Reel Green ™ Vendor Spotlight: Keep It Green Recycling

The Reel Green™ Vendor Spotlight is a new initiative, where each month we interview one Reel Green™ Vendor. We will dive into the sustainability practices, highlights, accomplishments and community work, as well as touching base on the challenges our vendors face. Every month, a new Reel Green™ vendor will be interviewed for our website! 

This month’s Reel Green™ Vendor in the spotlight is Keep It Green Recycling Ltd., and in our interview chair is the Owner/Founder, Kelsey Evans.  

1. What was the intention behind starting your business? 
I have always had a passion to keep the environment clean and when I first started as a PA in film, I saw there was a great need for recycling on set. Initially I started bringing returnable bottles and mixed recycling home to recycle for the show I was working on, but then it expanded to setting up recycling bins for other shows as well. I would set up their recycling bins and another company would pick up once a month. This wasn’t frequent enough for film, however, so one show asked if I could pick up their recycling as well. This led me to creating a system that was easy for the film industry to use and eventually doing weekly pick-ups for most of the shows filming in the Lower Mainland.

2. How are you partnering with the Film Industry to make it more sustainable?
We are always adjusting to the needs of the film industry and trying to improve our system to make it easier for them to recycle. Our Material Reuse Warehouse was especially designed to make it easier for the film industry to store and reuse props/set materials.

3. What are the day-to-day operations like within your business? What do you enjoy most out of it?
Day-to-day operations include recycling pick-ups by our truck teams, keeping items moving by our Material Reuse team, sorting and cleaning by our warehouse team and administrative tasks by our office team. Every day is different and exciting. It challenges us to think outside the box and problem solve. I enjoy being kept on my toes, staying active and making a difference within the film industry.

4. What makes you different from other sustainable businesses? 
Since I have worked in film, I know a lot of the ins and outs of both film and recycling. I am always willing to listen to wants and needs of the film industry and do my very best to accommodate. We are always trying to find ways to recycle items properly and we are very transparent about what we do with materials. Our Material Reuse warehouse is also the only one in Canada that operates like it does.

5. What is a recent achievement / green win you’ve had? 
2022 was the first year that we can officially say that the Material Reuse warehouse paid for itself, including the salary of one full time employee.

6. How do you work with the Reel Green™ community? 
I worked together with Green Spark Group to revamp the Reel Green™ Community. I also come to the meetings as much as possible so that I can listen to concerns within the film industry but also bring different issues that we see occur so that we can keep the conversation going. Our company has had success with Reel Green™ by sending our employees to the Sustainable Production course in order for them to learn how to live and work in a more sustainable way.

7. Where can people find more information on your company and services? 
They can visit our website, Facebook pages or Instagram page:
Keep it Green’s Website
Keep it Green’s Facebook
Keep it Green’s Material Reuse Facebook
Keep it Green’s Instagram
Keep it Green’s Material Reuse Instagram  

There are over 30 Reel Green™ Vendors that offer a wide range of sustainable services or eco-products to help green our world. Let us know any Reel Green™ Vendors you would like to see in the spotlight next! If you are a Reel Green™ Vendor, and would like to be featured, send us an email at reelgreen@creativebc.com to set up an interview. 

Are you a vendor, but not on the Reel Green™ Vendor List yet? Check out the page linked below to find the vendor application form.   

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