A big thank you to all APDG members who took the time to fill in the Sustainability Survey sent out in the last newsletter. The survey generated a very strong response  – with 43 Screen designers and 17 Live Performance designers answering questions that related to current attitudes towards environmental sustainability, the impact of climate change on our professional practices and what actions matter the most to each of you.

The intention of the survey was to gather information from our membership as to what concerned you individually about climate change (if at all), what works and doesn’t work in terms of environmentally sustainable practices and to check in on whether designers felt supported in making changes by their employers and colleagues. We also asked whether designers held intellectual property concerns about the de-identified re-use of their work in different situations, and checked in about the different attitudes between Screen and Live Performance  towards storage and stock re-use. Your responses were varied, thoughtful and interesting – exactly what we have come to expect from APDG membership.

There were minor differences between Screen and Live Performance in overall comments, most relating to the sense of agency and capacity to change things with the companies we work for and the scale of change required. Most respondents indicated that more education and training around sustainable practices would help to shift things but that these resources seemed scant in Australia.

The 60 members who responded identified themselves as either Emerging (8), Proven (16) or Established (36). 4 out of the 5 designers who were only ‘somewhat concerned’ about climate change were all established designers – it would be interesting to see if this weighting changed if more mid-career/emerging designers had responded. Overall the strongest response was from established designers engaging with the survey.

PART 1:  Summary of the overall attitudes to climate change and environmentally responsible design practices:

90% of survey respondents indicated they were very concerned about climate change compared to the 10% who were less concerned. Only one respondent was not at all concerned with climate change, and indicated that the entire notion was a fabrication as part of the UN AGENDA 2030.

50% of survey respondents indicated that they were very committed to actively reducing carbon in their creative practice and were looking for ways to apply carbon reduction strategies in their work and private lives. 48% indicated that they were somewhat committed to changing their practices by doing what they could from time to time and 2 respondents indicated that they didn’t know enough about carbon reduction strategies  to comment.

Commitment Challenges

When articulating the factors that could impact an individual’s levels of commitment, Time and Budget were mentioned the most by respondents.

• Time to implement research of alternative materials and to change habits
• Budget/Financial commitment to resource art departments to set up sustainable procurement and waste strategies
• Producers commitment to support new ideas, to promote practical solutions and discuss alternatives.

The following quotes are taken directly from the survey and give a clear sense of many designers frustration at lack of on-set, production office and studio workshop support:

• “The industry is shockingly wasteful!”
• “Producers, directors and production designers are not willing to engage”
• “If production managers and/or companies are not on board, a designer’s environmental ambition is curtailed.”
• “Time [must be factored] in the design process to explore and pursue more sustainable options.”
• “There is not enough time to find options. There is not enough money or time to deal with waste in an environmental way when it occurs.”
• “I often work on productions that won’t even pay for recycling bins”
• “I find productions that say they will be environmentally friendly don’t actually care too much in the end. [A verbal commitment to sustainability] only impacts certain things, until it becomes a cost issue – and the production will then go with the cheaper, non-environmentally friendly options [without seeking solutions.]”
• “[It requires regular] discussion with workshops around the ways we build, construct and dispose.”
• “There needs to be better [educational] resources on how to be environmentally friendly, and which organisations you can donate/give/sell things to.”
• “Systemic change is required at a state and federal level to make greater change in our Industry (and Art Departments)”

“I recently worked at the National Theatre in London and they have a very strong commitment to sustainable practice. [They are] thinking about sustainability in design practice from the very first moment of the design process, asking how we [as designers and makers] can make changes and make more sustainable choices. Seeing how easy it is to make better choices has impacted my level of commitment.” – Mel Page

To read more about the National Theatre sustainability strategies see here.

Sustainability Strategies

Breaking down the comments into which sustainability strategies are being used by different designers both on-set and in their studio practice gave a clear picture as to what matters to designers on the whole.

Nearly 95% of respondents are implementing multiple Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle strategies in their design offices, workshops and studios. The 5% who do not utilise the 4Rs waste hierarchy in their response still indicated that they try to design to use less materials and energy, design for deconstruction and design for reuse. Only one respondent felt “ I don’t use any of these strategies because I don’t have influence” as a set decorator.

Even the respondent who felt that the survey had wrongly assumed everyone is concerned about climate change, listed a range of sustainability strategies that works for them, arguing that pollution, recycling and toxicity in their workplace has always been an important issue. “All these ideas are just [sensible] economical ways to make things that have always been part of common sense.”

1. Implementing reuse, reduce, reuse and recycle strategies in your design office.
2. Sourcing pre-existing second-hand/upcycled materials and items.
3. Using pre-existing company stock: set elements, costumes, props, lighting.
4. Designing objects with their future reuse in mind.
5. Choosing local materials with less ‘travel kilometres’ over items that travel from afar.
6. Designing to use less materials and energy.
7. Specifying recyclable materials to create items.
8. Designing for ‘deconstruction’ – breaking composite components up after use to salvage reusable elements and reduce landfill.
9. Avoiding air transport and air freight wherever possible.
10. Other
11. Using public transport, bicycles, EVs or biodiesel vehicles to move people/items around.
12. Tracking the carbon footprint of your design by carbon counting what was used  on a production.
13. None of these strategies.

Listed in order of popularity, the top three carbon-minimisation strategies are used by over 83% of respondents. The creative reuse of pre-existing items has been a strategy used by designers and art departments for decades and is not that difficult nor unusual to implement. It requires access to quality products in storage – something that is not always available to Australian art departments and workshops spread across the country. In an age of fast internet purchasing it takes more time to source costumes and props 2nd hand – and time always costs money. The importance of having accessible, affordable well-stocked sets, props, lights and costume ‘libraries’ in all states will increase as material costs rise and international supply chains clog. If reuse of pre-existing second-hand/upcycled materials and items is something the majority of survey respondents want to do, where are these items being sourced?

Strategies 4 – 9  are used by up to 50% of designers/art directors across both Screen and Live Performance with a varied spread- Some do this – Some do that. It seems to depend on the personal commitment of each designer, access to sustainable resources, the production company’s ongoing support and whether there are recycling waste streams and bins available.

APDG member Jo Briscoe shares simple but effective ways in which she remains aware of ‘Green’ strategies in her own design practices.

• I always carry a keep cup and water bottle with me everywhere I go. I also have a snazzy little cutlery set that is washable and minimal.
• I check the dimensions of everything I’m working on against standard material sizes and stock flattage, and adjust to ensure I’m minimising wastage in the design.
• I keep an eye on new materials, but the best rule of thumb is to resolve the concept as fully as possible prior to construction, and then test samples of materials/scenic/fabrics etc to ensure less waste.
• These simple tips will help the budget. It’s in the thinking and pre-organisation that designers can avoid so much unnecessary wastage!

Carbon accounting is currently used by only 5% of respondents (all working in Screen), usually because it is a requirement by an International production company. This percentage may slowly begin to change over the next 5-10 years, as carbon budgets could soon begin appearing in the paperwork for screen production companies operating in Australia. Sources in Canada and the UK tell us that carbon accounting is fast becoming a prerequisite for govt. backed screen funding.

If you wish to get ahead of this, check out the two most common carbon accounting systems currently used in screen – albert  and PEAR.  For more information about how to use these systems and get ahead of the game, check out the recently launched Sustainable Screen Australia website and download their excellent Australian-facing sustainability resources for designers and art departments..

What factors make it easier for APDG Members to engage with sustainable strategies in their professional lives?

1. ACTIVE SUPPORT of management and the producers
2. INDUSTRY-WIDE ADOPTION of sustainable practices and thinking
3. BUDGET increases for research & development/ Investment in sustainable materials
4. ACTIVE SUPPORT of directors and heads of department
5. TRAINING in sustainable strategies and carbon accounting
6. FUNDING and grants to UPSKILL in sustainable practices
7. REGULAR FORUMS to discuss sustainable practices and thinking
8. a DEDICATED sustainability person to advocate for Sustainable strategies
9. ACCESSIBLE, EAST-TO-FIND sustainability information avail. online
10. OTHER IDEAS –

• Affordable long-term rental space. Many items are destroyed or thrown out because of the expense of storage.
• Consider vegan catering on set – greenhouse gases from meat production are almost 60% of global GHG annually!
• Greater awareness by designers [& HoDs] of other ‘less toxic’ methods of construction to give a desired result- usually requiring a longer lead time, more diverse skills and more staff required. for example using armature and plaster as opposed to polystyrene and polyurethane hard coat.”

“If we can hire 30 covid marshals on a single production during a pandemic, surely we can hire a handful of GREEN assistants for a climate crisis?”

Looking at the factors that impact on our ability as designers to implement sustainable actions in our work, the key items mentioned are active support from management, producers, directors and heads of departments – for without leadership from the top, there can be very little real change. Industry change across the sector is important – for environmentally sustainable practices to become ‘business as usual’.  Inevitably, ‘green’ practices will need to be factored into production budgets and design fees – Time + Money + Materials.

As we head towards 2024, let’s find active ways to encourage our producers, design teams and art departments to think creatively around sustainable practices. Whether climate change matters to you or not (and according to the survey, it matters to the majority of you), it is time to advocate for a shift away from toxic substances, pollutants and fossil-fuel derived energy. It is time to advocate for change and seek alternatives that can bring carbon back into the earth, share resources and re-use what we already have.

Part 1 of the Sustainability Survey has provided a clear indication of what APDG members across Screen and Live Performance currently think about environmentally sustainable practices, IP concerns, storage needs, and overall attitudes towards climate change and the Arts.  A summary of the remaining results (Part 2) will appear in the March 2024 newsletter. In the meantime, check out the APDGreen Conversation pages online for a range of Sustainability resources and links to further reading.

THERE IS ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE TO THE GREEN CONVERSATION…

If you are interested in adding your professional design voice and suggestions to an APDG Sustainability Protocols group or promoting green initiatives in future Green Conversations, please send an email to Imogen Ross or Rebecca Whittington to offer assistance, suggest topics of research and point us towards members who are doing great things in the field of sustainable design.