In June 2020, the Directors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Teamsters jointly released their COVID-19 safety guidelines, The Safe Way Forward. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recognizes these guidelines as the standard for film and television production safety protocol. It's an incredibly extensive set of guidelines that can be modified and applied to any live productions. Tongal has also taken the extra step of sharing their own safety guidelines, tailored to smaller scale productions, to ensure safety on set no matter the size of your crew.
The only problem with COVID-19 protocol? In an effort to avoid shared items, we’ve seen the accruement of waste start to grow exponentially.
Can safety and sustainability practices be mutually inclusive? Yes! They can and they must. Psychology shows that if you label something a certain way, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you want to make green film production a reality, the first thing to do is take ownership of that fact. By announcing your production is going “green,” you will inspire your cast and crew to get behind it. Here are 5 ways to make your set sustainable and safe in 2020 and beyond.
1. Ban Plastics. This is a powerful way to keep waste at bay on set. Just because you might have to bring your own craft services doesn’t mean it has to include a bunch of wasteful plastic. Encourage everyone to bring their own beverages in reusable bottles with metal or paper straws. Do the same with flatware. Wrap up some of your silverware, throw it in your lunchbox and know you did something good for the environment, while avoiding the communal utensil tray.
2. Boxed Lunches. Both the Hollywood Unions and Tongal mention individually-packed lunches as an alternative to the old crafty. Pre-order individually wrapped lunches and distribute them in paper bags (complete with compostable utensils!) that can be easily recycled by a properly gloved crew member. This minimizes food waste and keeps people safe on set. No high-risk touchpoints at lunch.
3. Digital Alternatives. Say goodbye to the stacks of scripts, call sheets, and various production papers that we know everyone throws out anyway. These are not only incredibly wasteful, but also result in a lot of unnecessary touching of shared surfaces. Now is the time to go digital and, luckily, most script software makes it easy for you to send whatever production sheets you may need over email.
4. Zoom Meetings. Current guidelines call for most of the traditional on-site production meetings to be done virtually whenever possible. This includes things like wardrobe and location scouting. Not only are virtual meetings safer right now, but they also offset emissions. You can thank us later for that one.
5. Find Green Vendors. They do exist! Trying to keep track of who is recycling, while also enforcing COVID-19 safety protocols and trying to run a production is no small task. Appoint someone on set to be your Environmental Steward and task them with finding green vendors and making sure all safety protocols are infused with as many sustainable practices as possible.
Some other options to consider when trying to keep a safe, green set are reminding your cast and crew to wear reusable/washable masks from home and asking talent to do their own hair and makeup. You could also invest in recyclable PPE kits for your sets from brands like GreenKit and FilmTools, and order a TerraCycle Safety Equipment ZERO Waste box to recycle your used PPE.
Stay safe, stay green, and happy filming!
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Note From Tongal: "Keep Your Sets Green During COVID-19" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
