I have always been interested in sustainability and promoting sustainable practices, and when tasked with an ethics zine for designers, sustainability was the only option. As a crafter and tactile designer, I know how wasteful crafting can become, as well as how much is thrown away after the project is completed; therefore, it made sense to appeal to small production prop makers as my audience. 

 

The ethics zine discusses how to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable as a small production prop department with a limited budget. While it is easy for bigger productions to reduce waste due to a bigger budget, smaller prop departments are often left choosing between what is best for the environment and what their budget allows. The zines share a variety of small changes and bigger replacements that can be made to ensure the props you make are reusable, recyclable, or can reduce future materials. 

 

The idea of crafting and making can be seen in the zine style, with about 90% of the assets being crafted for the project, tools used while crafting, or leftover scraps I have collected. The recurring character of the zines is an unnamed raccoon that was selected as raccoons are known to hoard supplies, just as prop designers do. The raccoon urges the audience to keep scraps, reuse where possible, and give any remaining material to other prop designers where possible.