Sustainability in My Business as a Wedding Photographer
If you know me, you know I’m a huge advocate for the beautiful planet we are so lucky to live on. I’m also a massive fan of finding sustainable options for my business and for weddings!
Why I do my best to keep things sustainable
I come from a family of farmers and spiritual folks. We believe that the earth is here to provide for us, but we absolutely must do our best to provide for the earth as well.
Being eco-friendly is also straight up budget-friendly. Need a container? Check the cabinet. Need some fabric to patch a pair of pants? Check that drawer over there. Going on a road trip? Let’s carpool.
Taking care of the earth is majorly punk and cool kid behavior.
Photo by Leandra Creative Co. Photography
-
My office.
I have a home office! I rarely (if ever) leave my house for admin and editing work. My home is an older home, built in the 70s, and we’ve made some changes to it to lower our environmental impact.
Better windows, limited AC/Heat usage, LED lights, smart home tech to keep track of our energy usage, and plan to add solar panels in the future!
I have made it a priority to use no paper products unless absolutely necessary and use cleaning products that are available in bulk refills and have less toxicity and impact.
We have a composter and small garden, and are working on replacing our crabgrass with clover to support our local pollinators and wildlife. Currently reworking our front and backyards to host native plants! I’m a farm kid, and food waste is something we actively work to avoid.
-
My gear.
All of my gear that I currently use was bought used! I do need to upgrade and update gear here and there so I can provide the best service to my couples.
When that time comes, I do my best to source it from other photographers or buy refurbished. I also rent cameras and lenses from a local camera shop on occasion!
When necessary upgrades happen, I sell my older gear or keep it as backup. You never know, it might be needed!
SD cards, external hard drives, and batteries have to be bought new. Ugh. But I do not buy those items until absolutely necessary and do my damndest to source from companies that are NOT Amaz*n.
Obviously no one is perfect. And let’s be real, it’s not on the individual to save the world! But until we can hold big corpo responsible, let’s do our best to help.
-
Leave No Trace Principles
When working outdoors, it’s incredibly important to follow Leave No Trace principles.
I am a stickler for this, and carry a bag for trash to every photoshoot. Don’t worry, it’s a reusable one that I can wash if it gets dirty!
-
My certifications
Leave No Trace for Elopement Photographers - 100% of proceeds go directly to the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
I’m regularly looking for more education and certifications to serve my business and my couples!
-
Client Galleries + Print Shop.
Galleries are all digital! The print shop is attached to your gallery and the businesses that do the printing are all smaller and not Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc.
In my free time I go on trash clean ups, research ways to decrease my ecological footprint, and obsess over earthship homes. I stopped shopping fast fashion, and really limit my shopping as a whole. I’ve always been a lover of thrift stores and DIY, so that has played a huge role in my life as of late. When I’m looking for new, fun clothing (like the outfits I wear to weddings!) I source from companies that are very transparent about their environmental impact, their worker ethics, and companies that make small batches in store when possible.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again… Individual consumers should not have the responsibility of saving the planet resting on their shoulders. That’s all big corpo! You can read more about the companies that contribute to the detriment of our Earth and have icky ethics HERE and HERE. I know, I know, this isn’t a social justice page! But that’s too bad. It’s a huge part of my life and my passion projects, so everyone gets to hear about it every chance I get to talk about it.
