#1075 3-D 3-Rs

I think the next green revolution has to take place in our movie theatres. No, I’m not talking about the movie industry generally, although I could. Think of the huge carbon footprint involved in filming a blockbuster movie. All the car chases, all the explosions and assorted pyrotechnics, all the electricity burned from lighting massive outdoor sound stages.
Imagine if you had 20 million dollars to spend on fireworks at your Fourth of July party. Think there’d be a touch of smoke in the air afterwards?
The only answer? More whimsical English parlor comedies. Yeah, I know, it probably won’t happen soon. Not least because it would be pointless to film it in 3-D. Did you see the wart on Dame Judy Dench’s chin? It jumped out of the screen.
But that’s where I think we can make a small difference, greening the 3-D retail process. As it stands now, most movie theatres charge you an extra couple of bucks for a 3-D movie. They say it’s for the glasses that you get at the beginning of every movie. They have bins to collect them afterwards at some places, but most are done in souvenir style and you are encouraged to take them with you.
But not to bring them back.
Putting aside for a moment the fashion faux pas of wearing a pair of Batman glasses to the animated presentation of Up, there is the economic motivator of requiring you to pony up extra for each and every movie.
Meantime, because we can’t recycle the 3-D glasses, the planet is suffering. They’re individually wrapped, so there’s the footprint of all that excess packaging right there. The glasses are plastic, which is made of petroleum, so there’s the footprint of transporting the oil and drilling for it and all associated costs. And of course all the road miles involving gas, oil, and truck tires to ship the darn things to every theatre in the US.
In short, 3-D glasses need the 3 R’s. Remember? Reduce Reuse Recycle. So next time they come out with the 3-D version of Star Wars you should demand they replace R-2 D-2 with of 3-R 3-D.
America, ya gotta love it.