Save the Planet with Your Words!

Screenwriters have a unique opportunity to influence the way people act and interact within our culture.  We control what famous celebrities say and do on screen in front of millions of impressionable fans. Yeah, sure, there's a directorÉ but sometimes they use the script.

You can use your power to impact society's behavior and global warming by learning to apply your clear and concise communication skills - how can you responsibly afford to be indifferent to an inability to not do otherwise?

So how do you wield this awesome force?

When you write, have your characters behave responsibly.   No SUVs.
Have them re-use grocery bags and toilet paper.  Have your principle actors turn the lights off when leaving a room (people can shout "Hey, what gives?" all they want, but it is still a responsible habit to get into). And for heaven's sake don't have a character drink water that had to be shipped thousands of miles across oceans in an oil derived plastic bottle, when there is perfectly good water at the Citgo bathroom faucet just down the street!

You can make a difference!   Why create a shot where a tremendous explosion destroys thousands of gallons of gasoline and uses up precious resources, when just as much action and as many thrills can be written into a scene where the villain threatens the protagonist with identity theft!  It's current, topical, and scary as hell; yet earth friendly, too.  That's the kind of environmentally conscious cinema we need more of!

Lastly, in our own personal lives we can do much to preserve our planet.  Simple things like turning down the heat on our water heaters, and turning up the temperature on our refrigerators.  Deviled eggs that are a little "off" are a great icebreaker, as well as a social equalizer, at any dinner party.

Stinky cheese and moldy bread are a small price to pay to ensure that our grandchildren will still have roquefort and penicillin.

Let's find it in ourselves to make Green the color of our social agenda, not just the color of money, and Oscar envy, and Heineken bottles, and that jello with cottage cheese in it.

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