I am pleased to be accepted as a Greener Photography member, a new site dedicated to spreading and collecting information on how we can make our art and the industries that support it friendlier to the environment. (Thanks to Jim Goldstein for introducing them to me)
I had written and linked to previously about greener papers, and my rather unsatisfactory response from Epson on recycling. They have since implemented a recycling program, but I find the details of it lacking – especially for recycling electronics.
E-Waste
If you have not seen or read some of the reports about the problems in e-waste, there are articles at National Geographic and a good 60 Minutes video clip at E-Stewards. It is through these articles and sites where I learned a bit more about the Basel Convention,. a treaty where which makes it illegal to export hazardous waste to lesser developed countries. . According to this list, “Signatories of the Basel Convention which have not deposed instruments of ratifications: Afghanistan, Haiti, United States of America.”. . Amazing and very sad. I certainly don’t claim to know the background about why the US hasn’t joined all of the other countries on this list, but it certainly seems like the premise is good. Also, check out the disclaimers submitted by the US at the bottom of the list.
Techno-Pressures
Certainly we as photographers, with the increasing amount of digital appliances our art tends to utilize, need to be conscious of these impacts and scenarios with our consumption habits. . It is the one aspect of digital photography that has bothered me. Since photography has become “computerized” – there is this “pressure” to keep up with the latest gear, whether it is peer, marketing, or client pressure. Certainly the marketing machines of the manufacturers can make you feel like your 2 year old camera is “inadequate.”. . . We have to remember that camera takes the same quality pictures as it did when it was the hottest thing on the block (myself included!). . As technology advances, unfortunately so do our expectations of it. Larger files and the latest software eventually require new computers to support them effectively We are continually setting new bars of what is acceptable – and I don’t see that as always being a good trend.
As the megapixels grow, high ISO quality goes into the stratosphere, perhaps even acceptance criteria from editors and stock agencies will increase, forcing photographers to upgrade to be competitive. . While in the film days, many people would shoot with cameras 5, 10, 15, even 20 years old. It seemed like 35 mm film really hit a plateau of quality no matter what camera you stuck it in. . While we can proclaim that we are not utilizing toxic darkroom chemicals or consuming film, we are now engulfed in a technology driven market that isn’t completely filled with pluses.
Nonetheless, I don’t feel like I am wasting as much now. . Sometimes I would throw away rolls of processed slides or keep very few – and always thought it was so wasteful – not only in direct materials – but processing, shipping to labs, packaging of slides, etc Photographers aren’t overnighting slide packages to editors to meet submission deadlines. Yes, techno gear goes obsolete – but hopefully most will consider the reuse/resale route (aka. Ebay) versus contributing to some of the unscrupulous practices of e-waste.
Packaging & Papers
My biggest hurdle is probably print packaging. . I am opposed to going to rolled prints for smaller sizes, simply because I think opening a flat print provides a more professional appearance and curly prints are just a pain to deal with Flat prints require cardboard to protect them, so I try to reuse wherever I can. . Print boxes are also somewhat of a specialty item – not a lot of suppliers carry thin boxes – and particularly ones from recycled materials. . This one is a continual hunt for better, greener packaging materials. . Perhaps Greener Photography will ultimately help establish some resources on this one.
There are so many other areas to look at, the list just keeps growing. If photographers can be organized and accumulate in numbers as one voice, there is hope for driving change in the products we use and love.
Recycling is something that every modern society must consider and apply. Not doing that is arrogant and extremely resource wasting, it is probably also an economical loss for a modernized country not to do that (all factors taken into consideration.
Thanks for the heads up Adam, I left them a message. Not sure what went wrong there.
Mark, you may want to check the ‘Members’ section of the Greener Photography site. It looks like they have incorrect information about your business.
I’m glad to see that you have joined Greener Photography.
Sorry to disturb, I am just checking a reply response as my earlier submit resulted a blank screen. I am not sure whether the response is submitted or not.
Thank you.
Thanks for this information I was unaware of this site and believe it will be helpful. I am trying to find ways to make our company more green and this will help me. I will also keep these things in mind in my home life to do my part.
Mark:
Great post! Thanks for the info. I’ve been wondering how to make my photography greener and you’ve provided some great links. Having just recently started printing at home the recycling issue of used cartridges and “eco-papers” have crossed my mind more than once.
Hey Mark. I don’t have a specific link but had read this on several occasions when they were talking about the supply of certain camera models.
One thing that you forgot to take into consideration Mark is your carbon foot print from digital photography. While partially being a tongue in check comment, I’m also serious. I now realize that I have a storage array that sits on my desk always turned on pulling down about 60 watts of power. All this to store my photos and give me on demand access to my data when ever I might need it (while leaving it on all the time seems overkill, I have pulled data off it remotely when traveling). Also the power we consume for online backups, online storage of photos, hours we leave computers on while processing/printing, etc. It all adds to the environmental impact of our passion. In the grand scheme of things, probably not as bad as chemicals from a dark room…but then again, there are many more photographers out there today.
Glad you posted this, something I’ll be looking into as well and something we should all be keeping in the front of our mind.
It’s an important issue, worth considering in detail. All the waste we generate has to go somewhere. I have a couple of friends who have gone a long ways toward eliminating their waste stream. But they are not your typical American “consumers” (don’t you love being called a consumer on the news every night?!). One of them is a photographer who still shoots film, and sparingly. They buy most of their food in bulk, or at least not packaged. They don’t own a car. They don’t pour a lot of money into the economic engine that generates so much waste. Hopefully the idea of “reduce, reuse, recycle” will soon become as mainstream as the waste stream.
Richard – could you share a link about sensor waste? I would be interested in learning more about that.
Great post Mark. From what I have read, a lot of material waste goes into making each camera sensor due to the high rate failures. Even more so for the FF cameras.
Kudos to you! I, too, do my best to reuse materials. Shipping boxes from Amazon may become painting protector panels in my hands, etc., etc. Even the glass discarded from frames (not needed for acrylic paintings,) become paintings, themselves. Keep up the good work!
BTW, the 2nd picture on this page (under the “green” header one,) won’t load for me…
Congratulations on the recognition.
Waste and recycling electronics? Sound interesting for me. I might have to learn more about it. Sure it is the issue we all concern about. Posting the articles like this will make more awareness about long term waste management
Mark:
Thank you for writing about this important issue.
The Greener Photography Site has information to stimulate further thought and possible action. It raises issues I had not considered.
The two areas of environmental concern in photography that I have considered are:
1. Not damaging the areas in which we photography, especially those of us who take photos of and in nature. I became aware of this issue last spring as I was photographing wild flowers in a wild flower preserve. Not damaging the plants was a real challenge. This issue also arose when photographing a creek with a group, We would leave the trail and walk anywhere we wanted to get a photo.
2. “Needing” to buy to latest equipment and technology. You cover this in your post. Last weekend I jokingly told a group of amateur photographers that I was going to start a web site on taking quality photos without having to buy the latest gear.
Again, thank you for raising these issues.
Anita
Mark, thanks for this – I hadn’t heard of this organization before. I’ve made a contribution & signed up for the newsletter; this seems like something every nature photographer should get behind.
– Jack