ThePlanet
Sustainability is integral to what we do, so we’ve teamed up with like-minded companies & organisations to learn more, share ideas & endeavour to find low-carbon solutions for our work and the industry as a whole.
October 2018: The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announce that we have 12 years to act in order to keep global temperature rises within 1.5 degrees of pre-industrial levels, and this is needed if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change.
We add an optional ‘1% for nature’ line item to our invoices which goes towards supporting bio-diversity projects and helps drawdown on carbon that already exists in the atmosphere.
We partner with Forests Without Frontiers who are helping reforest the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. Since November 2019 and as of September 2024 we have planted 25,942 trees. We don’t class this as offsetting.
We believe to reach net zero by 2030, we need to reduce our emissions wherever possible, whilst at the same maximising our support for re-wilding & biodiversity projects.
10 actionswe're taking
01. Carbon Neutral
Creative Zero carries out our carbon auditing and independent verification process to measure and certify our operational carbon footprint, as well as advising on carbon reduction strategies. This includes employee travel to and from the office, waste disposal, energy use including assessing when working from home. We have been carbon neutral since 2020. Our most recent assessment saw us offset 2.92 CO2e tonnes, a 94% reduction on the previous year. Our aim is to reduce this further and offset 25% more emissions than we generate to become Carbon Neutral Plus.
02. Calculating CO2e
03. Travel & Transport
Undeniably the advertising production industry's biggest contributing factor to CO2e emissions. That is why we choose train travel over flying wherever possible and have an understanding of where all our crew & talent are travelling from to encourage lift and car sharing. Also, by commissioning local teams regionally and internationally we significantly lower our carbon footprint.
04. Catering
Opting for no meat is one of the easiest changes we can make on productions. It doesn’t impact on the creative, it doesn’t take more time, it doesn’t cost more and it doesn’t need more production personnel. We encourage shoot attendees to opt for vegetarian in our comms during pre-production and offer chicken as a meat option should people request it. Beef emits 4 x the carbon footprint of chicken. Of course finding local caterers who serve seasonal catering is all part of it too.
05. Couriers & Cabs
To provide a 90% reduction in carbon emissions compared to petrol or diesel vans, use cycle couriers such as PedalMe. We also ue zero emission car services for car hire and cabs such as Green Tomato Cars.
06. Equipment Rental
Our sister company & equipment supplier Gripvan has both electric delivery bike & van. Depending on capacity they are happy for their vans to transport other items so reducing the number of vehicles on a shoot.
07. Waste Disposal
When shooting on location, initiatives such as Quantum Waste help us reduce waste, by recycling and composting, to minimise what goes to landfill. Olio allows us to re-home unwanted sets, props & costumes by connecting us with neighbours & local business’. And City Harvest minimises food waste & helps the growing number of people reliant on food donations.
08. Web Hosting
Often overlooked, web hosting is a significant player when it comes to the amount of carbon emitted and it is a simple change for businesses to make. Research has shown that on a global scale, the internet contributes to a similar amount of CO2 as air travel and that is why we use Erjjio Studios. They use renewable energy, design low energy web sites and also plant 50 trees per month on our behalf.
09. Energy
Our electricity supplier is Octopus Energy. They are 100% renewable energy sourced from wind, solar and hydro sourced directly from more than 190 small renewable producers in the UK. Octopus are currently developing nine onshore wind farms across Scotland and Wales over the next 5 to 10 years which will double the amount of renewables generated in the UK by Octopus.
10. Culture & Training
It is important we constantly look to reassess, review and take learnings from our work….making time to plan ahead and making our work more efficient. This coupled with our team all having completed carbon literacy training creates a working culture with sustainability at its core.
We say no to fossil fuel brands unless they can provide a clear roadmap towards Net Zero
We say no to airlines due to the high polluting impact of flying and lack of sustainable fuel options
Outside of production, we are active in supporting organisations & industry bodies working towards a zero-carbon future. Our staff & core freelancers have carried out AdGreen and Albert carbon literacy training.
We contributed towards the Ad Net Zero 2030 report launched in November 2020 which outlines the Advertising Association’s commitment to reaching (real) Net Zero by 2030.
We attend events & support the Purpose Disruptors - an inspirational group of ad industry insiders whose aim is to use the advertising industry as a means for creating positive change. They launched a report on Advertised Emissions at COP26 which outlined how ad agencies become responsible for the emissions they create through their work.
We support CutIt - a crew-led initiative set up to reduce the impact of the film & TV industries on the environment.
We are members of Creatives for Climate, a community of creatives using their skills to bridge the gap between the creative arts & scientific communities, in an effort to tackle climate change.
In 2019 we signed up to the Create & Strike campaign, joining millions around the world by closing our office for the day and attending the Global Climate Strike.
We want our work to have a positive impact and our industry to be a catalyst for change in the world. Making great work in a way that treats people with respect and aligned to a healthy, thriving planet is at the core of who we are.