For Earth Angel, Every Production Is a Chance to Help Save the Planet
Author: Sharon Swart
Founded by Emellie O’Brien in 2013, Earth Angel has spent a decade advising TV and film productions (as well as commercial and live productions) on how to reduce their carbon footprints. “When productions sign Earth Angel on to a project, they’ll have up to seven specialists that will be working on the project throughout the process, including experts in analytics, material recovery, waste and energy strategy, education, industry relations, as well as a project supervisor and on-set eco-coordinator,” says O’Brien. “We’re a sustainability department. We are working every single day on-set along with our fellow departments.”Among a wide array of greening tools, Earth Angel helps sets divert waste from landfills by recycling, composting, reducing/eliminating single-use plastics, and donating materials and food to local communities. Depending on how early Earth Angel gets involved, it also can advise on greener transportation methods, reducing paper use on set (with digital solutions such as script app Scriptation), and lower-emission power sources, such as battery- and hydrogen-powered generators.“A more sustainable set is a cleaner set,” says O’Brien, who points out that fossil-fuel-powered generators are also a crew health and safety concern. “There are carcinogenic emissions coming out of those generators.” Pushing for a more sustainable production is “for the benefit of all of us.”