Environmental Sustainability Policy 2024

We are committed to ongoing action to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment.

Commitments

Reclaim The Frame is committed to running an environmentally sustainable charity. We aim to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible through sound, credible and measurable practices across all aspects of the charity by integrating the consideration of environmental concerns and impacts into all of our decision making and activities. We are continually managing our carbon footprint and improving our environmental impact.

In 2014 we evolved into a year-round agency campaigning for gender equality in film - spotlighting and celebrating films created by marginalised genders, and supporting marginalised genders working in film through training and events.

Even though we are a small charity with three full-time employees and four part-time employees, we are very aware of the impact running a company has on the environment and are committed to working towards long-term solutions. We believe in contributing more than we take out. We recognise that action is needed now to achieve the aims of the UN Paris Agreement. We are committed to applying sustainable development goals to limit global warming to below 2°C. We are using environmentally responsible principles to achieve the lowest possible environmental impact. We intend to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible through sound practices across all aspects of the charity.

Actions:

With the advice and support of Julie’s Bicycle, an organisation that supports arts organisations to put environmental ambition and responsibility at the centre of their governance who, we are continuing to learn and make progress. Even small changes, if done consistently, makes a big difference.

Staff culture:

Reclaim The Frame management and board of trustees are committed to reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint creating an environmentally conscious culture.

We have given up our permanent office space in Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre in favour of a flexible and sustainable office space at 3Space International House: part of a BuyGiveWork initiative where space is given away when space is bought. Their solution makes better, more productive and efficient use of property assets to deliver social and economic impact: “75% of the carbon emitted during a building’s life cycle comes from its construction and demolition, just 25% from its operations.” This means that reusing and repurposing existing buildings provides improved environmental outcomes, specifically with regards to embodied carbon, compared to new construction. Existing buildings are also better suited to providing affordable and diverse types of space and they can be operated and fitted out at significantly lower costs than new ones. The lower operating costs means there is the potential to deliver high public value and greater benefits for the community.
Within the office/our operations, we will continue to operate our policy of ethical consumerism, purchase only second hand hardware, fix, reuse, recycle, and eco-friendly cleaning products. If printing is 100% necessary, we’ll continue using recycled (FSC certified) paper and non-toxic photocopy cartridges - and recycle both.
We have used the Co-operative Bank since 2002 because of its ethical principles: the only high street bank that did not have a direct relationship with apartheid-era South Africa. In 2023, they were rated as the UK's best Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) high street bank by Sustainalytics.
Our pension provider NEST, the National Employment Savings Trust, is the no. 1 pension provider according to the Ethical Consumer Guide and Good With Money.
We are looking to switch to an eco-hosting server like Solve and Host Presto. They securely host hundreds of websites to keep their client’s carbon footprint down by using 100% renewable energy.

Events, Marketing, Training:

A number of the films we have programmed over the years have explored climate justice as a topic; COW by Andrea Arnold, GUNDA, THE FEVER by Maya Da-Rin, VEINS OF THE WORLD, by Byambasuren Davaa. HERE FOR LIFE by Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Banel & Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy while many more have responded to themes of justice more broadly. We will continue to support titles like these in the future, whenever possible.

● We also plan to publicise the green credentials of the films we support where they have green credentials.

● We ask cinemas to print our surveys (double-sided/B&W) only when we know what to reasonably expect from occupancy so we don’t overprint.

● We have reduced the amount of printed marketing materials we order.

● In our Reclaim the Frame's email signatures, we encourage people not to print emails.

● When catering for training programmes or screening events, we commit to using local catering companies who use sustainable, ethically sourced, plant based ingredients, from suppliers that make a positive impact, not only environmentally but socially, including training young people and other charitable works.

● We have also built environmental sustainability into our training programmes for filmmakers. Our CPD course in 2023/2024 had a session on sustainable filmmaking and we will continue this in any future programmes.

● At events, we ask cinemas to provide glasses of tap water rather than plastic bottles.

We ask cinemas to print our surveys (double-sided/B&W) only when we know what to reasonably expect from occupancy so we don’t overprint.
We have reduced the amount of printed marketing materials we order.
In our Reclaim The Frame email signatures, we encourage people not to print emails.
When catering for training programmes or screening events, we commit to using local catering companies who use sustainable, ethically sourced, plant based ingredients, from suppliers that make a positive impact, not only environmentally but socially, including training young people and other charitable works.
We have also built environmental sustainability into our training programmes for filmmakers. Our CPD course in Jan 2023 and Jan 2024 had a session with BAFTA albert, called ‘Planting Sustainability in Your Production’. In this session, we explored our responsibility as storytellers to be proactive in sustainable and carbon-conscious film production.
At events, we ask cinemas to provide glasses of tap water rather than plastic bottles.

Travel:

Our UK-wide travel has greatly decreased since our core team established a hybrid model of working, and since the introduction of Impact Producers with whom we work across the UK, in the sixteen towns and cities where our partner cinemas are based, who lead on the delivery of Reclaim The Frame events.

Whenever possible, we use local speakers on our panel to avoid excess travel. Where we do travel within mainland UK, we never drive or fly. None of our hybrid-workforce own or drive a motor vehicle. We use public transport, walk or cycle. When flying outside the UK, carbon offsets can be purchased for all air travel.

Our work involves some travel across the country. For the majority of our events we only travel one member of staff and one filmmaker/speaker.
Whenever a speaker or member of staff works late, and we need to take taxis, we use hybrid taxis.

Community

Communicate our environmental commitment to clients, and the public and encourage them to support it.
Collaborate with local and national initiatives in the cinema, arts, sustainability and local authority sectors to share knowledge, problem solve and champion best practices.

Further plans:

Through Julie’s Bicycle, a pioneering non-profit, mobilising the arts and culture to take action on the climate, nature and justice crisis, we will regularly measure, monitor and improve performance.

Use circular economy ethics to underpin our decision making for product sourcing and waste management.
Maintain and, where possible, exceed regulation.
Work with suppliers and contractors with similar environmental ethics.
Embed methods and processes through thorough regular staff training and communication in order that our team becomes advocates for a cleaner future. All employees must ensure that they minimise their individual environmental impact.
Be aware of Greenwashing.
Our Environmental Policy is reviewed annually.

Our Environmental Policy is reviewed annually.

Simone Glover (She/her)

Training & Content Manager

25/05/2024