Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1152740
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y | P E R S P E C T I V E 3 3 According to the United Nations, "Sustainability Literacy" is the knowledge, skills and mindsets that allow individuals to become deeply committed to building a sustainable future and assisting in making informed and effective decisions to this end. Humanity has been warned for generations of the effects and consequences of overpopulation and the environmental impact of climate change, and now we are in crisis mode. Many in the film industry and specifically the Art Department are asking what can be done to contribute to a solution; we all have a desire toward voluntary commitment, but landing in jobs armed with the necessary knowledge, resources and clear guidelines is not always easy, as many of us don't know where to start or how to speak about environmental responsibility within our crafts. Given that one feature film project can generate as much waste as a small city, what seems like a small personal effort can have a huge impact. Internationally, the popularity of film and television makes it one of the most highly competitive industries around the world—one of the few that consistently generates a positive balance of trade in virtually every country in which it does business. The industry's direct jobs employ more people than utilities, crop production and metal manufacturing. According to MPAA.org's THEME report (Motion Picture Association of America), in 2018, the combined theatrical and home entertainment market was $96.8 billion, which is up twenty-five percent from only five years ago. This is a huge marketplace that delivers the economic and cultural benefits that enrich lives in so many ways, and the entertainment industry must approach this growing bounty with concern for the environment in order to sustain this generated wealth. Industry professionals who are concerned about the environmental impact of booming growth need mentors who can help them understand how to have an impact on the problem of waste, and adopt a "zero waste" philosophy, which is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. This philosophy means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing zero waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health. In my opinion, one very necessary solution to the entertainment industry's struggle with environmental harmony is that every project should employ a full-time Environmental Steward, or a similar sustainability position as part of the crew. In 2013, I was Supervising Art Director on McFarland, USA for Disney, which was the first and only film or TV project of my career that employed an Environmental Steward as a legitimate position on the crew. I was overjoyed to finally witness an action by the project's producers that created a position of an educated expert complete with resources, guidelines and metrics that was long overdue. This expert was Matt Rusk, who I recently caught up with and interviewed by phone and is contributing to this article. Together, he and I went to great lengths at wrap to find landfill diversion solutions for construction surplus, built set pieces, Art Department office supplies, furniture and flooring, etc.; which is something I have become accustomed to wrangling myself on most shows, due to the simple fact that it breaks my heart to see so much waste generated on a single show ending up in landfill or on an unwanted garbage barge floating around the oceans while countries argue over who will accept it and take responsibility. For the McFarland Art Department, it was a relief to have a collaborator provided by production to Kurt Lewin wrote, "If you want to truly understand something, try to change it. Unfreezing is the process which involves finding a method of making it possible for people to let go of an old pattern that was somehow counterproductive." A. THE REAL END OF MOST FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS, SCENERY PLACED IN DUMPSTERS HEADED FOR LANDFILL. PHOTO BY HARSHITA REDDY. B. MATERIALS SALVAGED AND SAVED FOR REUSE AT RECYCLED MOVIE SETS.