With ‘Zero Waste And Plastic Free Shoot’ As Their Motto, This Production Team Sets An Example For All Of Us

In 2017, with a motive to bring in a change by being the change, 36-year-old Akshat Rao, director and producer at Olive Films Pvt. Ltd. and founder at Earth Inc. and his team took up a challenge of not using any single use or disposable plastic during their Ad and film shoots.

As a first step they replaced plastic or disposable 100ml water bottles with steel and glass tumblers and installed water dispensers everywhere. Apart from the plastic in these 100ml bottles, the other factor to replace these bottles was the team noticed that hardly anyone finished the entire 100ml water in one go, as a result a lot of the water gets wasted.

Assuming there are 100 people on a set and 10 bottles are utilised by one person, straight away 1000 water bottles are used during a shoot. But by not using these bottles, one can save humongous amount of water and plastic waste being generated.

With ?plastic free' as their motive, the team successfully managed six shoots. Raising their bar, in 2018, the team decided to opt for ?a zero waste and plastic free shoot'.

For this, paper/plastic cups used for tea and coffee were replaced with cutting chai glasses and mugs. Generally, 400-500 paper cups are used per shoot which cost Rs. 800 whereas one cutting chai glass cost Rs. 7 which means Rs. 700 for 100 glasses. These glasses are durable and can be used again and again.

The cast and crew members were asked to not bring in packaged food and beverages. Coconut water, lemon water, fruits and healthy food were supplied in place of artificial beverages and junk food. The food was served in glass bowls and jars.

To avoid paper and its wastage, re-usable chalkboards were used as sign boards to highlight different production areas on set. This reduced the money spent on printing. Re-usable chalkboards are not only handy, and durable but also cost-effective.

To drive home the idea of ?a zero waste and plastic free shoot', personal water bottles were gifted to cast and crew members and they were asked to write their names on it. Around 200 bottles were sent to people within the film fraternity to spread awareness about the initiative.

By adopting this 'zero waste and no plastic' policy, the team has so far managed to conduct three shoots. The plan is to continue with such initiatives and make a difference.