- Lighting the path towards sustainability: Interviewing Dani Parrilla.
- Canada introduces its Green Book, a compromise with the environment.
- Lighting the path towards sustainability: Interviewing Dani Parrilla.
Once more, we try to show our readers that there are professionals in all departments that fight daily for a greater good. Sustainability applied to the working environment is a lifestyle, a social perspective that prevents you from acting wrong.
This time, we have talked to a professional that, even before he started his professional career, has been trying to reduce his carbon footprint and level of waste production by using recycled paper or voluntarily managing the recycling of all his classmates. His name is Dani Parrilla, a lighting professional with an experience of over 20 years that presides over the Asociación de Técnicos de Publicidad or ATPE (Advertising Technicians Association) since 2017.
Dani Parrilla
Because he tried to live sustainably way before he started working, when he started as lighting technician he was shocked by how there was not any control over the residues produced during filming, especially since they are highly polluting materials like batteries or porexpan.
From that moment on, he tried to apply all his day-to-day sustainable habits to his work, raising awareness about: if there are so many options, why choose the most polluting?
Luckily, today we have many more options available. However, it is necessary to educate consumers more. Nowadays, there is a need to control a higher number of information to make sure that we are taking the most adequate decision for each situation.
Although he has already introduced many of his sustainable habits into his work ethic (like sharing the vehicle or using rechargeable batteries), he stands out for raising awareness, whether it be his daughter’s or his team’s consciousness. There is a big learning problem and all responsibility will fall on the future generations. That is why, as he says himself, ‘It is a fundamental step that they understand and respect it’.
Luckily, nowadays most professionals do not see it as a duty imposed by the production companies, but as an opportunity to work together as one. Because, even though your contribution may be ‘a single sand grain, one grain plus another, plus another… Can make a mountain. So, every contributing action is necessary’.
Without doubt, Dani has made clear how important teamwork is for the industry. Even if there are sustainable habits, there must also be communication between departments, allowing to increase these habits and sustainable practices’ productivity.
Not losing eagerness and leaving an irreparable legacy to the next generations are his main worries. Without these two convictions, in the future it will be impossible to mend the damage done, that is why it is important to keep fighting and proving day after day that it is not ‘impossible’.
By Ernesto Torrijos.
- Canada presenta su Green Book, un compromiso con el medio ambiente.
Since 2021, the production company Canada has decided to reinforce its compromise with taking care of the environment and making significant changes in order for their productions to become more sustainable. To do so, they have asked for help from many national-level specialised consultancy firms, putting to practise an environmental management system on the making of the spots, redefining the working system.
Almost a year later since the beginning of this change towards sustainability, following the Green The Bid standard, the company has worked hand in hand with all the departments, introducing measures to reduce the carbon footprint and the impact on the environment. It has also added to their staff an Eco-Manager, as well as Eco-Runners for the filmings. 
Moreover, they have estimated the carbon footprint and consumption of more than 10 projects with the goal of establishing reference numbers in relation with the impact coming from productions. The results of this learning process have been collected into a Green Book developed in collaboration with the consultancy firm Mrs. Greenfilm. This document gathers all the objectives and actions planned for this moment, as well as for the future.
With the goal of introducing this new way of working into the largest number of productions possible, they have redefined their offering by incorporating sustainability criteria in all products. They differentiate 3 types of Green Shooting:
Green Shooting Basic:
- Inhouse Eco-Manager
- Basic recommendations (less printing, use water fountains and reusable bottles, avoid using one-use plastics)
- Recycling points and sustainable catering for every department
Green Shooting Standard:
- Eco-Manager and Eco-Runner during the filming process
- Working with all the departments to suggest more sustainable options
- Recycling points and sustainable catering for every department
- Accurate estimation of the filming’s carbon footprint
Green Shooting Premium:
- Eco-Consultant, Eco-Manager and Eco-Runner
- Advanced work with all departments introducing sustainable measures.
- Recycling points and sustainable catering for every department
- Accurate estimation of the filming’s carbon footprint and compensation with local projects for reafforestation
Furthermore, they plan to implement their sustainability criteria into daily office life. Some of the actions are: contracting a 100% renewable energy company, using rechargeable batteries, separating waste properly, consuming local food and replacing coffee capsules with coffee makers that use fair trade ecologic coffee in bulk.
You can look up the Green Book on its web.
