WHY GO GREEN?

CTC TRAINING

Today is the wrap party for the April Cinema Training Central Seminars & Workshops which took place this past week. Somewhat bucking the general trend of companies reducing their training expenditures, attendance at CTC - particularly for the technical and marketing workshops - remains strong.

All of the seminars and workshops were updated and refreshed for 2009 to take into consideration new trends and technologies in the cinema industry. We look forward to the September training week (14th - 18th) and, as always, anyone having an interest should contact us for a free CTC 2009 Guidebook.

WHY GO GREEN?

Having and implementing a meaningful and verifiable environmental sustainability program is a value judgement but is also a very smart goal for any enterprise as it saves money, water, and energy and improves employee and community relations. Although new "Green" construction catches most of the headlines the primary focus for improving the environment should be on existing commercial and residential buildings - which number over 120 million in the U.S. and of which 99 out of every 100 have not, as yet, implemented any significant green initiatives.

ARBOREEL GREEN TIPS

Water is one of our most precious resources and yet it is the resource we take most for granted. However, it's a certainty that potable water (water that is suitable for drinking or cooking) will become much more expensive and face restricted usage if we don't start conserving and altering the ways in which we use our water resource. For example:

- To take a bath requires 60 - 70 gallons of potable water. In contrast, a 5 minute shower uses only 15 - 20 gallons - which can be even lower if a water-efficient showerhead is used - that's a savings of 250 - 300 gallons per week! If you must take a bath - do so occasionally.

- Leaking faucets or running toilets are huge water wasters. A single leaky faucet can waste thousands of gallons of potable water in a year. It is imperative that leaking faucets be repaired or replaced - sometimes only a new gasket is required. Running toilets demand immediate attention and should be fixed or better still replaced with low-flow flush toilets. A traditional toilet will use 7 gallons per flush, low-flows use 3.5 gallons and the newest use only 1.6 gallons.

- The average washing machine uses about 41 gallons of potable water per load. New, high-efficiency washers use 28 gallons. So when replacing a clothes washer it is best to select the most efficient machine in terms of water use, and always wash full loads or be sure to use the appropriate load size setting for less than full load washes.

IS CONTENT KING OR IS IT DISTRIBUTION?

More and more it's control of the distribution channels that is paramount in the digital age. For the media giants it may be that keeping content on film is their best defense against a partial or (worst case) complete loss of movie distribution. Music distribution for the giants is gone. Publishing is battling for survival and losing, be it newspapers, books, or AP news service. If movies go digital the same fate may await. Hollywood should think hard before really pushing digital cinema, for as archaic as it is, film allows the studios worldwide distribution control. Yes, with film there is piracy at the periphery but not the wholesale duplication that could very easily occur with digital formatted content.

Best,
Jim Lavorato - Entertainment Equipment Corporation