A report about our sustainable production for Zero Waste Scotland.

1. HIGHTIDE
Down The Drain
Production Sustainability Report
For Zero Waste Scotland and Lux Food and Drink Agency
26th August 2022

2. CONTEXT
-Digital storytelling plays a crucial role in tackling
climate change. By reaching millions of people every
day, online content is one of the most powerful tools
out there for getting environmental messages across.
-However, UK film, TV and commercial productions
produce thousands of tonnes of CO2 every year
through travel, energy consumption, catering, props,
costume and single use plastic.

3. HTAPPROACH
At High Tide, many of our
productions communicate green
issues, therefore we feel it is key
to the integrity of our work to
make sure our content is also
created with the planet in mind.

4. This is not about our productions being ‘perfect’.
This is about using data to understand what elements of a
production have a negative impact on the environment, treating the
environmental decisions as equal to budget and creative decisions,
reducing our footprint wherever possible, and offsetting any impact
we do have.
Finally, any learning is taken forward into future productions and
knowledge is shared with clients, agencies and creative suppliers.

5. CONSULTANCY
This report was
created by sustainability
consultant Libby Penman. A
passionate environmentalist
and nature filmmaker Libby
has with the likes of BBC,
Springwatch, WWF, at STV.
In recognition of her work
towards sustainability in our
industry, Libby was awarded
an ambassadorship by BAFTA
Albert.

6. DOWNTHEDRAIN
During the prep, production and
post-production of this project we
put the environment at forefront of
our planning.
Consequently, the carbon footprint
created during the making of this film
was 48% lower than the same shoot,
had we not considered environmental
factors.
48%
CO2 reduction.

7. MEASUREMENTS
We recorded our impact and then it
was audited by BAFTA Albert.
Throughout this report you will see
our accurate and measured impact,
plus an estimated amount of what
our impact would have been, had
we not taken steps to reduce our
footprint. All estimates are
approximate.

8. WHATWASMEASURED?
-Filming spaces
-Travel and transport
-Food and catering
-Material consumption (print-outs, batteries, etc)
-Non filming spaces (pre-production and editing).
-Drink waste

9. FILMNGSPACES
All energy that was used on location was accounted for. We used an outdoor bar
which meant minimal lighting (and energy) was used. This bar was already in
operation so we did not require additional energy and travel to set up our own bar
(for example to acquire a food truck / bar from a location outwith Edinburgh or
Scotland). The bar we used, was powered by a diesel generator.
On the next slide, this impact is compared to the estimate of creating our own pop
up bar (including the travel for the pop-up bar and the additional energy that
would be required during the set up of a pop-up bar).

10. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 100 200 300 400 500
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Our impact -
using an
already existing
bar with a
generator in
place.
Alternative
location option
– sourcing,
setting up a
pop-up bar and
generator.

11. By using a pre-existing outdoor
bar, we saved 245kg of Co2.
That is the equivalent of eating
18.1kg of cheese.

12. TRAVEL&TRANSPORT
All travel and transport was accounted
for, before during and after the shoot.
All pre-production and post-production
meetings were held online, and crew
were asked to use public transport or
share cars wherever possible.
On the next slide, this impact is
compared to the estimate of the crew
driving to set in non-electric vehicles,
and pre/post-production meetings
taking place in person.

13. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 100 200 300
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Alternative
option (all crew
drive to set and
meetings taking
place in
person)
Our impact
(asking all crew
and visitors to
travel
sustainably to
set and all
meetings on
zoom)

14. By asking all crew and set visitors to
use public transport or share cars
where possible, we saved 52kg of
Co2.
That is the equivalent of eating 59
portions of fish and chips.

15. CATERINGANDFOOD
All food and catering was accounted for.
All meals, snacks and drinks were plant
based, and the food was bought from a
vendor at the market (rather than a
separate caterer traveling to set).
On the next slide our plant-based
impact is compared to meat based for
the crew.

16. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 100 200
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Alternative
option (meat
(including beef)
and dairy
consumption)
Our impact
(plant-based
catering)

17. By asking all crew and set visitors to
use public transport or share cars
where possible, we saved 206kg of
Co2.
That is the equivalent of eating 71kg
of potatoes.

18. OTHERCONSUMPTION
All (rechargeable) batteries, script / call
sheet printouts and water consumption
was accounted for. All batteries were
rechargeable and almost all scripts and
call sheets were distributed digitally.
On the next slide our impact is
compared to one of all crew having
printouts and disposable batteries being
used.

19. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 10 20
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Alternative
option (print
outs for all the
crew and
disposable
batteries used)
Our impact
(digital printing
and reusable
batteries)

20. By reducing our printing and
disposable battery use, we saved
5kg of Co2.
That is the equivalent of
charging 608 smart phones.

21. NON-FILMINGSPACES
All energy for pre-production and post-production spaces were measured. This includes
High Tide’s office space (in a shared building where the landlord operates the energy
supply).
The main energy supply of this space (no aircon) was non-renewable electricity.
On the next slide this impact is compared to the estimate of renewable energy being
used in non-filming spaces in pre and post-production.

22. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 25 50
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Our impact -
using non
renewable
energy in office
spaces.
Alternative
impact- using
renewable
energy in office
spaces.

23. DRINKWASTE
This is the place to put a photo.
There was zero drink waste during this
production. All drink that was poured out
of customers’ cups was given back to
them after the prank had been revealed.
This was only made possible by working
with Sips, who provided pre-mixed
cocktails. This would not have been
possible with other drinks (e.g. not pre-
mixed drinks or beer due to licensing
laws).

24. • Travel footprint for the genny is zero.
0 10 20
Impact in kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions
Alternative
option (drinks
wasted as part
of the prank)
Our impact (no
drink wasted
on the
production)

25. By eliminating our drink waste,
we saved 12.8kg of Co2.
This is the equivalent of 32
portions of spaghetti bolognese.

26. TOTALS
- Our production produced a total of 515 kg of CO2. This is
the equivalent of driving from Thurso to Geneva.
- Had we not taken steps to reduce our carbon footprint,
we estimate we would have had created 1004kg of CO2.
This is the equivalent of driving from Thurso to Helsinki
(via mainland Europe).
- Overall, we estimate that we reduced our footprint by
489kg, or 48%. This is the equivalent of 1630 pints of
locally brewed cask beer.

27. KEYTAKEAWAYS&LEARNINGS
- Making productions more sustainable can be reasonably
straight forward with a couple of key changes including green
travel and vegan food. Communicating the green element of
the production to all crew was as important other elements
of the production like health and safety.
- The biggest impact of this production was the outdoor bar
filming location, which was ran by a diesel generator. It would
not have been possible for this production to take place
without an outdoor pop-up bar (and the most sustainable
version of this was selected).

28. - With this in mind, it is important for High Tide, Lux, and Zero
Waste Scotland to consider how campaign ideas may affect the
environment and ensure they are as low as possible. However, it is
important to note that this campaign is likely to change the
public’s behaviour on mass, and therefore it is worth the
production taking place despite its carbon impact.
- No drink was wasted as part of this production and working
closely with all partners (in this case Sips bar), is important to
ensure all parts of a production have as minimal impact as
possible.
- High Tide has asked their landlord about having renewable energy
in their shared office building.

29. OFFSETTING
Please select one of the
following charities to offset the
impact this production with and
let High Tide know who you’d
like to go with.
- Scotland: The Big Picture.
- Trees for Life.
- The Ocean Clean Up.

30. THANKYOU.
This has been a lovely project to
work on both from a
sustainability and a creative point
of view!
If you have any questions, please
feel free reach out.

31. REFSANDLINKS
• Albert – spread the word
• Albert – why we should have sustainable productions
• Foods with the biggest environmental footprints
• UK dishes with environmental footprint
• EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalent Calculator
• Carbon footprint of cocktails
• Footprint of beer
Photos by High Tide, Kevin Thompson, Libby Penman, Ketut Subiyanto, Markus Spiske,
Aistė Sveikataitė, Gustav Lundborg, Marco Antonio Victorino, Felix Mittermeier