Video may be delivered as a digital file, but producing it requires electricity, transportation, equipment, storage, and physical supplies. At Rocket House Pictures, we look for practical ways to reduce that footprint without limiting what a production needs.
In July 2026, we became a Bronze Member of the Colorado Green Business Network. Our separate Bronze recognition announcement explains the program and what the designation means. We are also listed in the GreenBiz Tracker national business directory.
This article focuses on the work behind that recognition: how we handle power, transportation, equipment, storage, paper, batteries, and production waste.
Lower-power lighting and solar-charged systems
Lighting is one of the largest power demands on many film sets. We use LED fixtures because they can provide the output required for professional production while drawing less electricity than comparable tungsten lights.
Aputure’s LS 60x offers a useful production example. The manufacturer describes it as a 60-watt LED fixture with output that exceeds a 300-watt tungsten Fresnel. Lower power requirements make it easier to run some lighting setups from batteries and portable power systems.
For compatible outdoor setups, we use portable power stations charged with solar panels to run production lights. This reduces our need for fuel-powered generators. Battery power also produces less noise, which helps when we are recording interviews or natural sound on location.
You can see more of the equipment we use in our production work.
Cooling our buildings with less electricity
Our buildings use evaporative coolers instead of conventional refrigerated air conditioning. Evaporative cooling is particularly effective in dry climates such as Colorado’s.
The U.S. Department of Energy identifies evaporative cooling as an option for dry climates and notes that it can use a fraction of the energy required by conventional air conditioning.
This reduces the electricity needed to cool the spaces where we prepare equipment, manage productions, and complete post-production work.
Fewer vehicles and fewer unnecessary trips
Transportation is an unavoidable part of video production. Cameras, lighting, sound equipment, crew members, and production supplies still need to reach each location.
When the crew and equipment can travel safely in one production vehicle, we ride together instead of taking several cars to the same place. A shared trip reduces fuel use and keeps the crew, equipment, and schedule together.
Careful pre-production can also eliminate unnecessary driving. Video calls, shared photographs, digital location information, and virtual scouting often answer questions that once required a separate trip. If an in-person scout is necessary, we try to combine it with other production tasks.
For broader context about transportation choices, the Union of Concerned Scientists publishes research comparing the emissions of electric and gasoline-powered vehicles.
Rechargeable batteries and less paper
A production kit can go through batteries quickly. We use rechargeable batteries wherever our equipment supports them, including our cameras, audio equipment, two-way radios, production accessories, and some LED lights.
Using the same batteries across many production days reduces the number of disposable batteries we purchase and discard. It also allows us to charge and test equipment before leaving for a location.
Most of our production communication is digital. Scripts, call sheets, schedules, shot lists, interview questions, production notes, release forms, and client feedback can usually be shared without printing a stack of copies.
Paper is still available when a crew member, client, or production requirement calls for it. It simply is not our default.
Keeping equipment in service longer
Cameras, computers, lights, audio systems, and hard drives require raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, and transportation. Extending the useful life of professional production equipment helps reduce the environmental cost tied to frequent replacement.
We invest in equipment that can meet professional production standards for years. We regularly evaluate our major production equipment, often on a three-year cycle, while maintaining and testing each item throughout its working life. Some equipment stays in service much longer. Some of the LED lighting systems used in our studio and production work have been part of our production kit for many years and continue to perform reliably.
We replace equipment when a newer system provides a clear creative or technical advantage, improves reliability, or is required for a client’s delivery specifications.
We enjoy new camera technology as much as any production company. Higher resolution, wider dynamic range, improved color science, and better low-light performance can make a substantial difference on the right project. Many videos, however, are distributed online and watched on computers, phones, and compressed streaming platforms. Higher specifications do not automatically produce a better video or viewing experience.
When a project calls for a specialized camera, lens, lighting system, or recording format outside our regular inventory, we rent it. Renting gives clients access to the right production technology without requiring us to purchase equipment that may only be used occasionally. Our production equipment rentals also allow other filmmakers and production teams to use professional gear without purchasing equipment for a single project.
We choose equipment according to the creative concept, filming conditions, distribution format, and client requirements. Our regular production equipment remains reliable and capable of producing professional work. We upgrade when the improvement will be visible on screen, improve reliability, or make our filming and production process more efficient.
The EPA identifies longer product life, reuse, repair, and the ability to upgrade equipment as important considerations for greener electronics.
We apply the same thinking to storage. Working hard drives are reused after files from a completed project have been properly delivered and managed. We do not purchase a new drive for every project when a reliable drive can be returned to service.
The EPA notes that reusing working electronics extends their useful lives and keeps them out of the waste stream longer.
Using cloud storage for transfers
We use cloud storage mainly to transfer files, share review copies, and collect client feedback. We do not automatically leave every production file in cloud storage indefinitely.
Cloud storage still relies on physical data centers, network infrastructure, cooling systems, and electricity. Its footprint depends on the provider, location, equipment, and source of power. The International Energy Agency tracks global energy use associated with data centers and data-transmission networks.
Limiting unnecessary duplication also makes file management easier. We keep the copies required for delivery and backup without filling online storage with files that no longer need to be there.
Reducing waste before recycling it
We recycle every material accepted by our local recycling services. Before an item reaches a recycling container, we consider if it can be avoided, reused, repaired, or kept in service.
That order follows the EPA’s waste-management hierarchy, which places source reduction and reuse ahead of recycling.
Production waste can include cardboard, paper, plastic containers, metal, batteries, cables, broken accessories, and retired electronics. These materials do not all belong in the same recycling stream. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment provides separate information about electronics and computer waste and battery recycling.
Applying our production skills to environmental work
Our production work has also connected us with people developing environmental projects in Colorado. Rocket House Pictures produced video and website work for the Biochar Reactor Project, led by Matt Hill and John Powell.
The project explores the conversion of organic material into biochar, heat, and syngas. Our role was to document the prototype and help explain how the system was designed to work.
The same habits run through our other projects: use what we already own, reduce unnecessary travel, choose lower-power options, avoid disposable supplies when possible, and keep working equipment out of the waste stream.
These are ordinary production decisions, repeated across our schedule. That is where our approach to more sustainable video production begins.
Sources
- Aputure, “LS 60x.”
- U.S. Department of Energy, “HVAC: A Guide for Contractors to Share with Homeowners.”
- Environmental Protection Agency, “Sustainable Materials Management: Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy.”
- Environmental Protection Agency, “Electronics Basic Information, Research, and Initiatives.”
- Environmental Protection Agency, “Identifying Greener Electronics.”
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, “Electronics and Computer Waste.”
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, “Battery Stewardship and Recycling Program.”
- Union of Concerned Scientists, “Electric Vehicles Are Cleaner Than Gasoline Vehicles.”
- International Energy Agency, “Data Centres and Data Transmission Networks.”
