It’s not easy being green, but it’s worth it
They reuse sets, sort the trash, make sure makeup is non-toxic and ensure water bottles are reusable. Welcome to the fascinating world of eco-coordinators, the new members of film crews tasked with making productions more environmentally friendly.
Shooting a movie or series is a major undertaking where filmmakers see a work, and often a dream, come to life before their eyes. But behind every production there are props, costumes, makeup, generators and a hungry crew to feed, all of which generates a huge amount of waste and requires massive amounts of energy. It’s the dark side of the business.
According to France-based Ecoprod, which promotes eco-friendly best practices in the audiovisual industry, filming a typical feature film generates 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, an amount equal to 10,000 airplanes making return flights between Toronto and Montreal.
With such a huge carbon footprint, it’s no wonder more productions are hiring eco-coordinators.
Louis Cabanac was an eco-coordinator on the Quebec set of writer/director Philippe Falardeau’s Mille secrets, mille dangers, scheduled for release later this year. “I was responsible for ensuring that the production met a number of environmental or eco-friendly objectives and for following up with department heads,” he explains.
The eco-coordinator position is not yet fully defined and can vary from project to project.
“It’s a new role in the industry with great potential and it’s all very exciting,” says Melanie Windle, co-founder and executive director of the Sustainable Entertainment Society, a Canadian non-profit set up to accelerate sustainable development in the arts, culture and entertainment sectors.
“There’s a lot of discussion going on about expanding this service,” Windle says from Los Angeles where she’s participating in L.A. Climate Week. “We’re on the hunt for talent in other industries, including the environmental science and sustainability management areas, targeting candidates who probably never gave a single thought to pursuing a career in the entertainment business.”
While Windle admits it’s still a bit like the Wild West on set, her colleague Zena Harris, founder and president of Green Spark Group, a sustainable development consulting firm for the entertainment industry based in Western Canada, assures us she and her team are working hard to develop clear guidelines and more consistent job descriptions.
Planning ahead
An eco-coordinator’s work usually begins before filming starts. During pre-production for Mille secrets, mille dangers, for example, schedules were constructed to minimize truck movement at the end of the day. “We left the trucks on set during the evening and hired a security guard. We saved time on travel, technicians working overtime and fuel,” says Cabanac.
Another task for Cabanac was to ensure the production complied with Quebec’s Rolling Green program, set up in 2021 by the Quebec Film and Television Council, the Quebec Eco-Responsible Events Council and Quebecor. The program calls on audiovisual production companies to implement sustainable measures from a pre-established list. Points awarded for each measure determine a production’s accreditation level.
No bottled drinks were allowed on the Mille secrets, mille dangers set. Instead, beverages were kept in large coolers, and crew members had to have their own reusable bottles. Tableware provided by the caterer was also reusable.
Hair and makeup presented a significant challenge. There were 20 to 30 actors on set for a wedding scene and up to 150 extras in other scenes. Cosmetics had to be non-toxic, organic and never tested on animals. Mineral oil-based aerosols and disposable wipes were strictly verboten. And the crew prioritized bulk or minimally packaged products.
Weighing the consequences
Twice a day for the entire 36-day shoot, Cabanac collected every scrap of rubbish, emptied all the bins, recycling and compost, and carefully weighed each category of waste. Then he removed the waste that was poorly sorted and did a second weighing. The difference between the two weighings determined the contamination rate, which he shared with Rolling Green and his team.
“I took it up to a level that even Rolling Green didn’t know existed,” he says with a wink.
While some measures caused grumbling at first, it was a collective effort, and a sense of cooperation prevailed. Cabanac also created a tracking tool to measure the team’s efforts each day and help them reach the 90-point threshold needed for the highest level of accreditation.
“Many people came to see me because they were getting eco-anxiety on set, and it did them a lot of good to see how conscientious I was,” he says.
Get the team involved
Zena Harris, on the other hand, objects to eco-coordinators sorting rubbish. She sees that as a waste of talent. They should be coordinating tasks with the team that manages waste instead.
Ideally, she says, each production should have a dedicated sustainability team with an advisor hired before filming begins, a supervisor and a coordinator. “Of course, the needs of any two productions are never the same,” Harris says.
“Instead of just one person taking on everything, the sustainability team should arrange things so that the entire crew participates in the decarbonization and sustainability process,” says Windle.
The cost of being eco-friendly
Making environmentally responsible choices can sometimes be more expensive, especially when it comes to materials. But Mille secrets, mille dangers production manager Pascal Bascaron insists it doesn’t have to be. All it takes is a change in habits. Micro_scope Productions allocated a mere one percent of its budget to its green plan, including Cabanac’s salary.
The main expense was a $12,000 hybrid generator to power the nine trailers on set. Energy consumption dropped from 24 hours a day to around three, making back 60 percent of the generator’s cost in energy savings.
Windle and Harris both note that speakers at L.A. Climate Week felt reducing carbon footprints on sets could lead to significant cost savings if done right. One speaker even described how a single set was used for four different productions in Toronto and Los Angeles, transforming from a dentist’s office to a business office, a courtroom and finally a hotel.
“Yes, our industry is a polluter,” Windle says. “But we’re also innovative and fast on our feet. Our people are known for their talent, their drive and their commitment. If anyone can decarbonize and change their habits by learning from each other, we can.”
