How to Go Zero-Waste on a Film Set, During Covid
By: Gloria Deng
Tags: Film Production, Filmmaking, Zero Waste, Craftservices, Sustainability

Introduction

The film industry is a big contributor to climate change, adding millions of CO2 to our atmosphere every year. Good news is that there are things a production can do to lower its carbon footprint. There are many areas to tackle when making a sustainable production — waste diversion is one that could be implemented and tracked relatively easily. Recently, I was in charge for the craft services for a pilot shoot of a web series. Inspired by an article about ways to go zero waste on a film set, I took the opportunity to create an as low-waste as possible production.

Statistics

With 25 people on set, in 2 days, we

produced approximately 4 pounds of landfill, 8 pounds of compost and 2 pounds of recycling

diverted 71% of our waste from landfill

created 98% less landfill than average American, who produces 3.3 pounds of garbage daily

Areas of Focus

In the sets that I have been to, most wastes come from food packages and and single-use utensil, as well as disposable water bottles. Therefore, food and beverage are the 2 main areas that I decided to tackle.

Food

Food can be further categorized into crafties and lunch.

For crafties:

I avoided packaged food as much as possible. I was excited to find out that Sprouts was still offering bulk-buy snacks during Covid. Extra care was needed to avoid contamination, so I transferred the bulk-buy chocolate into a bottle that can dispense the food without being touched.

But let’s face it, it is not always that easy to find all the snacks you want without packages, such as chips. So now I hunted for party size. In this way, there will not be small disposable package. For safety reason, I also got a dispenser for the chips so no one needed to touch the food directly.

What else is more exciting than seeing fruits on set? Bananas and tangerines are some economical choices. One thing to do is to take off the stickers before offering them so that they can be composted.

Any left over snacks are offered to cast and crew.

For lunch:

Instead of individually wrapped meals, we ordered party trays that came in aluminum pans on day 1 and pizzas on day 2. Party trays were washed and recycled, greasy pizza boxes were cut into small pieces for composting, and the clean parts were recycled.

We also set up a Covid protocol where I was the only person that can directly handle and distribute the food. For bigger sets, multiple people can be designated to handle this task.

We encouraged the cast and crew to bring their own containers and utensils, and we also provided reusable bowls, plates, and silverwares. The filming location was at an office with a kitchen, so we had access to the utensils there. If you need some in the LA region, instead of using disposable ones, you can rent some from SustainLA.

I also set up a return box so everyone knew where to leave the utensils at.

For cleaning, if you rent the utensils, you don’t need to worry about it. We had access to a dishwasher on set so we were able to wash the utensils at the end of the production on day 1 and use them for day 2. If there were no dishwasher on set, I would just bring them home and use my dishwasher.

Any left over lunch are offered to cast and crew.

crafties without packages

return box for utensils next to the sink

2. Beverages

We also had access to a water machine so that made things easier. But before we found out that there was a water machine, we were considering to buy 2 Brita water tanks. They would be good investments that can be reused in future productions as well.

Another option is to buy or rent a water dispenser (also available at SustainLA). If you want the water to be filtered, you can place charcoal filters inside. Those are available in sustainable/zero-waste stores, such as Eco Now.

For other beverages, I bought party size as well. Most of the beverage in the market now should have recyclable containers, so I also made sure the person finishing the drinks also knows to put the container in the recycling bin.

For coffee, we had a coffee machine and we got a giant can of grounded coffee. Coffee grounds and filters can be composted. If you do not have one, you can easily find a cheap and working second-hand coffee machine on platforms like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace.

For cups, we asked all cast and crew to bring their own water bottles. We also provided reusable cups, such as the ones from CupRite.

coffee machine, grounded coffee in bulk, reusable mugs

Key

Communicate from the very beginning.

I talked with the team at a relatively late stage when the Covid protocol had already been sent to the cast and crew so we needed to revise and send it out again. Next time, I would mention about all things sustainable at the very first time discussing about production.

Anticipate objection. Luckily I did not face any, but there will certainly be at some time, so be prepared and explain the problem you are helping to solve, why it would be amazing that the team does this, and how easy you would make it for the cast and crew to be part of the effort.

I also went over the sustainability initiatives with all cast one week before shooting, and created a sustainability guideline in a flyer form to share with them.

Separate waste into landfill, compost, and recycling AND make people know where to throw to which bin.

I initially placed the bins at a location where people can throw in stuff without looking at the signs. So I moved them to another location where the signs are more visible.

I also wrote too much things on the signs. Just need to make sure to draw something — napkins and fruit scraps were two major things that most people threw to the landfill bin while they can be composted. When people see the items in drawing form, they started throwing them into the right bin.

Research about recycling and compost at the shooting location before shooting day.

I found out that there was no recycling dumpster at the shooting location, so I made plan to recycle the materials at my own apartment complex.

There was also no compost available at the shooting location, so I used Make Soil and found a nearby compost site that was just 5 minutes away. Another compost marketplace is Share Waste.

Believe in yourself and what you do :)

In the grand scheme of things, the quantity of trash we have diverted from landfill probably does not mean much. Not to mention how intimidating it would be if there are doubts from others and someone shows that recycling or composting does not matter.

However, protecting the environment is not about perfection, it is about what is possible and what we can do within our power. It is about spreading the message and influencing others.

Zero waste and zero carbon footprint are almost impossible considering the world we live in today, but if this can inspire the cast and crew to pay more attention to sustainability, remind them to bring their own water bottles to set next time, or remember that they have been on a production that takes environmental protection into consideration and share it with their friends, this is a progress.

waste are separated into landfill, compost, and recycling bins

poster made with templates on Canva

Future

Certainly, there are also many other aspects within sustainability to consider in addition to waste management. We had a relatively small production and only focused on diverting waste from landfill, but I recently discovered these Green Production Guide Toolkits that can be used for all sizes of productions with details for other aspects including products and suppliers, energy, transportation and travel.

Last But Not Least

Kudos to the cast and crew for being part of the effort!