The ankle boots followed the reels. The last rhino, a recent short film by director Guillaume Harvey, dealing with the serious subject of eco-anxiety, obviously wanted to put in place good eco-responsible practices. The tray has therefore succeeded in respecting the five Rs of the Green Bible: refusing single use; reduce consumption; reuse objects; to recycle ; and return to the earth (compost, what).
Concretely, the filming generated almost no waste, except for a scene illustrating the waste which required a set with disposable plates and latex balloons. Finally, the production of La Créative Films received in November 2021 the prize for the Eco-responsible Film Set at the tenth presentation of the Vivats, rewards for eco-responsible events in Quebec.
“It’s really magnificent what has been done in the world of cinema and television in a short time”, summarizes Caroline Voyer, general manager of the Quebec Council for Eco-responsible Events (CQEER) which distributes the Vivats. The organization encourages good practices to reduce the environmental consequences of activities, develop sustainable development habits and share existing expertise.
The CQEER and the Office of Cinema and Television of Quebec helped to federate and stimulate all the partners around the project We turn green launched two years ago: producers, directors, professional unions and even training schools. The efforts promote organic and vegetarian lunches as much as carpooling. Some productions no longer print posters.
“The three things that make the most difference on the sets, we now know, are travel, purchases of equipment including meals, including meat, and energy expenditure, adds the director. To be even more efficient in Quebec, hydroelectricity should be made accessible everywhere to replace generators, even in Montreal. Vancouver has acted in this direction. »
Green so as not to blush
The social economy organization created in 2008 has supported thousands of events and trained thousands of professionals. It even participated in the definition of a responsible event management standard applied since 2010. The crossroads (this is how the director presents it) has been working in the performing arts for a decade and has been on film sets for four years.
“At the beginning, we had to convince people to take eco-responsible actions,” says Ms.me See. Event organizers did not want to invest in training. People realized, perhaps more with the March for the climate in 2019, that we had to take concrete action. […] We still have a lot of effort to make, of course, but we can say that we have nothing to be ashamed of for certain successes. »
Accreditation Eco-responsible scene oversees exemplary approaches and recognizes the level of performance of venues. This is the case of the Paradoxe theatre, installed in an old church in the west of Montreal. The CQEER helped develop a greening strategy involving the reuse of religious furniture, composting, the use of reusable glasses, connections with neighborhood life and even more transparent and equal governance.
The Council uses the Canadian Creative Green tools, derived from the original UK versions, to assess the carbon footprint of activities. “England really stands out in performing arts,” says Ms.me See. But for events, frankly, I believe that Quebec does not envy anyone. Festivals like MUTEK or the FTA have a head start in their eco-responsibility. »
What about supergiants like jazz or comedy festivals? “I wouldn’t name them,” replies the director politely.
A recent review of the shooting of the film The pack by Anne Émond, to come in the fall, showed a much lower level of environmental consequences than what American or French filming shows. Over there, an average shoot can generate 1000 tonnes of carbon waste and here, with this example, it’s ten times less. “Our budgets are smaller, our teams are smaller and that makes a difference,” says Ms.me See. In addition, we have hydroelectricity. »
The circus company La marche du crabe uses the evaluation grid to calculate the effects of its tours, offices and all its activities. “We don’t ask artists to stop touring, but to organize them better by staying longer in a region, for example, to tour differently,” says director Voyer. But we agree: we don’t do a tour like The Weeknd with 25 trucks. And the jet for the star…
This wasteful pattern can lead to even worse. Las Vegas moves about 40 million people a year to the desert to see shows, live in air conditioning and play golf. “The first eco-responsible choice is to reduce,” concludes Caroline Voyer. We, at the Council, do a lot of events and I ask my teams to do less, but better. It is a dilemma, however, difficult to resolve: how can we encourage our artists, our culture, without falling into overconsumption and waste? »