Fresh Locations agency wants to reduce the environmental impact of the film / stills shoot industry, here’s how you can get involved – and perhaps save some money too…

The easy way for film and photographic shoot productions to tackle climate change.

Film and stills shoot production is an important UK industry, but what about its environmental impact: the travel, the electricity and everything else that goes into making a successful shoot. If we’re going to tackle climate change, each industry needs to look closely at its CO2 emissions and what changes can be made. As a London location agency, we take this very seriously and are looking for ways to make a stand against the climate crisis.

How can we fix things?

Since 2020 Fresh Locations are proud to be partnering up with a genius enterprise called Carbon Aware Productions, aka CAP, and we are keen to spread the word about their good work. Put simply, CAP make it ultra-simple to calculate the carbon costs of your shoot and then offset them by planting trees here in the UK. CAP was established by Algy and Jacky Sloane in 2009, Jacky is a producer of factual TV documentaries while Algy runs Scout Productions. They were both keen to play their part in reducing the environmental impact of photographic and film productions. CAP helps shoot organisers to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to the regeneration of the UK countryside.

CAP make it easy to measure a production’s carbon footprint

On the Carbon Aware Productions website, they have a clever carbon calculator to measure the impact of a film or photographic shoot – all you have to do is type in a few simple details about travel needs and power usage. Then CAP give you a figure for the total emissions and offer the chance to offset that by planting trees. Or if you’re short of time but still want to plant some trees, you can skip this stage and make a one-off donation. For example, it costs just £264 to plant 40 trees which, over a period of 50-100 years will absorb around 10 tonnes of CO2 – impressive! So far CAP and their generous clients have planted over 11,000 trees in the UK

Simple ways to reduce your production’s carbon emissions

What we like about CAP is that it’s not just about paying up for your CO2. They’re full of thought-provoking ways to help lower the impact of your production – and often cut your costs too – for real win-win outcomes. From ambitious schemes like powering your live broadcast with a hydrogen power unit to super simple suggestions like changing your driving style – which can cut your emissions by a third. The reduce page of the CAP website is a fantastic resource to bookmark – and their news page is full on inspiring ideas too.

Trees to tackle climate change

We’ve already talked about how trees absorb CO2, but planting trees means so much more. CAPS’s work is all about the creation of UK woodlands – a habitat for wildlife that boosts biodiversity, protect against major flooding, improves air quality, provides new wild spaces for us humans to enjoy – the list goes on.

Reap the rewards

Fresh Locations agency are encouraging producers to carve out a small portion of their budget to offset their shoot’s carbon emissions. Many productions find that their clients are looking for ways to boost their environmental credentials and are happy to have a donation to CAP built into their bill. After a donation is made, Carbon Aware Productions send details of the projects that they are currently partnering (in 2021 that’s the beautiful Alladale Wilderness Reserve), along with an estimated planting date for your trees. Once they’re planted, you receive the GPS coordinates of your plot, along with photo and video footage of the saplings, followed by further updates from the ecologist in charge, CAP want their funders to feel as connected as possible to their trees as they grow.

Get involved?

We’re all staring down the barrel of the climate crisis and this is an easy way to take a huge step in the right direction, so please do think about factoring Carbon Aware Productions in, when planning your next shoot.

www.carbonawareproductions.com