The Emmys Go Green

The fifty-ninth annual Emmy awards show ran a campaign called "Green with Emmy", as the show was environmentally conscious about every detail. According to Dick Askin, the chairman and CEO of the TV Academy, they looked "at every aspect of our Emmy season-from nominations to the Governors Ball-and making changes that will reduce our impact on the environment."

All the transportation (for deliveries or talent) was done with hybrids and biodiesel vehicles, all paper was on recycled paper, including the meal and tuxedo tickets, which were printed on "banana leaves and waste product", according to the Emmy official website.

In addition to providing recycling bins for plastic and glass, AEG Ehrlich Ventures LLC (the company who produced the Emmys), also donated the flower decorations to charity. The caterers and coffee suppliers were instructed to use china in lieu of wasteful, disposable material, and to also use locally grown, organic food for the meals. Any utensils or dinnerware that was disposable was also biodegradable (or recyclable).

With such emphasis on being eco-friendly and environmentally progressive, the Emmys also requested to have a green carpet this year instead of the traditional red carpet. The request was denied because according to a report on treehugger.com, Macy's, the show's sponsor, liked how the color matched their advertising color, namely the red star in their logo.

During his presentation of the "Best Lead Actor in a Television Series", Jon Stewart spoke briefly about the Emmy's dedication to keep things green. He was interrupted by Stephen Colbert, who approached the stage with a leaf blower. After being chastised by Stewart for bringing the gas-guzzling item to the "green Emmys", Colbert explained that it ran on alternative fuel - "Al Gore's tears".

Colbert joked about Stewart being a hypocrite for arriving in a "triple sandwich jet", and Stewart then mused about not having an Emmys ceremony at all, that the entire event was wasteful, but that no entertainer would miss out on "self-congratulation". While the event itself can be seen as wasteful, it is also worthy to note the measures that the Emmys have taken to become environmentally friendly, and to see what effect this will have on other upcoming award shows and similar large events.