SAG Awards Honored with EMA's 'Green Seal' Award

The Screen Actors Guild Awards® has been honored for the fourth consecutive year with the Environmental Media Association (EMA)'s Green Seal, recognizing a production's outstanding efforts to implement sustainable initiatives and promote environmental awareness. The EMA Green Seal was presented for the green practices of the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® at the 22nd Annual EMA Awards on Saturday, Sept. 29 at Warner Brothers Studios. The SAG Awards is the only special event to have received the Green Seal for four consecutive years.

The Environmental Media Association along with its partner, Green Seal, created the EMA Green Seal Program to simultaneously promote sustainable production methods and provide recognition for those in the entertainment industry who've made strides in incorporating such practices. The Program includes film and teleVision Productions, as well as award shows and galas. The Program's criteria cover all facets of a production and provide a practical and comprehensive guide to environmentally responsible filmmaking and event planning. In each area of focus, the criteria include specific environmental actions in order to help producers focus their greening efforts. The EMA Green Seal Program is designed to be flexible enough that any production can potentially qualify, regardless of budget or size. The Program is based on a self-assessment by the Production Company on how well it complies with the Program criteria developed by EMA and Green Seal.

In recognizing the SAG Awards® as an EMA Green Seal honoree, EMA stated: "Congratulations to SAG Awards and Jeff Margolis Productions for their ongoing efforts to green the prestigious SAG Awards for the fourth year in a row. This year the Screen Actors Guild Awards surpassed its previous sustainable efforts by partnering with Patagonia Sur, Saunders Electric, Altergy, Multiquip and DOE/Sandia National Labs to neutralize carbon emissions with a unique tree planting conservation project and to provide clean/green power for various SAG Awards lighting and electrical needs."

Through its through its Reforestation & Biodiversity Project, Patagonia Sur planted a grove of forty-five native-species trees on degraded lands in Patagonia, Chile to help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby helping to fight the threat posed by climate change. Saunders Electric, Altergy, Multiquip and DOE/Sandia National Labs brought clean, hydrogen fuel cells mobile lights funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to the SAG Awards. Hydrogen fuel cells also generated power for red carpet security monitoring devices, computers and other electronics.

The production team also built upon their environmental programs from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 SAG Awards which included a comprehensive recycling and composting program, a local and organic menu, a no-idling zone around the Shrine Auditorium, an online digital press kit, iTunes distribution for many films, electronic balloting options, reused stage components, red carpets and sustainable procurement."

The SAG Awards' dedication to reducing the Awards' environmental footprint has allowed them to achieve a nearly zero-waste event. In addition, the SAG Awards limits production printing and is using double-sided printing wherever possible.

SAG-AFTRA, which presents the SAG Awards, is also committed to greening their headquarters in Los Angeles and has implemented on a progressive program to reduce the environmental footprint of the organization's office operations."

The SAG Awards is continuing to expand its green practices during this year's 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2012. For the 19th SAG Awards, the submission of actors for nominations consideration has moved to a 100% online process, eliminating the previous acceptable paper submission forms. Nominations will be announced Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, telecast live on TNT and webcast on tnt.tv and tbs.com.

SAG Awards executives recognized by EMA for spearheading the production's environmental efforts were Kathy Connell, Producer; Mick McCullough, Supervising Producer; Benn Fleishman, Executive in Charge of Production; Jon Brockett, Awards Coordinating Producer; Chris Carr, Production Manager and Carrie White Scanlan, Publicity Manager.

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG-AFTRA, TNT and TBS, visit sagawards.org/about, "like" SAG Awards at facebook.com/sagawardsofficialpage and follow SAG Awards at twitter.com/sagawards.

The Environmental Media Association (EMA) is a Non-Profit 501(c)3 Organization founded in 1989 by Cindy and Alan Horn and Lyn and Norman Lear. EMA is dedicated to harnessing the power of celebrity and the media to promote sustainable lifestyles and believes through positive role modeling the entertainment community can inspire consumers to take action. The organization has grown into a diverse group of industry professionals from film, television and music dedicated to the mission of promoting environmental awareness through the entertainment business and the media. EMA serves as a valuable link between the entertainment industry and the environmental community. For more information visit ema-online.org.