The Prairie provinces may not be leading the green movement, but momentum is quietly building as green committees spring up and individual companies accept responsibility for their garbage.

The Manitoba industry, for instance, has formed a green committee to develop a set of best practices, and local productions are taking the initiative to reduce their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan and Alberta have yet to develop an industry-wide strategy.

Manitoba is in the early stages of developing a real initiative. This past summer, IATSE Local 856, the film technicians union, formed a green committee and created a page on its website with links to various environmental organizations and local and international resources.

‘We are now putting together the funding to do a case study of a green show and look at ways to improve our industry,’ says Maryam Decter, steward at Local 856. ‘We are planning to put together a resource guide and a list of local environmentally friendly suppliers.’

The birth of this committee has spurred the local production community to take the initiative to institute green practices on set.

Cashing In, an APTN/Showcase comedy series that recently shot in Winnipeg, posted all its call sheets, schedules and paperwork on a website, reducing printing by half. Fuel consumption was cut by 50% via a no-idling policy, and keeping rental cars to economy-size also reduced its carbon footprint, as did incorporating reused flats in the sets.

‘I encouraged everyone to rate how green their department was by listing what they were doing, then look at ways to do a few more eco-friendly things and re-assess their rating,’ says production manager Tasia Geras, who was motivated by a green committee meeting to take action. She was supported by the series’ Winnipeg-based producers, Buffalo Gal Pictures (which has adopted a green company policy) and Animiki See Digital Productions.

‘There is more we need to do, but this provided a great start, and we will improve for our next shoot,’ adds Geras.

Jeff Skinner and Kent Ulrich of Winnipeg’s Two Lagoons Productions also instituted environmentally friendly practices on the set of the Lifetime/Super Channel movie Taken in Broad Daylight, which recently shot in Winnipeg.

Their company is also building a western town back lot just outside Winnipeg, and has established a 100-mile policy for all its construction needs. The lumber is reclaimed wood (shipping pallets that were going to the landfill) or purchased from sustainable tree lots and milled by a local company.

In Saskatchewan, individual productions are taking the lead. For example, Avi Federgreen, a Toronto-based production manager, worked on Angel Entertainment’s series Rabbit Fall in Saskatoon this past summer and decided, with the support of the producers, to reduce the shoot’s eco footprint. Using his own research and experience on shoots in Toronto, he created a green manual, in conjunction with the department heads, for the crew.

Being green in a smaller city like Saskatoon had its challenges, says Federgreen. There was no recycling pickup program, so they had to transport all their recyclables to a depot 20 minutes away.

‘I shipped biodegradable cups, cutlery and garbage bags from Toronto because they just weren’t available in Saskatchewan,’ he adds. ‘This was a huge cost for a low-budget show like ours, but producers Bob [Crowe] and Wally [Start] at Angel gave me the thumbs up. We were all adamant that this was the right thing to do, so we made sacrifices in other areas. We had to effect change.’