The BAFTAs are upon us again, and we couldn't be more excited. The ceremony has become the highlight of the year for British film, celebrating homegrown talent and bringing in the world's most famous faces for a night at the Royal Albert Hall. But this year, things are a little different. The red carpet event of the season has gone, well, green.
BAFTA has just announced that guests will not receive goodie bags at the ceremony. Usually, nominees and other high-profile attendees will leave with piles of luxury goods. But not this time. Instead, they will receive
It may not seem an obvious solution, but every little helps. One item in the bag for 2018's ceremony, for example, was a wine tasting experience in New Zealand. That is a lot of air miles to add to one's carbon footprint. Dame Pippa Harris expands on the plan.
'We traditionally have these big bags which have been filled with beauty products and big bottles of champagne and whatever', she says. 'We felt that, in terms of transporting those around both before they are given to people and then the nominees have to lug them all the way back to America or wherever, that in and of itself was not a very sustainable thing to be doing.’
This is the latest step in the year's plan to be more eco-friendly. Guests have been asked to make 'sustainable fashion choices', single-use plastic is banned, dinner will be made of sustainably sourced food (including two vegan courses) and even the red carpet itself will be recycled. Audi, official car partner, is deploying its all-electric SUV, the e-tron, to chauffeur the stars to the Royal Albert Hall.
It is also hoped that those flying in from around the world - like Brad Pitt, Scarlett Johansson and Renee Zellweger, will make efforts to offset their travel.
‘But offsetting is the last resort,' Dame Pippa adds. 'I think the real goal for all of us is to look to reuse and recycle and through those means to end up at the carbon neutral position.’
Kudos to BAFTA for making concerted efforts to make positive changes.
READ MORE: BAFTAs 2020 - Everything You Need To Know