Why Celebrating Sustainable Wins and Uplifting Local Partners Matters More Than Ever
By Zena Harris, Founder & President, Green Spark Group
In the fast-paced, high-stakes worlds of film, television, and live events, it’s easy to get caught up in what’s next. The next shoot day. The next deadline. The next deliverable. But in the race to keep everything moving, we often overlook something crucial: celebrating the sustainable wins we’ve already achieved.
Acknowledging progress, however big or small, is not only good for morale, it’s good for the planet. And when we combine that spirit of recognition with a commitment to uplifting local companies and fostering true collaboration, we lay the foundation for something more powerful: a cultural shift that makes sustainable practices the norm, not the exception.
Celebration as Culture Change
Too often, sustainability work is treated as an invisible effort, something that happens in the background, carried by a few passionate individuals, with little recognition or fanfare. But we know from behavioral science and organizational psychology that what gets recognized, gets repeated. When crew, creatives, and vendors see their contributions to sustainability acknowledged, it fosters a deeper sense of ownership, accountability, and pride.
Celebration shifts sustainability from being perceived as a burden to being understood as a shared value and a source of innovation. That EcoPA who diverted 90% of set materials from landfill? Let’s make sure their work is highlighted in the wrap report. That production designer who sourced set builds through a local reuse center? They deserve a shout-out at the final production meeting. That film festival that eliminated single-use water bottles entirely? Let’s tell that story and inspire others.
Celebrating wins, no matter how small, reinforces a culture that says: sustainability matters here.
Why Local Partners Matter
Another overlooked piece of the sustainability puzzle is who we choose to work with. Supporting local vendors and small businesses that align with environmental and social values is a powerful way to reduce emissions, boost regional economies, and build more resilient production ecosystems.
When a film festival sources signage from a local print shop that uses recycled materials and non-toxic ink, that’s a win. When a studio chooses a caterer focused on plant-forward menus and compostable serviceware, that’s a win. And when those vendors are seen, celebrated, and continuously contracted, the entire industry begins to shift.
By uplifting these companies—especially women-, BIPOC-, and queer-owned businesses—we not only align with values of equity and climate justice, we expand the supply chain of solutions available for more sustainable storytelling.
Collaboration That Goes Beyond Checklists
Let’s be honest: collaboration has become a buzzword. But meaningful collaboration is rare, and essential to sustainability.
It’s not enough to say “we’ll collaborate later” or “we’re all in this together.” Real collaboration happens when sustainability is brought to the table from the beginning. It means involving heads of department early in conversations about material sourcing, travel emissions, or water usage. It means being transparent about goals and asking, “What’s possible if we work together differently?” It means creating space for new ideas and crediting the people behind them.
Collaboration is not about downloading a checklist—it’s about co-creating a culture of shared responsibility and creativity. When done well, it turns sustainability into a driver of innovation, not a constraint.
Moving Forward, Together
If we want to normalize sustainability in entertainment and events, we have to do more than set targets and write policies. We have to celebrate the progress, uplift the people and companies doing the work, and collaborate in ways that are honest, creative, and generous.
It’s easy to focus on what’s not working. But focusing on what is, and building from there, is how movements grow.
Let’s keep telling those stories. Let’s keep celebrating the wins. And let’s build a sustainable industry we can be proud of, one production, one partnership, one powerful collaboration at a time.
Want more on celebrating sustainability wins? Catch The Tie-In Podcast interview with the winner of the Jackson Wild Sustainable Production Award here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-jmbEnYCx0
