with your winter coat on!
Request that your drivers do not to idle while they wait for you.
Buy a refillable stainless (steel?) water bottle and carry it with you proudly. With all the running around you do, it’s easy to buy plastic bottled water and toss it. You’ll be surprised how many water fountains you see when you rely on them to fill up. Barnes and Noble has really nice ones.
Frequent shops that support recycled and sustainable products like 3R Living in Park Slope Brooklyn or Sustainable NYC in the East Village. See the Vendor List for more reuse centers and shopping suggestions.
Department Heads in General
You set the tone for your crew. When you get a call for a “green” job, be sure your crew knows and is willing to comply. Thank production for the opportunity to work on a green job – it’s extra work for them on top of an already long to-do list.
If the job does not have any kind of green infrastructure or efforts, ASK for a recycling bin and do what many, many crew members have done in the past and take the recycling home – and make it obvious you are doing so. Be a squeaky wheel and early adapter of recycling on set.
Also, bring your refillable water bottle and display it proudly!
Electric
A major responsibility of this department is to provide power to the set and to its lighting units. On location, the electric department provides power using a large portable generator, usually one using a diesel engine – unless an on-location tie-in is done, which is rare. On the stage, obviously, we use the electricity from the stage.
Reduce
Production lighting sucks down vast amounts of electricity. Make sure to switch lights off at lunchtime or off camera. We can’t turn them off when the camera cuts each time because getting them back up is too time consuming. Use dimmers and try to make use of natural lighting where and when you can.
Tier 4 motors in generators are the most fuel efficient and emit the least amount of pollution. Insist upon using companies you know have updated generators with tier 3 or 4 motors and that use bio-diesel. See the vendors guide for suggestions if you do not have a favorite lower-impact generator company.
If every gaffer made more conscious choices regarding the use of expendables, and if every Best boy implemented a system that made it easy to reuse these expendables, as a whole the electric department could greatly reduce its waste of single use and non-biodegradable goods.
Some suggestions are to reduce the use of black wrap by asking the grip department to set solid flags instead, and to implement a system of pre-cut gels and black wrap that not only facilitates gelling and black wrapping lights, but also cuts down on the amount of gels/black wrap used. (See below)
Reuse
Gels are made from Polyester or Polycarbonate. Gel companies say they are recyclable, but admit it’s “tricky”. If the Green PA has not set one up (or there is not a Green PA) when you have to change a gel and it’s reusable, start a gel recycling box and send to Film Biz Recycling. We’ll get it to a college or school that can use it and would love to save the money on expensive gels.
Collect and Reuse:
Clothes pins, trick line, black wrap. Start off with these items and then move on to other expendables as the transition to reuse gets easier.
Create a pre-cut gel system by keeping all colors/sizes organized thereby minimizing time spent looking for and cutting gels. This also decreases waste caused by overcompensation when cutting gels. Replace them with pre-cut gels which can be put back in the file/folder they were taken from.
Recycle
Black wrap is recyclable – toss it in with metal/aluminum recycling.
Sash is cotton with a synthetic core. Save it all and bind it up and send to Filco Carting
Gels – combine all together and send to Filco Carting in a clear, plastic bag.
Executive Producers
If you own the company, are a partner or have a stake in its success, focusing on the triple bottom line can be daunting. Will it hurt business? Will it cost more? Can I do this and stay competitive? No, no and yes. Tell your clients, directors, staff and freelance employees, “We are a green production company and we are making slight changes to how we do things.“ Then start making changes.
You have a lot of power to make a huge difference in this world. You really do. If, by your say so, all your productions refuse to have a single use bottled water anywhere on set, compost its left over organic materials, recycle everything possible, in a year, you will divert literally tons of materials from landfills. This helps greatly by avoiding greenhouse gases entering our atmosphere, and many gallons of leachate seeping into our soil and water. Not only that, but if you start today, you will be a trailblazer and early adapter in the sustainable filmmaking movement. It’s great for Mother Earth and not so bad for your public relations, either.
Here’s where you start – at home base.
Buy renewable power sources for your office. Switch to wind power or some other 100% renewable source. If you need a suggestion or a good place to start see the vendor list.
Go as paperless as possible in the office – budgets, scripts, pre-pro books if you produce commercials, etc.
No director’s reels on DVD’s. Your website should suffice.
Put money in the bids and budgets for sustainable practices. Call it green fees, green line, recycling fees, whatever. Ask for a report of how many tons diverted from each job. You are welcome to call FBR for a consultation for guidance.
One example of how to spend that line:
A green budget line can pay for a “Green PA” – one person who is responsible for paper, plastic, metal, organic and landfill separation, and take it to the MRF (materials recovery facility), someone to write names on and rinse out coffee mugs (if you are on a stage), order water jugs, set and lumber placement and recycling, arrange donations to reuse centers, encourage and facilitate reuse of expendables, etc. In addition, this PA can work the departments and AD’s when circumstances arise that need environmental solutions on location that do not interfere with getting the shot. With a little foresight and planning, going green will save you money and prevent a lot of pollution.
Once again, you have a lot of power to make a huge difference. Green light a green production.
Food Stylists
You guys go through a tremendous amount of food. There are three huge things you can do:
Plan ahead.
Ask for your waste to be composted. Offer them a place to drop it off or see if a container from the carting company can be delivered and picked up – whatever is easier/less expensive for production. There is a fee per pound, but then again they have to pay the studio to dispose of it, so what’s the difference besides creating waste for a landfill versus returning nutrients to the soil.
Donate what you do not use to a food pantry or homeless shelter. If you do not have a favorite, consult the vendor guide.
Green PA’s
Many times you are sent out on runs – so make the responsible choice every time – organic, fair trade, biodegradable, everything. Use this guide for resources, most of them were gathered with you in mind.
ASK if you can collect paper, plastic, metal, organics for composting, ink cartridges and take it to the MRF (materials recovery facility). Be the leader if no one else on the set is concerned. TEACH what you know to other PA’s.
If you are on a stage, write names on camera tape and rinse out coffee mugs ASK to order water jugs in 5 gallons.
The people who hired you are busy. Very busy. If you take the initiative, you can turn a production green and bolster your career. ASK to take pictures of the set and send to FBR for reuse placement and/or ecycling, arrange donations to reuse centers, encourage and facilitate reuse of expendables, etc. Taking the initiative will not only green your production, but will show the higher ups you are a go-getter, self-starter, resourceful and can get things done. With that in mind, watch yourself rise in the ranks.
In addition, as a Green PA you can work with the ALL the departments and AD’s when circumstances arise that need environmental solutions on location that do not interfere with getting the shot. With a little foresight and planning, going green will save your production money, prevent a lot of pollution and make you a super star on set.
Paint
Never, ever throw wet paint in the dumpster
Full cans Donate to Build it Green
Half can or more Donate to Build it Green
Whites Combine and donate
Colors Combine and donate
Paint Cans
Empty and dried out can be recycled as separate collections.
Pallet Wrap
Valuable stuff! Put in plastics recycling.
Sash
Made out of cotton with a synthetic core. Most of it can get recycled. Keep it all separate, bind and send to Filco Carting or Avid
Spray Paint
empty cans can get recycled. Keep a separate collection. Do not mix with metal recycling. Send to Filco Carting or Avid.
You will experience different things all the time. Keep Film Biz Recycling in your phone and call us. We are here to help you when you don’t know the answer. If we don’t know, we’ll find out.
Greensmen
Renting is always ideal and most of you already try to rent as much as possible.
If you have to buy plants see if they will take them back…even for free – at least they will not get thrown out.
If they do not take them back, see if community gardens can take them, or call FBR and we will try to place your plants in a community garden or school.
If they die, compost them.
Grips
Use pipe scaffolding.
In general, watch your expendables use and try to reuse as much as possible. If you are using a lot of sash or zip cord, they are recyclable. Toss it all in a cardboard box and send to the recycling drop-off center with the other materials. Drop off centers are listed in the vendors section of this guide or talk to the Green PA on set.
Use tape from the tape kit to the end and then start another. Partial expendables are not returnable and essentially go to landfill if they are not taken home. Some expendable companies save the partials for student films, but a lot sits around off-gassing and taking up space. Note: many adhesives (tape included) off-gas. Keep tape in your trunk.
Before striking the sets, preferably during the build, ASK if the set it going to be recycled, donated or thrown in a dumpster. Call Film Biz Recycling or Waste Match to assist you in donating your sets.
Request that unused lumber be donated to material reuse centers. Have a few suggestions ready to assist whomever ultimately is arranging that donation.
When striking a set, lumber not suitable for donation or placement should be recycled. Tell your production team you know of a place that could recycle the wood if they drop it off. See the vendor list for the carting company nearest you.
Store the numbers of the recycling drop off centers in your phone, so you can always refer production to them. Even better, call them yourself initially and get a bit of information to offer the Art Department Coordinator, Construction Coordinator or Production. In other words, be pro-active and helpful.
Lead Men/Props
Reduce
Bubble wrap is manufactured from low density polyethylene (LDPE), a thermoplastic made from oil, also commonly used to make plastic shopping bags, six-pack soda can rings.
One good thing about bubble wrap is it is reusable and in high demand. Don’t toss it! Put used bubble wrap in a garbage bag and send it to Film Biz Recycling. We donate many bags to charities that sell on line, like the Housing Works Book Store. Ditto for spare on the roll – send it over and we’ll give it a home.
That little figurine does not need to be wrapped up 17 times. Take it easy.
Please ask yourself if packing paper and newspapers will suffice.
Tape and all adhesives are destined to be landfill items, even the best of the best can’t take it. So take it easy, it all gets entered in to the earth.
Reuse
Everything you possibly can. We could write a huge book only dedicated to reuse in the art department. See website www.filmbizrecycling.org.
Recycle
Batteries – separate container
Light bulbs – of all kinds. Boxed separately and carefully to reduce breakage (especially CFL’s) and send to Filco.
Spray cans – spray adhesive, dulling spray, etc. Can get recycled. Collect separately and send to Filco in a clear bag.
Pallet wrap is not reusable. You don’t have to wrap 4 cloth napkins with 20 layers of the stuff. It is important to protect furniture, prevent damage to purchases and rentals, just THINK about how much you use and when.
Donate left over packing and expendable materials to Film Biz Recycling or your favorite charity. Packing materials are like gold to non-profit organizations that ship.
Upson is reusable at times and some expendables retailers take back used upson. They also sell it used.
Location Managers
Place the base camp genny away from residential areas. The exhaust is directed up to 6th, 7th, 8th floors.
If you know the gennys are using Bio-Diesel, in the winter, ask whoever drives the genny in to pre-heat it in the morning. It cuts down on smoke that bothers local residents.
Producers
Like to save money? Here’s one way: Recycle your jobs, don’t toss them in a dumpster. You can reduce dumpster fees by dropping off cans, bottles, lumber, batteries, and more at a recycling center.
Many folks have said, “I’m all about the ‘green’ thing, but as long as it does not cost me anymore money.” In most cases, it won’t. The money just gets moved around. If you use the suggested recycling drop off center and pay their fees, you are not paying fees to the stage or local hauler. If you are on a feature and you buy a 25 dollar Sigg or Klean Kanteen for 100 crew members that’s a lot of money up front. If it saves you from having to buy 10,000-15,000 bottles of water for the duration of a shoot and buy it in 5 gallon bottles, essentially in bulk, you will save a lot from your craft service budget.
Has the company that hired you not put in a green line or Green PA?
ASK if you can do it yourself, even changing the language sets the tone for a greener production.
ASK your director if he/she is on board with a green production, even if that means carpooling in a Prius to the stage. Above-the-line professionals have a responsibility to encourage sustainability by example.
Production Designers
Think. Think about what you are designing. Where will it end up? Can you design something that can be used by another sector? Taken apart easily? Can you afford to hire a carpenter to deconstruct the set in to its components?
If you belong to a union, you retain certain rights to your designs. Agree that these design pieces in part or whole can be sent to a school or arts group. Not only do you save it from disposal, but you are directly contributing to a group with much, much less resources than your productions.
Talk about the design with your director and producer. Perhaps there is a better place for your designs after wrap than the landfill…because that is where it all goes.
You are the head of the department, hold a meeting and discuss your desire to reduce waste in the art department. Set the tone.
Visit the flea market, Build it Green, ReBuilder’s Source or Demolition Depot for inspiration. Challenge yourself to incorporate salvaged materials into your designs…first 10%, then 20%. Not only are you reusing, you are supporting a non-profit.
Insist your carps use screws instead of nails and glue whenever possible. Last minute additions or changes make that a hard rule to follow at times – gluing and stapling is faster, but renders the lumber difficult to recycle.
When ordering signage, ask the vendor if they have any eco-friendly products you can use. For instance, Sign Expo had biodegradable letters made from zinc and bamboo sign stands.
Avoid luan – it’s a tropical hardwood. Stretch muslin when you can.
Call WasteMatch or Film Biz Recycling as you design – while you are shooting they can work on placing your sets in the hands of schools and other under funded arts programs.
If things must get thrown out, insist on an environmentally concerned carter like Action or Filco.
NO GOLDFISH in kid’s room or otherwise!! Too many get flushed at the end of a job, just because dressers need to hit the road. NOT OKAY unless they have a home and are properly taken care of on and off set.
Production Managers and Coordinators
The most important thing you can do is talk to the vendors and ASK questions. You talk to them all the time anyway. We have to green our vendors already serving the industry. YOU can have a huge impact by just asking questions.
For example: Does their fleet use bio-diesel? Would they consider it? How close are they to using nothing but? Tell them you are interested in hiring vendors who are environmentally friendly.
Has your camper company considered buying a solar panel for the vehicle? Yes, they exist. What is their experience with them?
Does the catering company compost? Would they be interested in knowing how? What sort of food service items and utensils do they use, disposable or reusable? Do they serve coffee in Styrofoam?
When you start a job have it be part of your routine to set up recycling stations for paper, plastic, cans, toner cartridges, and batteries in the office and kitchen. Have your green PA do it!
Unplug chargers for mobile phones and other equipment when not in use to prevent phantom electricity use.
Buy a solar powered phone charger.
Buy HP, Dell, Kodak, Lexmark printers. Staples (10 a month) and Office Depot both recycle the ink cartridges. Staples accepts all ink cartridges. Office Depot does not accept Brother, Cannon and Epson. You can also collect them and send them to FBR.
Print double-sided documents (e.g. scripts & call sheets) – the set copier should be set to default double sided copies.
Use paper printed on one side as scrap paper.
Make sure the extra cans and bags left over from a shoot get returned to the lab.
All paper should have a minimum of 30% post-consumer recycled content.
Check out the vendor list to see where to get it.
Avoid one-time uses of anything!
Use dishware and utensils that can be washed (as opposed to single-use, throwaway material) wherever possible. Use biodegradable serving products instead of Styrofoam and plastic. If these are not available use products made out of recycled materials.
Eliminate the use of plastic or Styrofoam plates, cups, utensils and take-out containers. Last resort, styrofoam can be recycled. Collect in clear bags and send to Filco Carting. It becomes Gaia Soil.
Use water coolers instead of bottled water. Give cast and crew members their own personal water bottles and encourage their use. No money for that? Just tell them to bring one in.
Buy fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee and brew in unbleached, chlorine-free coffee filters.
Scenic Artists
Do not ever throw away wet paint in a dumpster.
When you place a paint order add a bag of kitty litter or paint hardener to the order so it’s on hand when ever the need arises.
You have to ASK for low volatile organic compound (VOC) paint from Janovic Plaza. Any color from the Color Preview fan book can be low VOC. BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK FOR IT.
Epstein’s carries low VOC paint, and can use the Benjamin Moore fan book to match a color with their super computer.
If you have left over paint, consolidate like colors into paint cans and donate to Build it Green. They must be half full cans or full. Any amount of white is accepted.
If there’s not enough to donate, fill the cans with cat litter or sawdust to harden the paint and keep it from leaking out. Hammer it tight to seal. Then what do you do with it?
If the paint can is empty, dry out the inside if the paint and recycle it with metals.
Make arrangements for the safe disposal of used hazardous chemicals, containers, spray cans, paint containers, paint thinners, brushes, and rags. If you are going to use toxic and potentially dangerous materials you must make sure you have a proper disposal plan and your workspace is properly ventilated for you and your crew. No toxic avengers.
Special Effects
Fire – we need to find more ways to calculate CO2 emitted by blowing up cars. In the meantime, when putting together a budget ASK if offsets for carbon emissions should come out of your budget or does production have it somewhere else in the budget.
Snow – biodegradable please. Thank you. Reuse snow blankets. It’s petroleum-based polyester. Do we really need to use it once and throw it out? When ordering supplies ASK vendors if biodegradable options exist.
Transportation
There’s no question we burn through a lot of gasoline and diesel. We have a lot of people and things to transport and there is no getting around that. What we can do is set a few ground rules and start asking questions and thinking about how we can reduce our emissions.
No idling. Ever. Go inside to keep warm.
To be continued, fellas.
Wardrobe
Use non-toxic dyes, environmentally friendly detergents, chemicals and cleaning products. Seventh Generation smells great and it works.
Like Set Decorators, you have a lot of buying power and your dollars are votes. Try to buy organic cotton, organic wool, hemp, bamboo, raw silk, linen, and natural materials – the more we spend on sustainable materials, the cheaper and more available it will get.
Buying used clothing is a method of re-use. Frequent your favorite consignment shop and vintage clothing stores as much as your specifications allow.
Use an environmentally friendly dry cleaner. Check Film Biz Recycling’s vendor list for options if you do not have a favorite.
Donate all the wardrobe left over to New York Clothing Bank or Good Will. Both can handle high volumes of clothing. New York Clothing Bank can pick up with a week’s notice. You are also welcome to donate to FBR and we will on your behalf to these great organizations.
