Whilst every cast and crew member has a role to play in achieving a production’s sustainability goals, it can be difficult for individuals to implement practices when the ‘green message’ isn’t flowing from top down. Producers and Directors play a major role in driving green consciousness. It is imperative their vision and commitment is reiterated and implemented at each stage of production, across all departments and to facilities.

The tone of a production (its stance on environmental sustainability or greening) should be set in development. As the saying goes, begin as you mean to continue. 

Consider the following basic actions:

• Establish a commitment to environmentally sustainable production in development and pitching phases.
• Discuss the commitment to environmentally sustainable production processes in pre-production meetings.
• Establish a secure online hub to share documents and files. This will reduce paper use.
• Make use of teleconference or video conference facilities (in many instances Skype will do). This will reduce unnecessary travel, saving time, money and green house gas emissions.
• Practice what you preach – in early development most parties are working from their respective offices (i.e. without a central production hub). How does your office shape up on the green front? Do you have an environmentally sustainable procurement policy? Is the office on a renewable energy tariff? Is waste reduced and recycling maximised?