Now that we’ve opened our doors, more thanks are in order. We’d like to introduce and thank ClearSky Climate Solutions for their hard work defining and creating a realistic assessment of our industry’s potential for improving our environmental impact. We had them create 33 different shoot scenarios, ranging from local shoots in NYC, to far-flung projects in Asia and beyond, to help us estimate specific carbon emissions for each scenario, and each usage category within those scenarios. ( air travel, food waste, water usage, ect) As initial research, it was an invaluable process, and helped us refine and clarify our current process and practices. Project Developer Molly White was tirelessly responsive and communicative throughout the process and really tailored the research for our specific requirements. We assumed an environmentally-conscious approach would have its benefits- but Molly and Clearsky helped us determine exactly where those benefits can best be found.
What did we learn? We learned a lot, but one notable take-away was this: That out of the many wasteful components of any project, air travel represents BY FAR the largest amount of carbon emissions released into our atmosphere. From an environmental perspective, it seems it’s always better to stay local for a shoot. When creative necessity makes that impossible, we can at the very least purchase carbon offsets against our flights’ footprints. It’s not a perfect solution, but it is a good start. At about $20 per flight, it’s a modest contribution to carbon reduction.