12 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com March 2017
Opinion and Analysis
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Althoughxxxx EastEnders n has many advantages over
have brought them along on the journey with
We will be replacing tungsten house lights
some programmes because we have been
us. Our caterers are no longer allowed to use
with low energy LEDs, cutting their energy
running for so long and never stop, some systems
polystyrene cups and must provide recycling on
consumption by about 70 per cent and
and processes have been embedded for 30
location, and we now use solar power honey
renovating two galleries to become more
years, so changing culture, in between making
wagons when we can.
energy efficient. We will have mains water
over 200 hours of TV per year, can seem like a tall order. But we’ve never given up. We’ve ridden the rollercoaster of eco-motivation and apathy, and striving for albert certification has really helped focus our efforts. Our biggest injection of enthusiasm came following the carbon literacy course in June 2015.
coolers installed across all studios to
‘We’ve ridden the rollercoaster of ecomotivation and apathy, and striving for albert certification has really helped focus our efforts’
Somewhat reluctantly, a number of HoDs gave
eradicate the use of roughly 50,000 500ml bottles of water per year, saving approximately £9,000 per year. As I spoke about earlier, it is certainly not an easy task changing culture, but when facing challenges, I remind myself of the film that was shown to us at the end of the carbon
up a day out of their busy diaries to attend this
literacy course: a wild and crazy man starts
one-day course. I say reluctantly only because,
We have dramatically reduced our paper usage
dancing alone in a crowd. Initially he looks
as we all know, it’s so difficult to give a whole day
by a about half across scripts, risk assessments
like a bit of an idiot, but then one person joins
over to a course, because when do you then
and our weekly internal gazette and have
him and then another and before long,
pick up that day’s work? And what has carbon
reduced paper usage across all other use by
everyone in the crowd has joined in; and not
literacy got to do with production, right? But
about 20 per cent. This has saved over 1,000
only that, but they are all ‘giving it large’ with
every single person left the day slightly aghast
reams of paper and over £1,750 per year. We
their heart and soul.
at what they’d learned about the urgency of
now use recycled paper and other recycled
climate change, and really understood how
stationary as standard.
I can’t help but feel that production sustainability is a bit like where health and
everyone needs to play their role in taking
We no longer issue rushes on DVD and
responsibility for sustainability, both in their
instead work online using Box, saving 2,500
used to write risk assessments every time an
personal lives and on production. From this, we
DVDs per year as well as all the road transport
actor was required to give someone a gentle
set up a steering group with a representative
associated with sending all these DVD copies
wallop, but now, it is second nature, ingrained
from every EastEnders’ department that meets
around. This is just the beginning. We are proud
in our culture. That’s where sustainability is
quarterly to engage, motivate and share all our
to have just achieved our three star albert
heading. More importantly, that’s where it
sustainability projects and ideas.
certification, but know there are even more
needs to be if we are all to do our bit in taking
ambitious and exciting changes on the horizon
responsibility and preserving the world as we
for the coming year.
know it for our children. n
We have spread the word to our suppliers by requesting their own company eco policies, and
10 12 TVBE MAR17 Opinion_eastenders_v6 JG JMcK.indd 9
safety was around 20 years ago. People never
20/02/2017 15:58