Researchers pave the way for the toy and film industry to become more sustainable

Posted on 13 December 2024 • Arts and social sciences

Millions of children will delight in ripping open their presents under the tree later this month, oblivious of the carbon emissions that toys might notch up in the production and end-of-life process.

While Dr Rebecca Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Film and Media at The Open University, doesn’t plan on ruining the festive moment, she recently revealed research that aims to encourage the toy and film industry to become kinder to the planet.

By calculating the emissions produced by a common example of a lightsaber toy, she and her team have discovered that the 10 million lightsabers sold each year around the globe could have a collective global-warming potential equivalent to 213 kilotons of carbon annually.

• The toy lightsaber they used for the case study, which is selling for £26 this Christmas, produces 2.13kg of carbon emissions
• Dr Harrison says it’s time the film industry took a new approach and offers solutions for studios and for fans.
• Her team has developed a free tool, available on the research website The Environmental Impact of Filmmaking EIF.project.com that calculates carbon emission of props and toys

The toy her team assessed was a model manufactured in China featuring rechargeable batteries. Making and shipping it to the UK produces emissions equivalent to 2.13kg of carbon.

Using Star Wars props as case studies, she started a project, The Environmental Impact of Filmmaking, spanning almost two years to help make the film industry more sustainable.

She discovered that while Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, made for the 1977 film A New Hope, was made out of parts found in junk shops and at scrap yards, the carbon emission cost of producing 10 million toy lightsabers annually was vast.

“Offsetting such emissions in a year would require 101 million healthy, full-grown trees,” says Rebecca.

“Our research into the respective provenances of props and toy lightsabers offers some lessons for the film industry.”

She says short of completely changing retail and consumption habits—not making any toys at all—there are three main changes to be made:

• First, film crews can follow the approach adopted on the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope: salvage used, waste, or recycled items and creatively refashion them to keep emissions low when making props on set.
• Second, studios licensing their Intellectual Property to the merchandise market could initiate green-rider agreements with manufacturers, check environmental credentials of licensees and make demands in licensing agreements, as well as audit suppliers regularly.
  That could also mean only using recycled materials, no single-use plastics, and looking to renewable energy sources in the manufacturing process or limited product numbers.
• Third, as consumers and fans we can share unwanted or preloved merchandise with others in fan communities (which prevents items going to landfill, and helps keep costs down for families facing financial hardship).
  Where possible, fans can fashion their own costumes, and craft their own versions of props from materials found at home. Perhaps most important, fans have the power to send a strong message to studios by valuing the homemade over the shop-bought.

Dr Harrison accepts that the popular toy lightsaber is unlikely to disappear from shop shelves – she says even the Star Wars cast of this loved franchise seemed taken with them.

During her research she discovered that while on set for the prequel shoots, Ewan McGregor (Luke Skywalker) had to be reminded not to add his own sound effects, while Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) wanted to take his home.

And Samuel L Jackson (Mace Windu) lobbied for his own unique purple blade, and according to stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, ‘kept his lightsaber with him 24 hours a day – he had it in his golf bag’.

Dr Harrison is also conducting research on the environmental impact of the Star Wars production teams may have had on the 14 locations it used across the four nations of the UK. If you want to get involved visit www.eifproject.com and browse to “get involved”.

Picture credit: Matyas Varga for Pixabay