Ecorazzi

In the time that Ecorazzi has existed, I’ve written several times about Hollywood’s mega-carbon footprint and the enormous amount of waste generated by the film industry. In late 2006, UCLA released a study that showed Hollywood was the largest air-polluter in LA’s five county region. From that paper alone, hundreds of other articles were written decrying entertainment’s support of environmental issues but general disregard for their own actions.

Well, it appears that Hollywood bosses were listening, as indicated yesterday by the unveiling of a guidebook with rules each studio intends to follow to reduce their impact on the planet. This “Best Practices Guide for Green Production” announced by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is aimed at improving the industry’s record and reputation.

But this just didn’t start today. In 2007, the industry collectively diverted 57%, or 20,862 tons, of studio sets and other solid waste from landfills to reuse and recycling. That still leaves a good chunk out there to deal with, but it’s a great start. As a result of these efforts, studios prevented the emission of 65,497 metric tons of greenhouse gases – the annual equivalent of removing 14,176 cars from the road.

Said Dan Glickman, CEO of the MPAA, “A new norm is emerging in which eco-friendly practices are best business practices, and Hollywood continues to evolve as an industry that takes environmental responsibility, individually and collectively, on the big and small screen, and behind the scenes, and every major studio is getting in on the act.”

We’re completely behind this — and happy to see a set of guidelines available for producers to tackle. Let’s just hope it doesn’t hit the recycle bin with the script rewrites.

via Business of Cinema