green tips

By Dawn Tacker 

As seen in Professional Photographer's Web Exclusives.

Winter is a great season to take the time to make your home or retail studio space more efficient. Consider extending that efficiency to your conservation habits. Water covers more than 70% of the earth's surface, but by 2025 more than half of the world's population will be facing water-based vulnerability. Although most photographers don't use water as part of their manufacturing process anymore, we all continue to consume water in our daily lives and buy water-intensive products, electronics and other supplies. In this article we are going to focus on tips to help do your part to conserve this precious resource in your daily life. Stay tuned for our next article on conserving water in your professional life. Here are some tips to help do your part to conserve this precious resource.

First, track your water usage. You can't tell if you're using less water unless you're aware of how much you're using in the first place! Second, set water conservation goals. Challenge yourself, your studio, and your family to reduce consumption by 10% to 20% each year. Implement policies that will help meet your conservation goals.

Here are some specific ways to reduce your water consumption.

Indoors:

• Check for and repair plumbing leaks on a regular basis. Fixing leaky faucets, for example, can save 20 gallons of water per day.

• Toilets are the largest water users inside your home. Replace old toilets with ultra-low flush models and save up to 14,000 gallons of water per year!

• Washing machines are the second largest water user in your home. Use a high efficiency front-loading washing machine for your laundry; these use one-third less water than top loaders.

• Run only full loads in dishwashers and washing machines.

• Install a low-flow showerhead, and take shorter showers.

• Install low-flow aerators on your faucets.

• Turn off the water when washing dishes, brushing your teeth, shaving, etc.

• Check to ensure that your water pressure is set between 40 and 60 psi.

• Consider using a water re-catchment system.

Read more ideas for conserving water indoors at H2OUSE.

Outdoors:

• Water landscaping in the evening, early morning or at night to minimize evaporation.

• Check for and eliminate run-off and overspray from your irrigation system; doing so can save up to 15 gallons each time you water!

• Use a drip irrigation system to increase the efficiency of your watering; this can save 15 gallons every time you water.

• Harvest rainwater to use it for multiple purposes (more ideas at harvesth2o.com)

• Plant drought-resistant plants in your yard.

• Put a layer of mulch around your landscaping to reduce evaporation; this can save 20-30 gallons each time you water.

• Use brooms and spot cleaning instead of wet mopping your floors and walkways; doing so can save eight to 18 gallons per minute!

• Water only as much as your plants need.

For more tips, visit Greener Photography. Check back for more tips for conserving water in your business.

Dawn Tacker of Eos Photography is a portrait photographer based in drought-plagued Southern California.

By Megan Just.   As seen in Professional Photographer's Web Exclusives.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint is by pooling resources and combining efforts. Teaming up with other local photographers and businesses is not just good ecological sense, it's good business sense. Pooling resources will reduce your overhead costs and increase your profits. Here are seven tips to help you begin combining efforts:

1. Exchange Information

Develop a directory of green-minded photographers and photography-related businesses in your area. Networking can lead to more local shoots and helps build a stronger local economy. Approach related businesses and establish a referral program for their clients and yours. Make it a point to share information with other nearby photographers about your locale, like new shooting locations or shops that give discounts to locals. With the combined knowledge of your group, everyone can be a local expert.

2. Go Halfsies

Buying in bulk is better for the environment because it reduces packaging and transportation (and cost!). Team up with other photographers to buy high-count packages of stock items you all use, such as print bags and print boxes.

3. Cooperative Studios

Why pay for a studio space that you only use a few times a week? Organize a cooperative studio space with other photographers. You can share more than just the cost of the space and utilities; in a cooperative space, you can share common tools like studio lights, tripods, backdrops, etc.

4. Make It a Date

Chances are, when there is a great photography exhibit, conference, or workshop in your region, your local peers will plan to attend. Carpool! You can also go as a group to the farmer's market or to your area's Green Drinks events.

5. Trade Services

Take advantage of the untapped resources in your area. Expand the concept to non-photography business. Trade headshots for bookkeeping services; trade canvases for catering services.

6. Long Range Errands

If the nearest professional photography supply store is an hour away, avoid driving every time you need to purchase a single item. Get a list going for long-range errands and wait until you have a long list to make the trip. Announce your intentions to your cohorts and be gracious about picking up items for them as well. Do the same thing when you are placing orders online. It doesn't make sense to waste a huge amount of carbon to ship a single accessory.

7. Trash or Treasure?

Before you let your Canon 30D moulder in a box, consider that some of your buddies might still be using a Canon 20D. Or they may be mentoring a student who doesn't have a camera at all.  E-mail your local photographer buddies and see if anyone is interested first. Unwanted belongings have a better chance of actually being re-used if you place them into the right hands.

Megan Just holds a B.S. in Natural Resource from Oregon State University. She is a member of the Jessica Riehl Photography team and can be contacted at www.meganjust.com.