Sustainability [3 - conclusion]

Film and Photo
   Within film and photo there is little more that the practitioner can do to forward the sustainability conversation than to simply be as cautious as possible. The conversation for the materials used includes the majority of the materials that can be addressed already having been so, much of what is now done is digital (so there is the minimization of waste) and the bulk of what remains is intended to last forever (the antithesis of the biodegradable idea).
   Still, there are always nooks and crannies where one can seek out an opportunity for improvement. If you are manually photo/film processing, then you are back to the chemicals. Right off the bat this encourages a flurry of research: what needs to be ventilated, what can get recycled (and how), etc. If you are working around spotting, retouching and/or hand coloring (and the like) then you are equally likely to be back with the old-school chemicals and exposures (however, many have improved over the years). This holds true for anything aerosol as well (spray mount, etc.).
   One of the nice things about this industry is that old cameras and equipment tend to get collected, so much of this being embraced as sacred. However, some things become so old that they fall apart. If we are talking about brittle leather or scratched and dented metal casing, that is not so much an issue. But when we are talking about old celluloid, faded slides and unintelligible Polaroids®, then one owes it to oneself to contact the waste management in your area to determine the most responsible method of disposal.
   Finally, being conscious and doing what one can do on one's own seems always the default position. It is generally recognized that going on safari with the camera, as opposed to a rifle, is the environmentally friendly response. However, don't bring your morning coffee out to an African savanna in a Styrofoam cup that's going to take 400 years to decompose. The point here is, leave everything as you found it or better.

Multimedia (Visual Effects, Motion Graphics, Gaming Design and Animation)
   The reader is invited to review the previous section on film and photo, since at essence much of what was stated there tends to be true here as well. For example, if one does find oneself working on old-school animation acetate, the surface and the medium applied may or may not be environmentally friendly. Simply be aware and be as responsible as one can about one's own protection, what becomes of the finished piece and how best to clean up.
   The bulk of what really falls to this industry, when it comes to sustainability, (and this includes the television arts as well) is the responsibility one has to one's audience. There seems very little one can do if employed by someone else, besides doing the best you can. However, if you are opening up your own shop, please recognize the awesome responsibility you hold within your capability to influence others.
   This author recalls shepherding an entire class of this major through a capstone project. We cast about for ideas as to what to produce for much of our first class. The classic response seemed almost unanimous, it all had to do with in-artful and uninspired storytelling with the only goal in mind to produce as much gratuitous violence as possible. As someone with significant marketing experience the rhyme and reason of such was not lost on this author.
   Such is the low hanging fruit, and the large publicly held entities that have to create shareholder wealth have walked themselves into such a corner. Your little shop (a) does not have to proselytize for money, (b) nor can you effectively compete. Therefore, the real vision for this industry actually lays in your hands. Consequently, the opportunity to educate, uplift and otherwise add meaning to people's lives falls to the Independents. This comment is not altruism for its own sake, yet also includes the marketing value of creating your own space. In addition, if it is appropriate to weave in a green message, so be it.
   This section necessarily concludes with a mention, much like the concluding mention in the passage above (film and photo). If one does need to stage a kind of activity (say, a chemical fire), you are begged to do your due diligence vis-à-vis proper creation and proper cleanup.

Web Design
   If one reviews the last two passages one notices that there seem to be less and less opportunity for ways to be sustainable. These three industries have moved in-kind toward greater digitization. Now we find ourselves in an industry that is essentially, completely digital.
   The proviso in the last passage about the context of sustainable behavior certainly applies here as well. Yet what does that leave? There is still an opportunity. If you do work in web design, and something had been uploaded into cyberspace that is no longer being used, dismantle it. This may seem a small thing, and yet it still takes literal energy (by someone somewhere) to continue hosting it.
   Beyond that, the author invites any other contributions to this conversation (for web design or otherwise). It seems web design is, by its very nature, automatically about as green as it gets.

   The author wishes to acknowledge here that this is a first draft. Suggestions, insights, corrections, anecdotes, and other edits are all invited.