Film or Digital? Which Type of Photography is Better for the Planet?

Before 1980, photography was much more complicated than it is today. Cameras needed film, with each roll containing up to 36 exposures. Then, the film had to be developed and the prints printed.

What changed? In 1980, the first digital camera became commercially available. Now, most people can do all they want with the digital cameras on their phones. But has the change in technology made photography more environ-mentally friendly? The answer is complex.

Film Photography and the Environment

Film photography produces a fair amount of waste. Film rolls, light-protecting canisters,  unwanted negative strips, and many printed photos are often thrown away. Chemical waste is also generated during film development.

Black-and-white film, for example, is composed of several layers: a plastic support, a photoactive emulsion, an antihalation layer, and a protective coating. The photoactive emulsion is a thick, viscous liquid that contains the finely dispersed silver particles that react with the light. The antihalation layer absorbs excess light so it doesn’t bounce around and expose unwanted parts. The plastic support is what gives the film rigidity, while the protective coating protects the film from scratches when it moves within the camera. 

With film photography, the process starts when the film roll is loaded into the camera. Then, through the opening and closing of a shutter, it is exposed to full spectrum light, which forms a latent (hidden) image.

Once the whole roll has been exposed, it is rolled back into the canister and is then developed—that is, negatives are made. Finally, a print is made by placing the small negative into a projector that enlarges and projects the image onto paper coated with another photoactive emulsion.

Digital Photography's Hidden Impact

With all the chemical steps involved in film photography, it may sound like digital is a clear winner for smaller environmental impact. Digital cameras, however, also have an environmental footprint.

A digital camera has electronic parts composed of metals, including gold, silver, copper, and aluminum. These metals are often mined in ways that damage the environment. Digital cameras also use batteries a lot faster than film cameras. If the batteries aren’t rechargeable, they often wind up in landfills.

Inexpensive digital cameras break and get thrown away, while film cameras can last for decades or even centuries. It can be difficult to recycle a digital camera’s components, so they often wind up in landfills.

Today, more than a trillion photos are taken each year, with almost 85% of those taken by a smartphone. However, phone cameras still have parts made with metals, and many use lithium-ion batteries. 

Storing digital images has an environmental impact, as well. It takes energy to run the servers and data centers that store and manage images. Posting a photo to social media sends the image through several data centers that use electricity and produce carbon dioxide and heat. The Curriculum Open-Access Resources in Economics Project (CORE Econ) compared the environmental impact of taking and posting just 10 photos. By their calculations, it produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as driving about 1 kilometer in a fuel-efficient vehicle.

Minimizing Impacts: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Both film and digital photography impact the environment. Fortunately, there are ways to ease the damage.

Film photographers can use environmentally friendly chemicals and contact sheets, which are 12 small images printed on one page, to choose and print only the best photos. Using the smallest amounts of chemicals possible and recycling film canisters, rollers, and paper can also reduce the impact.

Digital photographers can do their part for the environment, too. Find companies that care about the environment before buying digital cameras or smartphones, use the same devices for as long as possible, and switch off automatic cloud storage, only saving the most important pictures. Finally, properly recycle old devices.

Film or digital? That's Open for Discussion.