July Reel Green Meeting Recap

On Monday, July 15th, a lively group of industry members gathered for the bi-monthly Reel Green Meeting to discuss progress being made in the realm of emissions reductions, and what we as an industry can do to keep pushing further!

Zena Harris kicked off the meeting with a discussion on various declarations and motions made for emission reductions. Over 600 communities all over the world have declared climate emergencies, and many of these (such as Vancouver and New York) are popular filming destinations. What do these declarations mean for the industries working in these communities that are trying to reduce carbon emissions? How do we adapt as an industry so that we’re not caught off guard as regulations change?

The group discussed the fact that until laws are changed, it can be difficult for the industry to adapt on its own as it is still difficult to access some options, like hybrid or electric vehicles, that reduce emissions. While there are still some barriers to adopting clean technologies, the group brainstormed lots of ideas to help the industry adopt more clean energy, and reduce emissions overall.

One idea was to attempt to source electric or hybrid vehicles (including larger vans) from car manufacturers directly, and continue to advocate that rental companies provide them as part of their fleets, which some have been hesitant to do.

Another topic of discussion was the recent Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation motion to look at reducing emissions in Vancouver's parks. One path of many forward is to improve electrical tie-in infrastructure so that productions have better access to BC’s renewable electricity. Another is the use of battery power stations such as Portable Electric’s VoltStack, which store the grid’s energy for use anywhere, and operate in silence. 

There are so many ways to reduce emissions, and productions don’t need to wait until regulations change. On your production right now, you can use hybrid or electric vehicles and clean energy as much as possible, encourage crew through incentives or other programs to bike or take transit to work when possible, and focus on implementing a no-idling policy on production. 

Other things you can do right now to reduce your production’s impact:

• Donate leftover food

• Use compostable (or better yet, reusable!) dishware

• Reuse materials as much as possible

• Continue to advocate for sustainable production, show people what is possible, and celebrate those who are doing good work! Nominate a person or production for an award at the upcoming Sustainable Production Forum! 

Have a story to share about how your department is reducing its impact? Tell us what’s happening and we could feature your story in an upcoming Reel Green newsletter and invite you to share at a Reel Green meeting.