Perma started trading in 2020 and from the get go we challenged ourselves to produce shoots differently.
We know advertising is fast paced and even with the best intentions and considered planning, the speed in which the process unfolds can often lead to wasteful behaviours.
Our ambition was to produce shoots with a reduced impact, and to achieve this we needed to reflect and question on the way we approached our work. At the start of each project, we now communicate our intentions and we to ask clients and crew to help us achieve our goals.
Our business model is to put people and planet first. It took us a few jobs to really understand our processes and to identify areas where we could evoke meaningful change, however with every shoot came a new set of learnings that we could share within the industry and carry forward onto our next production.
In 2021 Jess joined our team. Our carbon queen has helped us to collate our data and to build efficient workflows to make the process easy and efficient for all involved. As a point to note, our main focus has always been to reduce impact through behaviour change before investing into carbon offsets.
As producers, we are the glue of a project and are well positioned to effectively and efficiently manage change. When costing a project, we have carbon in mind. We allocate budget where we feel it is required and we buy time that allows are teams to consider their approach.
With the launch of AdGreen’s Carbon Calculator, we have been able to measure our footprints and have tangible data that has helped us to understand, reflect and communicate to the wider team, the impact of our shoots.
In 2022 we started to record our Baseline Year, and by 2023 all 14 completed projects plus our operational data were measured, calculated and compiled into our first Annual Review
What is a baseline year?
For those unfamiliar with the term, a Baseline Year is the measurement of carbon emissions that a company produces over a set period of time, such as a financial year. It should incorporate all emissions created through its business activities.
Why does it matter?
Measuring your impact allows a business to make tangible operational reductions through informed data. For example, we learned that using a studio space powered by 100% renewable energy rather than a studio powered by fossil fuels halved the associated emissions. The result was to ensure that we always use green spaces. We have been able to make informed choices on our catering, our deliveries and our hotels.
Measuring your baseline year allows you to see your impact, and then to shape your business to be less impactful going forward. As your business evolves, so will your data.
We also made a choice to communicate our impact both upstream to our clients (both agency and commissioning brand) and downstream to those involved such as the crew, the studios and the cast.
Finally we use our hashtag #SharedNotSecret to help communicate our learnings to the industry as a whole.
How does our impact look?
Our total emissions generated through our operations was 10.39 tonnes of Carbon. Inline with our impact goals, we offset 21 tonnes of carbon through Ecologi and JustOneTree.Life
Whats next for perma collective?
In a nutshell, continue as planned. We are currently building on the positive results to date and collecting data for our second Annual Review which will run from April 2023 to April 2024.
As our business grows, so will our footprint, however we will continue to make informed choices around our processes, and we will continue to prioritise positive environmental behaviour change across all our operations.