“Hellboy II” Gets a TerraPass

The 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival announced that it is implementing numerous changes to produce an eco-friendly, “green” Festival this year, as part of a company-wide greening initiative by Film Independent – the non-profit filmmakers organization that produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, as well as the Spirit Awards.

The Festival has partnered with NBC-Universal, which is a green company, on both Opening Night (Thursday, June 19) and Closing Night (Sunday, June 29) of the Festival. The Opening Night premiere of Universal Pictures’ “Wanted” (starring Angelina Jolie), as well as the Closing Night premiere of Universal Pictures’ “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” will be produced in an eco-friendly fashion.

Changes being made for the overall Festival will impact everything including the use of bio-diesel fueled generators and the recycling of all paper, wood, glass and plastic used at the Festival. Printed materials will be produced on recycled paper using eco-friendly inks, and catering will use organically-grown produce purchased from local farms within a 150-mile radius of Los Angeles. In addition, all carbon emissions created by the production of the 2008 LA Film Festival will be offset by TerraPass, which funds clean energy and carbon reduction projects, including wind power, farm power, and landfill gas capture.

Green Honors to Alba

Congrats to Prius-driving celebrity and new mother Jessica Alba, who just gave birth to a girl named “Honor” this past weekend. In an interview in February, Jessica said she was excited about doing some “green” nesting, doing eco-friendly renovations to her house, recycling, as well as re-furbishing old furniture.

BAM! Emeril Goes Green in July

Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse is coming to Planet Green for a new original series entitled Emeril Green, which will be shot on location at Whole Foods Market and will launch in July. He’ll be kicking it up one organic, locally-grown notch at a time. (Maybe while he’s there he’ll be able to ask the Whole Foods folks why so few of their cut flowers are organic, or even pesticides-free?) Planet Green, which just launched last week, is Discovery Communications’ global, cross-company initiative “with a commitment to document, preserve and celebrate the planet,” including the first-ever 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network.

And, of course, Ed Begley Jr.

You can’t mention celebrities and “green” in the same post without plugging HGTV star Ed Begleys Jr.’s book Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life. This guide (available new on Amazon for about $12) really is highly entertaining as well as informative — I mean, this is a guy who has been “walking the ‘green’ walk” for over 30 years. Who’d have thought celebrities like Leonardo di Caprio would be jumping on Ed Begley Jr.’s bandwagon?!

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I suppose the average person would think me a bit odd. Or even extreme, as a parent. You see, I don’t allow T.V. during the week. On weekends, we might, just might watch a DVD if the weather is lousy, or we’ve had an exhausting weekend not spent watching T.V. the rest of the time.

I also try to choose DVDs that are old enough that the frenzy of licensed products has abated enough to be able to get through a visit to the store without a hundred repetitions of “No, we don’t need that.” Or, “Sure, it’s a character you know. But the cereal is crap. We can get a coloring book instead.” It’s enough to make you hate television. It really is.
If you haven’t paid much attention to the marketing onslaught aimed at your kids, well, The Kaiser Family Foundation report, “Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States,” has some pretty frightening statistics that might change your mind. The Small Screen with the Big Impact:

• Based on a national average viewing time of four hours per day for a child, over a year’s time he is exposed to nearly 30,000 commercials.
• That statistic is based on the maximum regulated amount of commercials that can be shown during an hour of programming. Not all networks adhere to this maximum. In 2004, children’s network Nickelodean violated this regulation 591 times. They were fined $1 million, far less than the amount netted from the additional commercials.
• Much of the television programming and commercials are aimed at younger children who are unable to differentiate the marketing messages from the program content. Given that most of these ads are fun, fast-paced and use licensed or branded characters, the similarity between the two makes this differentiation even harder to distinguish.
• Nearly one-third of children under the age of six have a television in their bedroom.
• Two-thirds of children aged eight and older have a television in their bedrooms.
• Between the ages of two and four, on average, children view approximately two hours of television per day. This increases throughout childhood and peaks at adolescence. Tweens and teens begin to replace television use with internet use, or will multi-task, watching television while online.
• Sixty percent of all the meals families eat together (and those are not many) are eaten with the television on.
• Of all the commercials that children are exposed to, nearly half are for food items such as sweetened cereals, candy, soda, and fast food. Which means 15,000 messages per year, on average.

Casting Notice – Untitled Teen Craft Show

Our production company, Two Bees and a Pea, is casting young adult & teen crafters for a new “untitled” craft show. This show will be guest based - so you could be the star of the show. We produce Creative Juice on DIY and HGTV and this will be a brand new show.

We are seeking crafty guests from all over the USA and will begin the process with DVD submissions. The DVD’s are not for air on TV they are for casting purposes. Fear not if you don’t have access to a video camera. Just send a photo of yourself (big smile) holding or showing off your handmade items.

Here are a few guidelines:

You should have high energy and great style. Show off your style - flaunt it!

Your crafts should be current, hip, cutting edge - think Urban Outfitters, Anthropology, Gossip Girl, Project Runway, MTV!

You can make anything from room decor, jewelry, clothing, soap making, knitted and crochet goods, lip balm, art, etc. The most important thing is that you know your stuff and can explain how you make it in a clear and fun way.

The deadline is May 1st – 2008. Age range: Teens, Young Adults (28 and under)

Video Guidelines:

1. Have high energy and be yourself. State your name, where you are from, how long you have been crafting and what your craft project is. Try to hold your project in your hand or have it next to you and briefly explain to us how you made it. You can show a step or two on how you made it you want.

2. Try to keep the camera as smooth as possible (using a tripod helps) and make sure you have lots of light so we can see you.

3. Fashion tips for the camera: Please don’t wear prints, all black (even if you are goth), white or red. Tattoos, elaborate hair dos, and punky attire are just fine.

4. Videos should be no longer than 3 minutes and should be submitted on DVD only. Tapes cannot be viewed. On the DVD please include your name, your craft, email, city, phone number and age if you are under 18.

Photo Guidelines:

1. Have a big smile in the photo. Try to hold your project in your hand or have it next to you. You can include a picture of you at a sewing machine or at your work station or in the process of making something.

2. Fashion tips for the camera: Please don’t wear prints, all black (even if you are goth), white or red. Tattoos, elaborate hair dos, and punky attire are just fine.

3. Photos should be digital, high resolution and should be submitted in print and on a CD. On the back of the photo and on the CD please include your name, your craft, email, city, phone number and age if you are under 18.

Please mail to:

Casting - Untitled Craft Show
c/o Cathie Filian
1531 Randall St
Glendale, CA 91201

"Was it a conscious decision or a momentary lapse of reason? How did progress take priority over humankind? Could harnessing the world's energy that allowed our ascent now be the ledge pan of our down fall?" These are the questions addressed in the PBS ongoing series e2. The most recent episodes, narrated by Morgan Freeman, focus on energy. They look at transportation infrastructure, the auto industry, fuels and renewable fuels, alternative energy solutions and infrastructure, etc. As a result of examining such critical topics, the network was able to land a high-profile guest list for this 6-episode series including Samuel Bodman, the US secretary of energy; Brian Boldemberg, Brazil's former secretary for the environment; Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; and Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner. These began airing October 12, 2007

The next set of episodes, narrated by Brad Pitt, will focus on design and innovation. This high profile guest list features designers, architects, and other enthusiasts dedicated to changing the world though socially and environmentally conscious design. Some of the architects include Thom Mayne, architect of the new San Francisco Federal Building, and Adriaan Gueze, the lead architect of the Borneo Sporenburg development in Amsterdam. Other architects and sustainability enthusiasts include Ed Mazria, architect and founder of the Architecture 2030 organization, and William McDonough of Cradle-to-Cradle design.

Well a recent graduate of Central St Martins’ Masters Industrial Design Program, Tom Ballhatchet, decided to use the guild in a constructive way. Instead of throwing away all this stamped foam packaging from his new flat-screen TV, Tom decided to construct an entertainment stand. It makes us think of the form of these extruded or stamped packaging part, oftentimes they are the same shape and size or have nice crevices that can serve as storage. My only wish in this project is that he found a way to incorporate the gigantic box and plastic wrap.

Editor's note: Please join us in welcoming Jason Phillip to the Green Options writing team! A freelance writer and editor based in Chicago, Jason will be focusing on the "green scene" in the Windy City for us. Mayor Richard Daly has committed to making Chicago the greenest city in the country, so we're looking forward to Jason's reports on these efforts.

My idea of sustainable fashion has always been making sure the clothing I wear gets as long a life as possible. I like keeping things in my wardrobe forever, and when they finally can’t be worn even one more time, replacing them with something from a thrift store that I know has had at least one previous owner. I like to think I'm buying classics, and also keeping material out of the waste stream. If I'm not buying something new, my purchase doesn't help spew any carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or exploit any sweatshop workers, right? Plus, I can save a bundle outfitting myself with recycled duds.

But as most fans of "thrifting" know, it can be tough to shop this way all the time. There's an element of luck involved—you have to make do with what fate presents you. The scavenger hunt feeling can be addictive, but sometimes it's just not practical—like when building a professional wardrobe, or looking for outdoor apparel with modern weatherproofing performance. No one has ever accused me of being a slave to fashion, but sometimes you gotta go retail. And for the eco-conscious consumer, going retail may now mean seeking out environmentally-friendly garments. In just the past year, it seems, the fashion industry has really begun to embrace the environmental ethos, and the choices available to consumers interested in ethically-produced clothing are growing by leaps and bounds.

Case in point: I got a pair of recycled sandals as a gift this year, after my decade-old pair of slip-ons finally gave up the ghost. My wife—never a fan of the old dork cork classics, but nonetheless tolerant of my penchant for comfort over style—found a decent looking replacement pair that compared favorably in the looks department, and had some impressive sustainability features. I appreciated the fact that the soles are made from recycled car tire tread, the straps consist of used (but clean) bicycle inner tubes, and the thread holding it all together is organic cotton. Alas, the whole shoe is less than the sum of its parts; the sad fact is that the new togs just make me miss my old pair. They don't feel anywhere near as sturdy, they fall off my feet when I walk because the straps can't be tightened, and the stitching in the soles looks like it's about to wear through after only three weeks of use. Did I mention I owned my old pair since the mid-1990s? These "sustainable" sandals don't seem like they'll last through next summer. The warm glow I felt around the purchase of this innovative product has faded pretty quickly, replaced by the creeping realization that I'm going to have to make another summer footwear purchase soon.

A wind of change is blowing through the world of rugby. A green wind.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup, the 3rd largest sports event in the world with an estimated 2.5 million spectators from around the world, is being held in France from September 7 to October 20. The organizers, including a special rugby committee, a government agency and the French Rugby Federation, have vowed to make the event tangibly eco-friendly, and number of the players on the French team have given their names to the cause.

The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development issued a detailed press release at the end of August, outlining the three major axes of the Rugby World Cup environmental program: emissions calculations, concrete actions, and a publicity campaign. After calculating the impact that the six weeks of matches and festivities will have on the environment, including 570,000 tons of CO2 emissions, the government agency identified three spheres of action: public transport, renewable energies and waste management. Those actions, and other environmental issues, feature in the plan to raise awareness among the publics involved in the World Cup ― fans, employees, volunteers and television spectators ― with ecologically-oriented posters, leaflets and commercials.

The potential was great. The expectations were high. "This is it," I thought: the green movement is finally emerging from those polluted backwaters and, blown by the green wind, it is at long last moving into the mainstream. Even though I was not the proud holder of a ticket, I wanted to enjoy the atmosphere of fair play and bonhomie that characterizes rugby, witness the incredible growth of green, and relish the feeling of being one of the crowd, no more the eccentric tree-hugging freak of yore. What follows is an account of my experience last Friday at the "Stade de France," the Stadium of France, during the few hours preceding the opening ceremony and first match of the tournament, which pitted the French against the Argentineans.

The first sphere of action in the environmental program consists of the promotion and facilitation of public transport to and from the stadiums, and between the ten World Cup venues scattered across the country. The mythical Stade de France is located in the working-class suburb of Saint Denis, just a few miles north of the French capital. I took the D-line train from the centre of Paris out to Saint Denis without any trouble at all. It must be said, however, that my rapid journey cannot be attributed to the efficiency of the World Cup program since the D-line is part of the normal metropolitan subway and train system. No doubt the action in this sphere is going full guns, full eco-guns that is, at the other nine stadiums.

This is what we are faced with every time we turn on the television, listen to the radio, or pick up a newspaper. It would seem that sometime in the last couple of years, the four horsemen of the apocalypse rode into town and started throwing a kegger. Is it all true? How can we possibly deal with such an overwhelming avalanche of bad news? Should I start working on my bunker?

First take a deep breath. Ok good. Now, just so you don't think I am trying to pull the wool over your eyes, most of it IS true. The ice caps are melting, global warming is real and we caused it, and every once in a while, a pit bull will attack a child. The problem is not the news, but how it is presented to us, and how we filter it.

With the 24-hour news cycle, the internet, a bevy of papers, and news radio, information in our day and age is like a fire hose. Trying to drink from that hose is only going to leave you wet with a very sore tongue. Besides being overwhelming this torrent of information also serves to dishearten us, and make us afraid to act. We have become so informed that we don’t know anything.

I remember the very first time I saw the ocean. I was astounded by just how big it was, how it smelled, the shapes, the colors... the whole experience washed over me and I sat fascinated for a long time watching the waves roll in. After living on the beach for 3 years, I still find the ocean wonderful, but that rush has mostly faded. The same holds true for watching the news every night and seeing that something horrible happened. The first twenty times you might care, but eventually you have to stop caring in order to preserve your sanity.

In the old days, hunting, gathering and fending off saber tooth tigers were all necessary survival skills. In our modern world, the dangers are far more subtle, but the same principle holds true. You have to develop the survival skills of the 21st century. One of the big ones is how to deal with mass media. Below are a couple of tips to keep you sane in this crazy world.

The expert cinematography of Arctic Tale captures an age-old tragicomedy with a new and unsettling twist. Ardent lovers, defiant youth, unmitigated kindness, and sex jostle with death, solitude, violent battles, and the turbulent upheaval of a mighty and ancient kingdom. The drama unfolds around a polar bear and a walrus—children of rival families in a strange and beautiful world of unicorned whales and a cold sun. What we as an audience do not see until the movie’s end is how intimately we are entwined in the plot.

The film makes no overt mention of global warming until the very end. By sidestepping the link between this phenomenon and mankind, the film smartly avoids the emotional recoil of those who still have difficulty coming to terms with our species' influence on our environment. Rather than confront the issue from the human perspective, the film simply documents the dramatic effects of warming in the far North. Only after the film closes does the focus again return to the human world with suggestions about how each of us can reduce our impact on the climate.

MTV

What's this got to do with the environment? Well, MTV is claiming that this season will have a green slant. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the show, The Real World films seven strangers who "live together and have their lives taped" in cities in the U.S. and around the globe. The Real World: Hollywood has already been cast, will start filming this fall, and will air sometime after the New Year.

The newest Real World house (which are, as a rule, large and lavish) is going to be built using eco-friendly building principles. According to a press release issued by MTV, "The Real World house will include everything from solar energy solutions to bamboo flooring, recycled glass counters, some sustainable furniture and recycled vintage decor, Energy Star appliances, a solar heated swimming pool and energy efficient lighting." Bunim-Murray Productions, the longtime producer of the series, claims that it is trying to green up its production practices through energy-efficiency and carbon offsetting. In addition, eco-friendly products and practices will be promoted throughout the series, so viewers can be introduced to a greener way of life along with the cast members, and MTV will showcase things viewers can do to lessen their environmental footprint. There was no word whether or not MTV plans on replacing the typical house SUVs with hybrids, flex-fuel, or biodiesel vehicles, nor whether the job assigned to the casts will have an environmental focus.

Philips Electronics recently announced a new consumer product label that will mark simply that the electronic is more environmentally friendly and healthier for the consumer. Titled the “Green Tick”, this label will aid Philips consumers in making decisions about competitive products. Included in the eco-friendly evaluation, the products must meet certain energy efficiency requirements, and use healthier, more environmentally gentle materials in everything from production of the electronics to the packaging. The motivation is to enlighten consumer awareness and to differentiate Phillips products from others. Awarded by external auditors, Green Tick products will be added to the list of Green Flagship products.

According to Nielsen ratings, however, the three-hour special on NBC only received 2.7 million viewers and was the least-watched U.S. program on Saturday night. A total of 19 million people watched at least 6 minutes on NBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Sundance Channel, Bravo, MSNBC, and Universal HD. The event also occurred during the July 4th weekend, when most people usually aren't watching TV.

There has been skepticism about the event and its performers as it required many artists to fly to the events, some in private jets, and could have created more CO2 as a result of the concert. Al Gore has defended the cause as a start of a 3-5 year program with a message that reached out to 2 billion people across the world. While some celebrities such as Sting and Cameron Diaz take active participation in helping with the efforts, others may not. Madonna and Black Eyed Peas both performed new songs that they wrote for the event. The goal is that with the help of the celebrities, more people will be aware of the issues and even the celebrities that attended and performed at Live Earth learned a lot about the issues. Whether or not, the concert really made a difference is really hard to judge. What are your thoughts?

SmartPower, a nonprofit marketing organization that promotes clean energy, used YouTube to form the Clean Energy Challenge. The aim was to create an ad for SmartPower around the belief that “clean energy is real. It’s here. And it’s working.”

After reviewing 150 submissions (not a ton, but not bad for such a wonky topic whose actors have virtually no chance of finding a mate on national TV), the $10,000 winner has been chosen. But in the true style of any reality show, the final results are drawn out over several days. The top 10 ads were posted on June 10th and for every day until the 18th one ad will be removed, finally leaving the “last ad standing” on Monday.

The winner will be announced via webcast at 5:00PM on June 18th and all finalists voted off are highlighted on the SmartPower Blog.

I had the opportunity to meet Martin at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where he was taking refuge from the cold inside a biodiesel-powered schoolbus. We chatted briefly about the film, the message, and sustainability issues surrounding biofuels. Energetic and passionate could describe Martin, and perhaps of the mindset that 'we've got to save the world so let's get started'. Needless to say, he was jazzed about me driving the 1,000 miles to the festival in a vegetable-oil powered truck. The film, which can be watched or downloaded free from http://www.freedomfuels.info/, speaks for itself and is well worth the hour - even for the most diehard biofuel enthusiast.

Download the film here.

The moviemaking business has a very large environmental footprint. Idling production vehicles, construction of elaborate sets, extensive lighting needs and a crew of hundreds who all need to be fed and transported are just a few of the contributing factors to the un-enviromentally friendly aspects of the film and television industry.

The UCLA Institute of the Environment's annual report last year found that when compared to other top industries in California, the film and television industry tops the list in air pollution and green house gas emissions. The problem, the study suggested, was that each production is a short lived entity and doesn't have to think of long term supply chain effects that face other types of business and industries.

Most U.S. states and major U.S. cities have a film department, which are usually part of the mayors office to facilitate film productions. Many provide assistance in acquiring permits, location scouting, and hiring local professionals, but very few offer additional incentives for going green or even contain info with practical, money saving tips on being more enviro-friendly.

For the fourth episode of their Big Ideas For A Small Planet series, the Sundance Channel takes on the challenging topic of dressing green. The first three episodes of this original documentary series have gotten a large amount of critical acclaim for bringing environmental issues to the millions of Americans who tune in. So far, the topics of fuel, building construction, and city development have been examined, offering up three different topic-specific ideas of how to enhance our lives and reduce our carbon footprint at the same time in each episode.

Premiering this Tuesday, May 8th at 9pm Eastern and Pacific, the Wear episode features commentary from Ali Hewson (Bono's wife and founder of Edun Clothing), Simran Sethi, Carson Kressley (the wonderfully flamboyant blond fashion guru from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), and Graham Hill (founder of TreeHugger.com). I must admit that when I saw Carson come on screen, I was worried that the episode might end up being less than serious, but he had a unique point-of-view to add to the subject of green fashion, acting as a voice for the many that see style as an integral part of their life, just like eating or sleeping. Helping to show people that wearing sustainable fabrics has little, if anything, to do with tie-dye and hippies is one of the most important factors for the growing green fashion market, and this episode does a darn good job of getting that point across.