GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY: How Photographers Can Help Save Our Planet By Recycling

A woman smiles while sorting through recyclable material at the Stung Meanchey Landfill in Phom Penh, Cambodia.

Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved

Over on the Photographylot blog a post written by Tom White said, "Let's face it - photography is a wasteful and ecologically unsound activity. Think of all the plastics, metals, paper and chemicals that get used by us photographers of the course of our careers and plenty of it gets thrown away. Pretty horrendous really."

He wrote that after Photographer Andrea Bakacs alerted him to her blog, Photography For a Greener Planet, "Which seeks to present projects and photographers attempting to redress the balance by photographing stories and making work relating to the environmental damage we humans engage in with our activities and some of the things we can do to minimize our impact."

Sounds like a great idea. But wait a minute!

Photojojo published a list: Ten Tips for Being a Greener Photographer

And Here Are 7 From The List:

Reuse Your Film Containers

Still shooting film? Don't throw out your plastic film containers. Ritz Cameras accepts them for recycling at their stores. Better yet, make stuff out of them! We don't leave home without the flash diffuser we made.

Switch Batteries

Try using rechargeable batteries in your camera instead of ordinary ones. If you have a choice, pick lithium over nickel since it's a bit less toxic. When your regular batteries die, don't throw them out. There are lots of places that recycle them. Earth911 has loads of battery usage tips and a recycling location finder.

Carry a Charge

If you missed the solar charger camera bag, take another look. It's a regular camera bag, except for the solar panel on the top that charges your camera for you. It's just so cool. Amazon has them for about $150.

Donate

Upgrading to a new camera? Donate your old one. The New Orleans Kid Camera Project and Picture Tomorrow both accept used cameras. Your local schools or after-school programs might also be able to use them.

Recycle

If you've completely busted your old camera, recycle that puppy. Staples stores accept used electronics for recycling, including cameras, cell phones and computers. They also take empty inkjet cartridges, so you don't have to add those to the landfill either

Make Some Money

If you have a lot of stuff to donate or recycle, use it to make some money! Ecophones sponsors recycling fundraisers. They take cameras, cell phones, video games; you name it. Send in your boxes of junk electronics and they'll send you a check.

Switch Paper

GreenPix makes 100% post-consumer recycled inkjet paper. It's available in matte finish, and comes in sizes from 4×6 all the way up to 24×36. Check out a review at Leafygreen.info, or buy it at Red River.

NOW YOU ARE A GREEN GIANT WITH SMALL FEET

All of this should help reduce your ecological footprint as far as your photos are concerned.

And by the way, here are a couple of guys doing good helping kids with photography and I think they could always use a few used cameras.

Their names are Brian Frank, who has done projects with children in Mexico, and Cambodia's Vandy Rattana, who can be reached at vandyrattana@yahoo.com.

John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photography
My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage
Stung Meanchey Landfill Phnom Penh Cambodia Photographs

20 Reasons Why Pro Photographers Are Wimps

Photo © John Brown All Rights Reserved Follow Me On Twitter!

I can't remember where I saw this list but it was authored by a man named

David O. Reed. I edited the list to "20 Reasons" and I hope you enjoy it.

1. Pros hire assistants to carry all those heavy tripods and lenses, instead of marrying them

2. Pros have a grey card in their camera bags instead of a melted Snickers bar

3. Pros argue about tripods and ball-heads instead of lenses and MTF and hard to understand technical stuff like the rest of us

4. Pros bracket their shots instead of relying on the 45 sensor light meter system in their $5K cameras

5. Pros use pro labs to process jobs, instead of giving that new kid in the mini-mart lab their vacation shots

6. Pros rent stuff like lenses, instead of mortgaging the house to buy lenses like the rest of us

7. Pros actually use a tripod in the field, instead of a bean bag or car window sill

8. Pros use off-camera strobes instead of red-eye reducing pens on their prints

9. Pros edit a roll down to two shots while we bravely keep them all.

10. Pros cheat and use a lens hood, instead of bravely letting their zoom battle it out with the sun

11. Pros replace their camera batteries at least annually, instead of every three to five years or so

12. Pros like those out-moded all mechanical cameras that still work, instead of the new fangled auto-everythings that sometimes don't

13. Pros lenses are all scratched and dinged up, and they don't seem to care

14. Pros have body caps for their SLRs instead of using zip lock baggies

15. Pros have tested, used, and sold lenses you and I have just heard rumors about

16. Pros can carry an APS camera for fun shots without feeling like Wimps, while we can't

17. The photo store clerks all know the pros by name and invite them to the store Christmas party

18. Pros have reference books on topics like lighting, instead of stacks of old catalogs from B&H and Porters

19. Pros have manuals for everything, and even seem to have read them once or twice

20. Pro photographers are wimps because they use a tripod instead of hand holding a camera like a real man

John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS

My Mondo Library Photography

My Photoshelter Photography Archive Homepage

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