If you enjoy photography as a hobby, there are lots of things you can do, from avoiding traditional cameras (that use gelatine in animal film – same with most papers) along with using your skills to protect wildlife and animals, and even volunteering services, and using zero-waste photo albums.
Eco-Friendly Digital Camera (made from paper!)
Paper Shoot Camera is a Texas company that has created the world’s first eco-friendly digital camera, made from recycled materials and encased in stone paper (compressed limestone & biodegradable resin) making it water-resistant. The ‘vintage leather’ designs are made with vegetable leather. Switching to digital also eliminates having to use photography paper (only a few brands are vegan).
This camera is compact enough to fit in a small bag, and features filters to take photos in colour, black & white, sepia or cool tones. One investment of around £140 gives years of use (making it cheaper than disposable cameras long-term) and you can upload photos using the included SD card to your phone or photo. Keep the rechargeable batteries away from heat, light & metal items like coins.
This camera is a step-up from using your phone to take photos, for a simple point-and-shoot alternative to a quality basic digital camera. Packed with features for the amateur to take good photos.
You can also use the shutter button to take time-lapse photos & videos, and the camera replaces a built-in flash with a detachable ring light. Made ethically in Taiwan (the founder is a resident paper engineer), the company remains small (just 12 employees).
Respect Wildlife, When Taking Photographs
Obviously also be careful not to startle people or pets either. But many people take photographs of wildlife using a flash camera, which can startle them (it can even kill seahorses, whether in the ocean or trapped in aquariums). All professional wildlife photographers know to stay well away.
If photographing birds or wildlife, use zoom lenses to avoid getting too close (and avoid noise and flash photography, which can startle and even kill some creatures).
Never do anything to stress any creature or damage its habitat, just to take a photo. If you can see chicks in a nest or a basking seal looking at you, you’re too close.
Vital Impacts has top photographers take wildlife photographs, to inspire people to protect our precious planet and creatures.
Use Photographic Skills to Help Animals
Often kind volunteers at animal shelters take terrible photos! So on a serious note, talented photographers can help up adoption drives by showing animals in a different light, being careful not to startle them with stark background, noise or flash photography. Photos of miserable-looking animals with murky backgrounds don’t help.
Sophie Gamand has good tips (that’s one of her subjects above!) One portrait she did of a blind senior dog who kept facing the wrong way, went viral after she just went with it as a comedy statement. Of course the lucky pooch found her forever home!
Mutley’s Snaps has good tips for other pet photographers (his work is beyond amazing!) His happy staffie photos show adorable friendly dogs, and they are made into an annual calendar, which helps to raise funds for a local animal shelter.
What Can You Do with Unwanted Photos?
If you have hundreds or thousands of old photos, keep what’s best and bin the rest (nothing bad will happen, people throw out magazines with photos every day, and you can’t recycle or burn photo film, as it releases toxic gas).
Instead of hoarding dusty albums and boxes of photos of the tops of people’s heads and clouds from aeroplanes, sort out the ones you really do like, and display them for everyone to see!
If you have lots of photos you’d like to keep, you can send them off to Vintage Photo Lab (there’s always a risk, but they’re just photos), and they can return you a lovely digital album of all your shots, which you can then store to a disk or on the cloud, for safekeeping. This company can take old faded photos, slide disks and vintage albums, along with old scrap books and telegrams.
Don’t get sentimental about throwing out photos you no longer need or like. Nobody needs to keep photos of chopped-off heads or clouds from aeroplanes. And sometimes having a little ‘blessing ceremony’ and just releasing photos from past relationships etc, can help you to move on.
Nothing bad will happen. Consider all the photographs in newspapers and magazines, that are recycled each day. They get tossed in recycling bins. Just keep the photos you love, and display them where you can see them. Rather than have loads of dusty photo albums, that are never looked at.
How to Volunteer for Operation Photo Rescue
If you have photographic skills, volunteer for Operation Photo Rescue. This worldwide outfit lets people whose photos have been ruined through fire or flood, to be restored to their former glory, at no cost. An ideal way to help if you’re a photographer, graphic designer or image restoration artist. Insurance can cover natural disasters and house fires, but can’t restore photos.
For a paid service, Photographs Forever can restore photos that are faded or discoloured or accidentally ripped in half. These experts can also remove spots, stains, marks, creases and tears, as well as digitally remove mould damage and improve contrast etc.
If you have an unwanted camera, ask if anyone in your community would like it, if there is an interest in photography. In northeast England, you can visit Camera Donation Project to find details of how to pass it on to someone who will use it. You can deposit camera batteries at any battery recycling bank across the country.
Photo Albums Made from Elephant Dung!
These beautiful photo albums made from elephant dung are made with a combination of recycled paper. Elephants eat the equivalent of us eating over 300 cans of beans a day, so produce a lot of dung!
On a serious note, lack of habitat has meant that elephants end up veering into local villages, and in the past have been shot dead as they trample or eat crops. So paying local people to collect dung, means they see elephants as opportunities for income, so helps to save critically endangered elephants.
The albums contain 10 double-sided pages of multi-coloured elephant dung paper, for up to 20 photos (6 x 4 or 7 x 6). You can add 250 acid-free clear adhesive photo corners to your order a couple of pounds.
If you prefer a more neutral design, these feature beautiful brass elephants on the front, with a cream flecked base. Sold alongside matching photo frames.
Photo Frames made from Recycled Newspapers
These photo frames made from recycled newspapers (also in 7 x 5 inch) are naturally colourful, and made by artisans in India, to help reduce the huge waste of paper in this beautiful country. Quirky and handmade, these are the perfect zero waste housewarming gift.
Also available in landscape version, the frames have attached stands to stand on a flat surface, and there is no glass or plastic cover, nor fiddly hooks to place photos – just a discreet slot to slip in through the top.
Although we live in the digital age, there remains a huge waste paper mountain worldwide (the smell at landfills is usually due to rotting paper). And of course, the more paper that is recycled, the better it is for trees!