I’m sure you’re well aware of Keep It Green’s ubiquitous bins on many film sets and production offices, collecting recyclables from pop cans to paper, to cartridges and cardboard. Recently, they’ve added a new collection item: dimensional lumber! By partnering with local innovators Urbanjacks, Keep it Green can now provide productions with a bin for collecting any used, unused, waste wood: think 1x4s, 2x4s or 2x6s – off-cuts as short as 8”, and even pieces with nails, screws, glue or paint on them, though not preferred - are accepted. All your construction team needs to do is put them in the bin supplied by Keep It Green and they’ll take care of the rest.

When a tree spends 50 to 100 years growing in a forest, then gets milled into lengths to be used as a wall flat brace on a temporary set, don’t we owe it to that tree to maximize its usefulness as much as possible? Sure, wood in a landfill eventually decomposes, but not before releasing methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By recycling lumber, living trees (and the creatures that inhabit them) can stay in the forest, absorbing CO2 instead of releasing it. In fact, Urbanjacks and Keep It Green will provide you with detailed data tracking the positive environmental impact your production is making by reducing its carbon footprint. As of mid-March 2025, Urbanjacks operations have achieved a reduction of nearly 85,000KG of CO2 emissions by transforming wood waste into reusable lumber!

What happens to the used wood that gets diverted from the landfill? Urbanjacks sort it meticulously and remove the nails, screws, fasteners and any paint. They then put it through their innovative finger-jointing process that results in new beautifully straight, smooth pieces that are actually stronger than regular lumber, resulting in a premium product that can be bought and reused again, closing the circularity loop.

Your production is surely already recycling cans, bottles and paper – why not make a hugely measurable difference and recycle its wood as well? Good for the budget, good for biodiversity and the planet. Your future grandchildren might just thank you for it.

Annabelle Wilczur
Assistant Business Agent and Sustainability Lead