by Rona Fried
Al Gores’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth” won Academy Awards for best documentary and best song. That’s great.
Gore said he hopes the visibility will encourage millions more people to watch the film.
He also announced that for the first time, the Academy Awards are “green.” The audience paused as they waited to hear what being “green” meant.
Instead of taking the obvious opportunity to educate the billion or so people watching from around the world on what being green means – by showing examples of greening the Oscars – he and Leonardo DiCaprio simply asked people to live greener and to visit the Academy’s website for ideas.
The Oscar ballots were made from partially recycled paper; organic produce was served at the Governor’s Ball; there were measures to reduce energy use and increased recycling; rides in hybrids for stars and presenters; meals for the hundreds of crew and cast members were served on reusable plates and biodegradable dishware; and leftover food was donated to a local shelter.
To us greenies, this doesn’t make an event green, but it’s a start. But to the huge audience watching it would have been a tangible, concrete introduction to what kinds of things people do when they live green.
Instead of showing fun, instructive graphics of Academy staff discussing and implementing the above features, vague, guilt-provoking words about what people should do scrolled over the huge black screen as the Inconvenient Truth theme song played.
What a missed opportunity!
Rona Fried is CEO, SustainableBusiness.com
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