Recycling in 3D

by Eileen Weber

I took my daughters to see Coraline 3D a few weeks ago. Set in the drizzling Northwest, it was about a girl who discovers an alternate parallel life behind a secret door in her family’s new home. It was a little scary, but they managed to get through it by sitting on Mommy’s lap—all three of them. But while my daughters prattled on about how brave they were when it was time to leave, Mommy noticed a bin outside the theater doors. It was a recycle bin for the 3D glasses. Ooo la la, this is new! I like it! No more plastic glasses heading to the nearest landfill!

So, I contacted National Amusements, Inc., a corporation of cinemas with theaters across the United States, the United Kingdom, Latin America and Russia, to inquire about their recycling program. I spoke with Wanda Whitson, Director of Corporate Communications for National Amusement based in Norwood, MA. She said since last summer they have had great success with the recycling bins.

The pilot program started with Journey to the Center of the Earth in July 2008. This was followed by Bolt 3D in November. Coraline 3D opened earlier this month as the third movie to use this recycling system.

“Specially marked boxes are placed at the exits of the theatre auditorium and patrons place the glasses in those boxes for recycling,” said Whitson in a recent e-mail. “Once a box is full, they are returned for recycling.”

National Amusements partnered with RealD, a vendor for 3D projection equipment. They experimented with the recycling bin in 16 different locations in New York, Ohio, California, and Connecticut. It was then that they implemented the bins in the rest of their theaters.

"Like any successful recycling program, it's about making it easy for people to recycle," said Michael V. Lewis, RealD chairman and CEO in an interview with Animation World Network. "We appreciate the participation of our exhibitor partners and know that audiences will appreciate the convenience as well."

National Amusements is not new to going green. When asked if they work in other green ways, Whitson said, “Going Green is important to National Amusements and we have focused our efforts in several different ways which are beneficial to the environment.”

For one, their theaters feature Energy Conservation Monitoring equipment. This maintains the temperatures while saving energy and money. Because of the insulation in their walls and roof, they also use less electricity and natural gas in their facilities. Combine that with high-energy efficient rooftop units, and you’ve got yourself a nice little green building.

“All of the equipment, from ice machines to heating equipment is energy efficient,” Whitson said. She also noted they use energy efficient lighting and lamps utilizing fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent whenever possible. They use low volume flush units in the bathrooms and they stagger the start times of their movies to save energy on heating and cooling.

As environmental awareness becomes more and more mainstream, energy efficiency and recycling programs like this one are popping up everywhere. Things that we used to take for granted, like throwing out your silly 3D glasses after the movie was finished, now give reason to pause.

As I left the theater with my girls, I watched almost every single person file out one by one tossing their glasses in the bin. It was easy. It was accessible. It was second nature. How’s that for saving the planet on your day off?

Photos courtesy of Flickr and IMdB.

Comments

[Heather]

Wahoo for the life cycle bell going off in peoples' minds!

Thanks, Eileen for being so thoughtful and digging around, asking the questions and giving the readers here a great read.

[Jaclyn Rothenberg]

this idea will save household users, 108lbs. of plastics.

view information via
shaklee.net/jaclyn/getclean